Apple's new "Lightning" connectors seemed like a bad idea out of the box to me, but the way they are designed to make it very unlikely to get good, inexpensive spares and replacements really seems bad.
Up through the 4s, it didn't make too much difference between Android and Apple. The top of the line androids were faster and had more features, and better access (file transfer issues) but there wasn't really a practical difference for 99% of users. The 5 however seems to have screwed themselves over. Nevermind their new garbage maps program replacing Google, the new connector is a real head-scratcher.
Already people who have accessories for older Apple devices are no longer locked into future Apple products which won't be compatible (without adapter). But the expense of buying a few extras is a little obscene. I like to have at least 4 charging/usb cables: one for home, one for work, one for the car and one for travel. For Android phone those are standard micro-USB and you can get a dozen for less than $20. For the previous Apple jacks, the non-branded ones were close in price. Now instead of $10 for all the connectors you want it is likely to cost >$100.
I've never been a huge apple fan, but I got an iphone (3g), I thought the ipods were excellent, and I even liked some of their computers (other than the very overpriced aspect). Really, though, Apple products mostly offer a high cost premium for user friendly but often substandard otherwise products and so are primarily for people with plenty of spare cash who don't actually care about performance.
(I was tempted to use the term "Rich idiots" but that really isn't fair: there is no meaningful performance difference for the vast majority of people, and apple does have more apps, but it does speak to a selection of style over substance and a willingness to light a couple hundred dollars on fire for it.)
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