Salon.com > cherry blossoms http://www.salon.com Wed, 22 May 2013 00:22:48 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Dark days for Apple http://www.salon.com/2013/02/27/the_dark_days_of_apple/ http://www.salon.com/2013/02/27/the_dark_days_of_apple/#comments Wed, 27 Feb 2013 19:39:00 +0000 http://www.origin.railrode.net/?p=13213876 Like a distinguished violinist working her way through a familiar Beethoven sonata, Lydia Depillis delivers a thoroughly professional rendition of a classic tune -- Apple fans and their discontents -- in the (new) New Republic. Timed to coincide with Apple's annual meeting on Wednesday, the piece explores a growing sense of unease on the part of Apple's most fervent worshipers. The company, despite its huge profits and genre-defining products, just doesn't seem so insanely great anymore. The thrill is gone.

The malaise stems from multiple sources. Apple hasn't delivered any mind-blowing new products lately. Apple seems to be rolling out bloated, buggy software with greater frequency, making decisions for crass, commercial reasons rather than purity of style, design and function. Apple's stock price has been falling. In one of the nicest touches, Depellis quotes one Apple blogger as comparing "the feeling to a lefty's disillusionment after the election of Barack Obama: 'Well, I still like this guy's platform better than the other guy's platform. But I'm really kind of disappointed with what I see.'"

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