My phone, tablet, and laptop are all made by Apple in California. And I mostly use the default apps. Putting all my tech eggs in one tech basket may be risky. But you know, that whole ecosystem synergy thing is nice — thanks, iCloud. What if...it all didn't just work?
Full credit to Aaron Vegh and his post, The Straw, for the title and inspiration of this post. It seems very plausible, maybe likely, that some enterprising new company — or “two nerds in a garage” — will decide to think more different and create a new computing platform eventually.
But for now, there’s basically Microsoft, Google, and Apple.
Like Aaron Vegh, I’m kind of trapped in Apple’s ecosphere — I’d love to get the Spritz Orange Moto Razr smart-flip-phone, but the switching cost would melt my brain. Then again, though I prefer and rely on Apple's stuff, I could replace it all with devices and apps from Microsoft and/or Google, if I had to. Some things would be less ideal. But honestly, for my mostly simple uses, it'd be fine.
Knowing this brings relief. It reminds me that I’m not actually trapped in Apple’s walled-garden. There are ways out; I’m free to go.
So what if I had to?
If I had to replace Apple Notes, for example, I would probably use Microsoft OneNote, which is quite a robust program, or Obsidian, which I’ve enjoyed before. If the Safari browser wasn't available anymore, then I could use Edge, Chrome, or Firefox. What about my reliance on iCloud Keychain? Well, the Google password manger works, and I really like Bitwarden.
I know these other options work well enough because I already use Windows and many Microsoft apps at my job. And I manage Windows laptops at my home for my family members. We also use Chromebooks from Google; some were my personal laptops. The alternatives to Apple's wares are capable — despite caveats.
It's a good thought experiment to run though, asking yourself what you would use in lieu of your current apps and devices. Companies, no matter how big, eventually change for the worse or don't change with the times. Could Apple ever lose its way since it lost Steve Jobs and Jony Ive? It will eventually lose other key executives too, so one can question the company's future stability or trajectory.
What do its recent moves signal? This year alone, Apple quit developing its car ambitions after spending billions on R&D. It released a major new product, Vision Pro, that seems to be kind of a dud — so much for Spatial Computing I guess? And its Books app/service seems deprioritized by layoffs.
The Mac, iPad, and iPhone are mature platforms. Apple's recent push was more into Services, which is tangential to devices. What's next for Apple, just keep iterating its current tech? Will it eventually "conquer" the car with CarPlay expansion or the home with HomeKit innovation? That future looks unlikely.
I don’t know what a post-Apple future looks like. If nothing else, Apple could probably do well just coasting by inertia for a long time to come. But I do know that present-Apple doesn’t look exactly like past-Apple, so future-Apple is unlikely to look much like present-Apple. The company had said the future of computing is iPad, then Spatial Computing (AR/VR). Some say its A.I. Meta says it’s the Metaverse. Others said Crypto. And I’ve heard of Quantum Computing. It sounds like everyone is just guessing. I guess my Apple phone, tablet, and laptop are more than enough for now.
And if not Apple, then others.
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