This is intensely personal, but brings out a very critical aspect of being a heavy-tech user. I believe that there is a certain legal angle to the whole thing, which will be examined separately. I have just been told that my MacBook Pro, which I have been using for the last eight years, (Yes, eight years) is now "obsolete", exact words, which have been used by the Apple care person. I am now told that, having been a careful user of my MacBook Pro, I will not be able to use it for any of the later versions of apps, because the latest OS does not support my eight-year-old Mac.

Let me make a few things clear first. I am not claiming any bragging rights for using a Mac. I have been happy with my MacBook and it helped me through thick and thin, never giving up on me. I have been a Mac user for over two decades (maybe more, I cant remember). I love Apple for its products and their solidity. Unfortunately, the very reasons why I have been an Apple user are now turning against me. The Apple solidity, the painlessness of using an Apple device, the intuitive way the product connects with you, are now the very reasons, why I am thinking of getting out of the Apple’s ecosystem. Steve Jobs once said “All Apple products are not made with the best technology in mind, but with the User in mind”. However, what he missed saying, or what Tim Cook is saying appears to be 'all users but the more diligent, good users in mind’.



The world over, products get sold and new versions appear. When they do, the older versions are supported. So how does a company decide that products sold before 2010 will no longer be supported (This is again verbatim what the Apple support person told me). What happens to thousands of ‘good’ users who take excellent care of their products? Does a company have the moral right to penalize them? How difficult is it (really) to extend support of the latest OS to the older versions? I have been told that ‘to continue taking advantage of the exciting capabilities of Apple’ I have to buy a new MacBook. I think this is in some manner or the other ‘coercive trade practice’ – one that I will allow my lawyers to advise me on. However, at an ethical level, I find that this is a distasteful trade practice.

Apple is essentially telling its users to ‘Not’ use the product sensibly. It is telling its users to spill coffee on the keyboard, to continue buying newer boxes – in other words the rest of the world should mimic the American way of life to which Apple studiously adhered all these years. Because, hey, while your old one is working well, we will stop supporting it, for obvious reasons. You know what, we need those revenue numbers during quarterly earnings discussions. I can’t seem to forget the biblical story where one bite of the Apple brought the wrath of God on Adam. If Steve is up there watching, it may yet Cook the Apple, or, if you will un-Cook it.

Tags : Apple