Has Steve Jobs become what he (and we) feared most?

Franklin D. Roosevelt said, There’s nothing to fear but fear itself.“

James Allen who wrote As a Man Thinketh opened his book with, “The aphorism, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he,” not only embraces the whole of a man’s being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance in his life.

And inspirational leaders and motivational speakers who’ve read James Allen have been saying, “You attract what you fear.”

If you are over 30, you’ve probably seen this old Apple commercial that speaks to IBM’s Orwellian tactics of “old”. IBM was about control – and the Mac was about Freedom… Here, watch this, it’s awesome…

So my concern today (it’s been brewing now to the point I’ve gotta get it off my chest) is that Steve Jobs has become what he feared most – The New IBM.

Please allow me back up real quick and share my quick history with Apple – and it goes WAY back to the beginning. I was a HATER!

I got my first computer, a Commodore 64 in 1982 when I was 11. I then graduated to my first PC, an IBM 286 in 1985 just in time for Windows 1.0 & 2.x IBM’s OS 2. And then came Windows 3.0 in 1990.

Through all those years I taunted and bashed my friends for all the money they wasted on those pricey Apple systems. We even had PC/Apple wars in the old hacker scene.

Flash forward 20 years and after a dozen or so bad experiences with MP3 players of all kinds, my perception of Apple was forever changed when I got first Apple device, an iPod. From the packaging to the fit and finish, I’d never purchased anything like it.

Following the standard upgrade path, I then got an iPhone, and again, my life was forever changed. Sure, AT&T sucks and I dropped about 15% of my calls, but the phone is really bitchen…. I started with the 3G and then got a 3GS on launch day.

And then, the BIG DAY!

I was working on one of my start-up’s called Tweetmatix – a Twitter tool for small local businesses and I was asking this old school loco Apple ambassador evangelist Guy for advice as we were getting ready for a soft launch.

And even though the site looked great on MY PC and in all browsers, Guy repeatedly said that it looked like crap from his MacBookPro.

So out of frustration I went out and bought my own MacBook Pro for “testing purposes” – and even though the site looked fine (I’m not sure what the hell Guy had going with his system), my life was forever changed.

Even though I had every intention of returning the MacBook after we launched the site – at least that’s the story I tell my wife – I kept it – and I moved from Windows to the Mac. The system was so TIGHT that I just had to keep it. Plus the battery lasted longer than the 48 minutes I got from my POS HP laptop.

But now, as a Apple/Mac/iPhone user, I’m terribly concerned….

I never really cared about system openness because I usually hacked them to the point that they were as open as I wanted them. But today it’s different.

Today I do care.

I’ve wanted Flash on the iPhone since I got it. It wasn’t ever really promised but it was kind of implied that I, well we, would eventually get it. And now, for the last 6 months we’ve been told it won’t happen – that it will never happen.

So I went out and got a phone that does have Flash and I love it.

Last week I picked up a HTC Incredible running Android 2.1 and today I’m likely going to cancel my AT&T contract, and pay the early termination fee just because it makes sense.

I just don’t want to be told what I can and can’t do with my phone. I don’t want the limitations. If I am concerned about my battery life – let me be concerned about my battery life.

Don’t take my choices away – and make me wonder what’s I won’t be able to do next.