Choosing between the best tool for the job and the most integrated

Hardware
1

I am sure this is something that we all deal with to different degrees as Apple fans – how do you guys make decisions about what technology (hardware or software) to use, especially when comparing pure features vs. how it fits in to your whole ecosystem?

It seems to me that the “ecosystem” is one of the most touted benefits of being in Apple Land. There’s straightforward examples like Airpods working seamlessly with everything. If you really were to only ever buy your technology from Apple, in theory, you would gain benefit from everything working well together.

But then as you branch out in to either categories that Apple doesn’t service (for example, eink ereaders) or categories that Apple does serve, but perhaps not to the depth you need (for example, perhaps you’re a passionate long distance athlete and Garmin provides things you need that Apple Watch does not), things get murkier.

The latter issue – Garmin for endurance sports – is what is haunting me right now. I currently wear both an Apple Watch and a Garmin Fenix, and I’d love to drop down to being a, err, normal one-watch person. But there’s benefits to the Garmin devices that really do fuel one of my main passions. But that comes at a cost – I love Apple Pay on the watch, I love being able to listen to podcasts on my watch using Overcast without running with my phone, I love having Siri on my wrist for adding reminders and starting timers, etc. And even though there are unique benefits to using Garmin, every time I open their app I want to place a curse on their software team in a way I’ve never wanted to with Apple – even in light of Tahoe.

It feels like the more of these choices I make, the more I lose from “the ecosystem”. I recently got a Onyx Boox ereader that I adore, which pulled me out of Apple Books. I’ve (perhaps way too late) discovered that Spotify is pretty good, and a great value (it includes Audiobooks, so I was able to cancel my Audible subscription as well!). The Garmin for the Apple Watch … It has me straying dangerously close to thinking “hey, I’m not so tethered to Apple anymore, maybe there’s interesting things going on in Android land?”

Anyways – I’ve always been an Apple fanboy, and I’ve lived much of my tech-buying life from an Apple ecosystem standpoint. I guess this is part minor identity crisis, party cry for help, part rant, and part hoping you all can share some wisdom in how you think about these tradeoffs.

4 Likes
2

This is both the blessing and the curse.

I’ve used Apple devices since 2003, the difference now, more than 20 years later, is that Apple is a significant player in Phone, Tablet and “Desktop/Laptop” now. Back then getting drivers for some hardware was impossible, and finding software to do what you want could be equally hard work. These days it’s rare to find something which won’t work with Apple devices, and in the cases that remain, it’s often Apple’s fault rather than the other vendor.

Apple’s claim of “it just works” isn’t always true and because Apple believes it knows best, many things are opaque and blockers in finding out what’s not working.

It wouldn’t stop me buying something from another vendor if it was the best option available to me, and I welcome more interoperability with Apple being made to open and build APIs for 3rd parties to use.

reMarkable is a case in point. I wouldn’t buy an Apple e-ink tablet because they’d want it to link in with everything else, and its distraction free nature is part of the charm.

But I still love my Apple gear. MBA, iPhone and Apple Watches.

2 Likes
3

I went through the same thing. But I realised the benefits are so much better having a real activity watch like the Fenix 8. Robust and stellar, with battery life for weeks. I love it and will likely never go back to the Apple Watch. Of course, Apple Music is not possible on Garmin, so I also changed to Deezer, which was a pleasant surprise! Such an intuitive and great music service. The main point is that Apple aims for the greater masses, while there are, and will be, better specialised apps/services out there.

2 Likes
4

I make such decisions based on need versus desire – requirement versus luxury. The macOS/iPadOS/iPhoneOS ecosystems adamantly fit my requirements for seamless workflow integration among various apps that I use. By comparison, the Apple watch offers nothing I need and luxury beyond my tastes (I have never been fond of wearing wrist watches, let alone ones that have bells and whistles). As your experience with Garmin, I have frustrations in working with my basic (wrist worn) Fitbit device, but I have since recognized them as arising from my mindset “this is not how Apple would do this …”. At some point, frustrations with how a non-Apple device works have to be set aside compared with the device’s ability to meet my top needs.

So, by example, when you are out on your long-distance run, do you really need to carry the ability to dictate a reminder to Siri? How did you ever survive in those days when you could not anyway? And, even in your everyday habits, when are you crossing between what you truly need at that moment versus what, as you say, you simply love being able to do (as that extra luxury for the moment)?

–
JJW

1 Like
5

So do I, but Apple’s “our way or the highway” attitude keeps me eyeing the competition for more “flexible” equipment.

1 Like
6

I get it too. I just grabbed an AWU 2 in preference to my Garmin 955. The 955 is fine. Does most of what I want, need and more and I’m in the middle of marathon training. And I’m keeping it.
But one thing I’ll give Apple kudos on is providing updates to all “current” watches where Garmin doesn’t do this. (Caveat to add I buy something for what it will do, not what I hope it will do one day.)
So while I too, look over the fence occasionally, I see flaws in other systems/products that I don’t want to endure.

And then,

is also frustrating. I find Apple can be a bit of a “nanny state” to its users, so there I am, looking over the fence again.

I will confess that Deezer reminds me of “geezer” (old man), which puts me off, which I know is completely irrational!

1 Like
7

A bit of a nanny state? Apple reminds me of House Harkonnen “a bit”. :wink:

1 Like
8

Great! Now I have to go reacquaint myself with the Harkonnens! :joy:

Oh yes … “The Harkonnens earned a notorious reputation for underhanded and sinister political tactics fueled by their ambition, malevolence, hatred and brutality.” :joy: :joy:

Source: House Harkonnen | Dune Wiki | Fandom

2 Likes
9

My eyes when I read this sentence :eyes:

I don’t have much valuable to add here except solidarity. I feel this pain, too. I think it’s part of the deal of being a MPU. We are sometimes torn between the M and the PU.

5 Likes
10

Oh, that’s well said.

11

Which is all good, until you try plugging an RS232 mouse into your USB-C port laptop. Making you realize that everyone has their own definitions of flexible protocols, sometimes that flexibility comes at a cost of plug-and-play versus plug-and-pray, and the grass is only greener in their pastures because they make you wear their special sunglasses instead of Apple’s.

All this poetic analogy is to say that Windows, Android, Linux, … are sometimes just as much into their own ecosystems as Apple is into theirs, and you can easily get to just the same “our way or the highway” mentality in deciding for any one of their offerings.

–
JJW

2 Likes
12

I agree, which is why I rely as little as possible on any ecosystem.