Sick of hearing about Apple

I used to be a fan of Apple. My first computer, in 1988, was an Apple IIe. I appreciate all the work they've done, they did create the first GUI after all. But I'm sick of hearing about them, and how "hip" they are and how they're a new standard. What have they done innovative lately? They made a thin laptop by stripping out almost all functionality. Congrats. They made the iPhone, a ripoff of the Neo1973 whose development only started after FIC had already built prototypes of the Neo. Congrats again. Some people claim their UI is so innovative, it's actually frustration over this that made me write this post. I was reading an article on Samsung's new TouchWiz UI and comparing it to Apple's UI. Apple did nothing special there. Again, they used a UI made to mimic the OpenMoko interface which had been around for a while. Thank God for Apple there wasn't more funding behind OpenMoko/FIC or else they would have been beat to the market by a long shot. Apple didn't announce until 1 year after OpenMoko, at MacWorld 2007, 3 years after development started on the Neo1973 and 1 year after it was announced.

What has Apple done lately? Nothing but marketing is my answer. They have excellent marketing and sell their items as status symbols, charging several times what they're worth and repackaging what has already been done. So seriously, shut up about Apple. Or at the least, don't bother me with their latest fads, I've already read about them and still don't care.

And to Apple: Please do something to win back the respect of those who remember you from when you were the innovator and the good PC alternative.