Apple Taking Heat for Auto-Update
Mozilla CEO John Lilly posted a scathing post about Apple auto-updating Windows users’ iTunes and Quicktime programs while adding in Safari 3.1. Lilly starts out by describing how important it is to update programs for the sake of security. He says:
There’s an implicit trust relationship between software makers and customers in this regard: as a software maker we promise to do our very best to keep users safe and will provide the quickest updates possible, with absolutely no other agenda. And when the user trusts the software maker, they’ll generally go ahead and install the patch, keeping themselves and everyone else safe.
He goes on to say that Apple has violated that trust. Basically, Apple is resorting to near-malware lows by pushing Safari 3.1 on Windows users. This is not a problem on Apple machines because they all come installed with Safari. But when people are using Windows machines and iTunes or Quicktime, it is pretty bad that they must also download Safari. There is a checkbox that they can uncheck so that it does not install Safari.
John Lilly’s blog sounds like he is shocked and appalled that Apple would stoop to this level. He does not sound like he trying to bash another browser company. He even adds a disclaimer at the bottom affirming that.
In the comments of the blog, Gen Kanai states that if Microsoft did the same thing, there would be an uproar across the internet. It seems as though Apple is testing the water; they seem to be trying to test the halo effect a little too strongly. This is clearly a business practices issue. As of this writing, there are 224 comments on Lilly’s blog.
I personally haven’t heard that much about Google having any complaints, even though they do the same thing all the time with their Google Toolbar. My grandpa has about six toolbars up on top of his browser from Google, Yahoo, Ask.com, Answers, MSN Live search and probably some others.
This is a new low for Apple. What are your thoughts?
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I couldn’t agree more – it is the sort of thing I expect from dodgy software, not from Apple – they should be trying to set an example of how using a computer should be – to lure people from Windows onto OS X with the prospect of “look at this app – if you want more that work like this, you should get a Mac”.
When I was a Windows user, I wouldn’t have trusted any company that tried this sort of stunt, lets hope they haven’t damaged their reputation too much by doing this.
Interesting point about the Google toolbar though.
I’m a little surprised, but it’s really no big deal. Anyone computer-literate enough to care will be able to uncheck the box. For everyone else, they’ll just have another piece of software on their computer that they don’t have to use and probably never will.
I believe by “auto-update”, you mean “pops up the Apple Software Update window and provides suggestions for what to install”. At that point, the end-user can choose what does and does not get installed.
If people are too stupid to read, then tough. But quite frankly, I think this has been blown completely out of proportion.
Ryan, you are absolutely correct. The article is mistitled and the end user DOES have choices. This has really been blown waaaaay out of proportion. Nothing to see here- move along.
Some people really fail to see the point. Yes, there are alot of people who will simply trust the Auto Update function and install whatever that Update function provides, since they simply do not know better. This is a fact and by simply stating that people have a choice, this won’t go away.
Alot of people use a computer for just some specific tasks and do not care about inner workings. So they will trust that the updtes they get are correct and not new software they will never use. Malware does just the same. BLoat the users computer with uneeded software. This is not a move that should be expected from Apple!
Can anyone say tempest in a teapot?Should Apple have done something like this? No. Is it really that big of a deal or that horrible of a thing to do? No. Is anyone who accidentally installed Safari going to be hurt by it? No.This seems like a pretty good way for Apple to offer their software to me. Next time I would suggest that they make it unchecked by default though.
I’m an Apple user and instead of Safari I use Firefox, so I really don’t side either. But because I like Apple so much, I hope that Apple will be more careful when “testing the waters”. Of course, it’s a legit and obvious tactic for businesses to push their products, but I really would not like Apple to gain Microsoft’s reputation of aggressiveness. Plus, Apple users are loyal and that means they will seek out software when needed without Apple having to push too hard. Recently we’ve seen a large number of Microsoft users either switch to Apple, or use more of Apple’s products/software. Eventually, they will see the superiority of Apple and then switch automatically. As such, Apple should continue innovating and giving us superior products, albeit without rushing. Too many updates and new versions/generations one after another may good for Wall Street, but not for the customer, and eventually the company. Let me know if you want a detailed strategy for product innovation. ;)
One is tempted to make two comparisons:
(1) “craplets”
(2) the MS antitrust case over Explorer
I feel this is much ado about nothing. What is so seriously wrong with Apple distributing Apple software with it’s own distribution engine? Remember, this is an *optional* update, with an *optional* choice of installing Safari. If you don’t want it, un-click the box.
Anyone who just ‘clicks away’ and then gets upset about something they didn’t want, well, that’s not an issue of trust, it is an issue of end-user laziness, and at worst, end-user ignorance.
Do other software manufacturers do this? Yes – I refer to Yahoo! toolbar, which appears as an install option on a ridiculous amount of software, and to Google toolbar, which comes at the least with Java. Does Microsft do this? Yes – remember the recent screaming over the idea that Office 2008 might have automatically installed Silverlight? Remember the difficulty of not-installing WMP 11, which appeared in every security update notification for a very long time?
This is not new. This is not even particularly noteworthy when it’s Apple. These days, almost every software manufacturer with more than one product- especially if some of them are free – does this. And yes, people do just click through installers without reading them. They always have and they likely always will; it’s this behavior that keeps both the spyware-makers and the spyware-removers in business.
Not a big deal.