The Big Apple Kingdom

Apple is an incredible successful company. It’s position as the number one trendsetter in the world of computers, smartphones, tablets and soon wearables is undeniable. Others may try, but it is what Apple do that sets the standard.

One of the new really hot things they have come up with is Apple Pay. Yesterday I got the news that  CVS Health Corp. (CVS) and Rite Aid Corp. (RAD) disabled the technology in their drugstores. Really? They want to launch their own system called CurrentC, which seems to be a clumsy attempt to create a system for digital payment. When Apple offers Apple Pay with both security, privacy and simple to use, CurrentC uses QR codes – which are a laugh even outside this payment system, and then they want to spy on the customers buying habits.

The right way to compete with Apple is to compete with quality and user satisfaction. Not to shut out a good payment solution and make the customers angry. When you think about it like this, it seems to be a, let us be kind, not so smart way to handle the situation.

However, we are living in a world that is rapidly changing. Two years ago I wrote the blogpost ”What is a country now when we have internet?” I was pointing at the fact that borders between countries become more irrelevant when we spend so much time in the digital world. One of the things that define a country is it’s currency. Digital currency is one of the options for the new digital world and Bitcoin is the first example of that, but so far it’s not trustworthy. Another way might be what Apple is about to do with Apple Pay and when I think about it like that, someone is bound to react and try to defend themselves from Apple’s growing, powerful kingdom.

What is a country in these days and where will our future wars be fought? I love Apple but I realize that when one company become as big and powerful as Apple, problems will follow and it’s extremely important that Apple works with good ethics. When you are big, you have to be kind.

Maybe opposition against Apple Pay could be considered as a guerrilla group’s attempt to defend themselves from becoming part of Apple’s kingdom?