Ever since Apple's iPhone 4S started being activated last month, many new owners have complained about serious issues with the device's battery life.Sadly, their culture seems to be closed, secretive, and reluctant to admit any problems exist. We've seen this before, where they lag other companies by months getting security updates out for serious problems in Java. Among other things.
The conversation naturally spilled onto the support section of Apple's web site, with one particular thread attracting heavy viewership and numerous theories, explanations and solutions for the mysterious battery problem. All without public input from the company that actually makes the iPhone 4S.
Now, after more than two weeks of silence, Apple has released a statement acknowledging the battery problem, which can be traced not to the battery itself, but to bugs in Apple's update to its mobile operating system, iOS 5.
A fair amount of security comes from culture. When a company recognizes that it's important, you get better security over the long haul. Mozilla has always had an aggressive security approach, with rapid fixes to problems. Microsoft, once famous for its lousy security, has had the religion for almost ten years now. Windows 7 has pretty decent security, probably as good as Apple's OS X.
Yeah, you heard me right. Windows is probably as secure as OS X.
Note to Apple: Windows 8 is on the horizon. Microsoft's security trajectory is headed upwards; yours is headed downwards. Do the math.
Apple users, there's plenty to like about their products. Just don't kid yourselves that your security is any better than anyone else's.
5 comments:
but, but, but... Apple is perfect. St. Jobs said so.
Excellent post. Accurate and succinct!
It will be interesting to see if Apple survives the loss of Steve Jobs in anywhere near the condition that they were in prior to his death. The guy was really a visionary, and one wonders if they allowed his unique visions to cloud their ability to come up with ideas on their own. I worked for a company once that could not survive the loss of it's CEO for that very reason - his underlings had become so reliant on his wisdom and unique perspective that they never learned how to develop their own.
"Apple is perfect."
That's the root of the problem right there, I think. They don't want to admit to any problems if they don't absolutely have to, because doing so would tarnish their image of "perfection".
Unfortunately, it seems that this attitude comes at the expense of the minimal level of openness needed for good security.
Sadly, their culture seems to be closed, secretive, and reluctant to admit any problems exist.
Of course it is. They're an entire company made of Liberals.
W/V=hyped
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