This post may technically constitute a rant. No names are mentioned.

Today I purchased Steve Job’s rather meaty biography for some reading material whilst I travel back on forth to work on The Tube and, as I often do, I posted this to Twitter and what I got in response was a few asinine comments slating either Steve Jobs or Apple and it’s products in general. My question is why?

I’d like to state, before I get going, that I know the difference between winding each other up (something I do regularly with a friend of mine who uses an Android phone, and he does with me, the die hard iPhone user) and just being unnecessarily opinionated when your opinion is not wanted. Any way, onwards…

Presumably you don’t believe you have a chance of changing my opinion of Mr. Jobs, his creations or his company, especially by being kind of a douche? Surely you aren’t so arrogant as to assume that my opinion of Apple, which has been informed by using Apple products for many years, as well as it’s competitors offerings, would be swayed by a misinformed or just plain stupid retort? No, it can’t be that.

Maybe you think it makes you look big and clever? It doesn’t, it makes you look the opposite.

Being critical of someone’s technology preference is completely pointless and unnecessary – I don’t walk around telling Blackberry users their phones are useless because RIM are incompetent (they aren’t useless, they’re often the backbone of business and BBM was inspired), I don’t make fun of Android users because a bug in the OS gave out people’s personal data (we all make mistakes). I don’t make fun of Windows Phone 7 because Microsoft made it (I think WP7 is pretty damn good). Each phone has it’s own merits, and everyone has their own opinion of which phone is better, and here’s the kicker: no one is wrong. All of the various smartphone manufacturers got to where they are because they make quality products that users love.

How about instead of being critical, nit picking and petty we strive for improvement? Innovation is what bought us smartphones (devices we can hold in our hands that perform as well as desktop computers!) and innovation is what will make them better and better.

Besides, variety is the spice of life.