Once again Apple has taken the low road and decided to sue another competitor with as many lawsuits as it can come up with in hopes one of them works. As a Macbook Pro lover and someone who has used various iOS devices almost as much as Android, it’s no secret that I do have a small love for Apple deep down inside. Yeah, I prefer Android, but I realize how important iOS is in the grand scheme of things and why so many people love it (it IS a great OS). However, Apple’s recent lawsuit against HTC is starting to make me seriously dislike what the company is becoming. Buckle down if you proceed. This Apple rant is about to get ugly. Very ugly.

Let’s get this out of the way first so people don’t bring this up: Android did not copy iOS since that’s the only thing the hardcore “iSheep” cling to now that Android looks to be beating/on course to be beating iOS in every department they once bragged about (see market share, sales, apps, and more). For the love of god, that’s like saying Ford should sue BMW for making something that has four wheels and is powered by a motor. Apple did not come up with the idea of a smartphone. Hell, they didn’t even come up with the idea of a touch screen smartphone. What they did do was make the first smartphone that was able to bridge the corporate world and the consumer world. Yes, Apple opened up the market. However, because we live in good ol’ ‘Merica, monopolies can not exist. If you have a great innovation someone is bound to take it and try to beat you at your own game. Why should Apple be the only person allowed to make smartphones? iSheep (yes, I’m irritated to the point where I’ll be referring to them as that) seem to believe that it should only be Apple in the market. Anyone else who makes a touch screen phone is copying.

I don’t know what irritates me more: The fact that Apple sees this as a way to compete in a market where they’re getting their butt handed to them, or that their followers find absurd ways to justify it. Those two together made me realize something that both Google and HTC have said: Apple has not innovated ANYTHING in the phone world since the 3G. The original iPhone was so far ahead of the competition that it took YEARS for an adequate competitor to show up (hello Android). The original iPhone should be considered Apple’s greatest invention. It is quite simply brilliant. However, the Apple stereotype of riding their own success to sell aged hardware is starting to look true to me. I’ve rigorously defended Apple when people bring this up. I love my Macbook Pro. Can you get the same specs on a Windows laptop for half the price? Probably. But it won’t run as well. However, I can no longer think of the Apple that makes my MBP and the iPhone as the same company. Apple lead the world into the smartphone race, and even improved on its own design with the 3G. Since then they’ve just rode the success and hype about the iPhone. What else has Apple brought to the table? The iPhone 4 press release was torn apart in the tech world since the only “new” thing on the phone was the retina screen. It was torn apart in the spec department when compared to similar range Android phones. The only thing that kept Apple rolling was the “polished” feel of iOS compared to the still maturing Android OS. Yeah, the Evo made the iPhone look like a child’s toy, but the phone had a few more bugs than the iPhone. Now that Android phones are starting to catch up in usability, Apple has been forced to do what it learned the hard way in the 90’s from Microsoft: Try and sue/buy everyone in the market until you’re the only one left standing. It’s pathetic. I hate it. And you should too. Rather than innovating and trying to redefine the user experience (something they dominated in the early 2000’s) they’re trying to keep Android from kicking the crap out of them.Find me an HTC Android phone that looks, acts, or even has similar features to the iPhone (against Samsung you have a reasonable argument). But HTC? Really? Sense is universally accepted as the best and most unique Android skin. HTC by itself is probably taking a huge chunk out of Apple’s sales and it knows that. While no single phone is dominating the iPhone, the choice of so many great phones tailored to the users’ needs is taking the world by storm. Apple is scared. They should be.

I’m starting to think the iPhone 5 wasn’t announced because it would be laughed at, similar to iOS 5. Notification Center? And people claim that Android copied iOS? Let’s look at some of the idiocy that iSheep cling to (this was taken from an Apple News Site in the order that the arguments were presented).

Android copied the App Store with the Market. If you honestly believe that Apple was the first to use Apps then you are truly idiotic. The only thing Apple did was show that it was easy to make money even when the phone was already sold.

Android phones look exactly like the iPhone. Really?! I didn’t know the iPhone came with a kickstand, a keyboard, 4 keys, and a 4.3″ screen. Oh wait, it doesn’t. You know what? HTC phones have those features, but the iPhone doesn’t. Are you saying that Apple has the right to every electronic device that is rectangular and has a touch screen? Go look up PDAs.

Android looks like iOS. This one is my favorite. If you can’t tell the difference between the screen of an Android phone and an iPhone words can’t describe how sorry I feel for you. Android notifications don’t SUCK and are conveniently located at the top of your screen. There are these magical things called “widgets” that allow you to look at information without having to click anything. Before iOS 4, iPhone users weren’t even aware that your smartphone didn’t have to have a boring black background. Please, show me how similar iOS and Android are.

*Inserts picture of Galaxy S II phone with 4×4 app layout and 4 apps fixed at the bottom* If you ignore my opinion where I said Apple has a legitimate claim with Samsung, I have this to say: So Apple invented the idea of having programs have shortcuts on your desktop with iOS did they? That’s odd, because I remember my old ’96 PC having the exact same thing. Should I be worried about an Apple lawsuit?

Apple makes more money with the iPhone than Google does with Android. I win. If you’ve ever been on a forum where there is a debate about smartphones, you will almost always see this come out of someone’s mouth. Similar to a cornered fox, iSheep go wild when they know they have lost. The only battle “they’re” winning (few realize that as a consumer, Apple’s bottom line shouldn’t mean much to you. If anything it should annoy you) is in the profit margins. Yep, Apple has Android on this one. Yet people still throw this one out there as if they expect Android users to care. If you can get this out of an iSheep, realize your battle has been won.

So what about iOS 5? I bet it brought a lot to the table that no one saw coming, right? Nope. All Apple did was play catch up to where Android is now. Notification Center? The most blatant rip off of all time. Wireless updates? Hasn’t the rest of the smartphone industry been doing that for years? Updating info on the lock screen? Seems like a crappy widget that can only be in one place to me. Tabbed Browsing? Honeycomb had that before iOS did. Flash? Nope, still don’t have that. Ability to customize your phone? Yeah, if you all you desire to change is the wallpaper. iOS 5 is a joke. Even if you made a great argument and convinced me that Android copied iOS, I would have to believe then that it was because iOS was the OS to copy; the top dog. What does it say when Apple had to copy Android features to keep its fan base happy in iOS 5 then, despite a 2 year lead on its biggest (and arguably only) competitor? Exactly.

So why should you be irritated? Quite frankly Apple is trying to create a monopoly. How happy are you about the pseudo-monopoly in the gas industry? Based on gas prices for your car, probably not very happy. Apple is no longer innovating, and because of that they want to stop others from doing so and pulling further ahead of them. As a consumer that’s not good. I love that HTC is pushing the envelope. They brought us the 4G craze, they brought us the 3D capable phone, and they’re going to keep trying things because they’re a good company. Will the facebook phone of theirs fail? Probably. But at least they’re trying it. I want companies in the phone world that compete with new ideas and improving user experience…Not that try to bully others around because they were the big kid on the block in their golden days. That’s pathetic Apple. Absolutely pathetic.

I can only imagine how many iSheep I irritated with this rant. And you know what? Bring it. After a long day at work I could use an ego boost.

/rant