Over the years, my relationship with Apple has soured. From fanboy to supporter, a workplace user and now a switcher, I think it’s fair to say the string may have finally broken on my Apple yo-yo.

That’s not to say how I feel is any reflection of how well they’re doing. Quite the opposite in fact. Last year they became the first US company worth a trillion dollars; they have hundreds of millions in cash tucked away for a rainy day and are largely considered the people to beat when it comes to smartphones, tablets and industrial design.

But something’s wrong. There’s been a turn. A shift in the tide, if you will, and now long time supporters like myself feel ostracised and ignored. It feels like they’ve lost their way. Their products no longer exhume excitement and as I’ve argued before, “lack direction“.

Apple need to win me back. And now, after downgrading their forecasted revenue for the first time since 2007, they might need to convince a lot of others too. So to help them out and be constructive, instead of merely criticising them, I thought I’d offer my thoughts on exactly how they might go about doing that. Continue reading →