Tim, Romance and Betrayal

To Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, Inc.

Dear Tim:

Let's consider this letter both a romance and some form of a dinner date. Sorry about the mention of betrayal, but Romance first. The first time I really met you, (Apple) I was a twenty-something, ambitious designer who was lucky enough in the late 80s to see a whopper of a RasterOps monitor on an impressive desk, connected to a computer called a Mac while I was working at a company called Esprit, run by Doug and Susie Tompkins in San Francisco, California. I was in awe. The thought that so much work could be done so much faster, so much more precisely than with a calculator, pencil, waxer, typesetter and paper was astonishing. You, my Mac, had intrigued me. I learned how to use you, fast. It mattered.

Next step of the romance happened a few months later when I was lucky enough to attend the "999 Cities" Aspen Design Conference in Colorado in 1989. I somehow found myself sitting on the grass one day over a lunch of chicken sandwiches and BBQ potato chips with who else but Steve Jobs, Apple legend already, who had then found himself challenging the entire Valley with his NEXT project after so much success at Apple. Jobs was arrogant, funny, quirky, magnetic, and yet somehow vulnerable and curious. He asked questions, and honestly wanted to hear answers from our little group on the lawn. I was captivated, and appreciative. He cared about what we had to say. He listened. He really wanted to understand what was better. Four years later, my graduate degree was largely inspired by what he believed was a better, different way of experiencing information. You already had me. Romance? Nope. Just love.

Fast forward to today. I have three Apple devices ranging from one, three and five years old. I tried to simplify my iCloud capacity, and chaos ensued. I'll spare you the details, but maybe I can try to create an alternative experience for you to imagine, Tim.

OK. Imagine you've made a reservation to a hard to get dinner spot. You arrive on time according to your reservation, and when greeted, the host asks for your password to said reservation link. You provide it, and you wait for a few minutes to be seated. Once seated, after about five minutes, your waiter introduces him or herself, and kindly asks for your credit card account, with credentials. You comply, because you're hungry, and psyched about the yellowfin tuna crudo that's been raved about. You wait for another five or ten minutes, and then the waiter asks for your password again before you order your drinks, because for some reason, the house doesn't recognize it. You provide it again, thirsty. The drink order is made, and you wait. Thirsty.

The drinks finally arrive, and the waiter asks you again for your credit card information again, because it's "required by the house," in order to write your dinner order. You comply, because again, you're hungry and just glad to have a drink. You toast your friends as to how happy you are to be together, and enjoying each other's company. But you're HUNGRY. Finally, the waiter arrives at the table again to take your order, and just when you're about to drop in to that delicious stream of a meal order, the waiter yet again asks you for your password, and if you'd like to sign up to their mailing list of upgrades, for 99 cents a month.

This is what Apple feels like today Mr. Cook. Apple used to feel like a point of inspiration and opportunity to get to things FASTER and BETTER; an enabling concept. That isn't what today felt like. I would like to remind you that we do not work for you. You work for us. We are your customers, and we are your lifeblood, not your remote, unpaid IT department to unpack how our analytics work. The Apple experience shouldn't be so hard. I can tell you firsthand that it is. Your physical tools aren't hard, your EXPERIENCE is. Your overall consumer experience is about as thick and dense as an Olympic sized pool of sticky mud, and you should DO something about it. I cannot be the only one who feels this way. I am a highly skilled user of your hardware and supportive suite of software that I live by. But let me tell you this: if you aren't willing and able to make your overall experience better, someone else will. Think IBM for a second. If you want to earn my money moving forward, don't be arrogant. Don't be complacent. And don't assume anything. Make things different, and BETTER. Don't betray my loyalty, and don't betray my trust.

Sincerely,

A loyal Apple user. For now.