Is Apple suffering because it has outgrown its Reality Distortion Field?
Apple has grown to become one of the most influential tech companies on the planet. One trick that Apple has employed to great effect is the Reality Distortion Field (RDF). But lately I can't help but feel that Apple has grown so big, so fast that it has outgrown the protective shield of the RDF and is now having to face up to the sort of criticisms that all multi-billion dollar companies face?
In essence, RDF is the idea that Steve Jobs is able to convince people to believe almost anything with a mix of charm, charisma, bluster, exaggeration, and marketing. RDF is said to distort an audience's sense of proportion or scale. Small advances are applauded as breakthroughs. Interesting developments become turning points, or huge leaps forward. Those who use the term RDF contend that it is not an example of outright deception but more a case of warping the powers of judgment.
Back when Apple's customers were fans, the RDF was running at full power. After all, fans of anything need little convincing and loyal followers were happy to feed their energy into the RDF. Dissenting voices were jumped on and silenced quickly.
But Apple continued to grow. In order to break into mainstream consumer electronics it had to sell to the mass market. This meant that Apple had to sell to people outside of its loyal fan base and sell to people that didn't have anywhere near the same level of commitment to the Apple logo. Consumers soon outnumbered cult members and people stated to demand more and more. This is the point at which the RDF became seriously weakened.
How bad has the RDF been weakened? Well, it has become so weak that Apple is now being seen as everything that it once stood against. Things have become so bad that long-time Mac fans such as Jason Calacanis have publicly broken ranks and spoken out against the company. His piece over the weekend looked at five trouble spots for Apple:
- Destroying MP3 player innovation through anti-competitive practices
- Monopolistic practices in telecommunications
- Draconian App Store policies that are, frankly, insulting
- Being a horrible hypocrite by banning other browsers on the iPhone
- Blocking the Google Voice Application on the iPhone
Die-hard fans still caught up in the weakened RDF will fight to the end to dispute these points, but as someone never caught up in the RDF in the first place, I look at Apple as trying far harder than Microsoft ever did to create a closed, locked-down, anti-competitive hardware/software ecosystem. Every Apple product brings with it at least one other locked-down product or service ... with the iPod you get iTunes, with the iPhone there's all that AT&T lock-in, and the App Store, oh and iTunes again, the Mac tried to get you hooked on MobileMe ... All these products try, in one way or another, to get you to do things the Apple way rather than your way, and none of these products want to play nicely with other products and services.
Apple is a company that never seems happy with the fact that you just gave it some money, and is constantly on the prowl for your next dollar.
Reading Calacanis' piece, I get the feeling that it pains him to have to turn his back on Apple. He feels betrayed by a company that once held high ideals but has now allowed them to be eroded for the sake of greater profits. I've never really been a Mac fan so my words carry little weight when it comes to Apple (certainly in the eyes of the devoted), but Apple really needs to be worried by how long-time Mac fans such as Calacanis and Michael Arrington are publicly turning their backs on Apple. These people carry clout because they were the people who were once feeding into the RDF and helping to convince others as to how brilliant Apple was. These people's devotion to Apple as a brand was authentic, and it seems that their disillusion is just as authentic.
Calacanis sums up Apple's current situation perfectly:
Making great products does not absolve you from technology’s cardinal rule: Don’t be evil.
It also doesn’t save you from Scarface’s cardinal rule: Never get high on your own supply.
I couldn't agree more.