My dear Steve Jobs. Those were not the Androids we were looking for. And you still owe me an apology.

When you found a company that becomes hugely, a global brand, remake your industry, from scratch, then destroy it, remake it again, earn billions, lead your start-up from founding to world's most valuable, and design great product after great product, re-aligning multiple established industries in the process, while sitting atop a pile of cash equal to at least $60 billion American dollars, well...

it probably makes you actually believe you really are obi mother fucking wan kenobi

But, my dear Steve Jobs, you are not. And merely by saying something neither makes it so nor makes me believe it so.

And you still owe me an apology.

As I wrote last week:

I don't care if I want my smartphone to utilize the history of my locations. Or if I want a contextual recommendation engine. Nor even if Google bites the big donkey. Apple has placed my private information in jeapordy. By storing it, archiving it, making it easy to be transferred to other devices, they have placed the interests of services that do not exist yet, above me, the user.

Which I consider a betrayal.

I should have been told, in advance, what Apple was doing. I should have been provided, upfront, an opt-in setting for this. I should be offered the option, at anytime, to opt-in or opt-out. Even if every shred of intent of this location-tracking-storage feature was with my best interests in mind -- to provide better service, for example -- it is my decision, or should be, to *volunteer* this data to Apple.

Google may suck donkey for a host of reasons. But I volunteer to use their search engine. Facebook may be founded by a nerdy prick who wants my personal data to sell to advertisers, but I volunteer to participate on Facebook. And can leave anytime.

This is a betrayal by Apple. Plain and simple. I want an apology. I want an apology posted on Apple.com. Soon. 

And did I get my apology?

No. Not yet. The "monomaniacl" Jobs has dug in his heels. Waved his hand before our face. But it won't work. 

Jobs' (reported) response to a MacRumors questioner:

Questioner: Could you please explain the necessity of the passive location-tracking tool embedded in my iPhone? It’s kind of unnerving knowing that my exact location is being recorded at all times. Maybe you could shed some light on this for me before I switch to a Droid. They don’t track me.

Jobs: Oh yes they do. We don’t track anyone. The info circulating around is false.

Sent from my iPhone

Steve, Steve, Steve, Steve...This is bullshit. You know it. I know it. So the questioner fucked up and said "my exact location". So what? You think you've found an opening? That's bush league, Steve. Of course (far as we know) iPhone doesn't track our "exact location". What it does do is track *and store* our approximate location, going back since...when, Steve? Months? A year? And for you to to say Apple "doesn't track anyone" when you know, Steve, you know, that it is not us you are tracking but our iPhones, which we carry on us everywhere that you are actively disrespecting your customers.

That's bogus. Some say this is a software fuck-up. I don't believe that, but I'm willing to accept that. However, the *moment* Apple knew this was happening, which appears to be the moment this service was launched, Apple should have *told* its customers and had an opt-in feature, on the iPhone, *and* a reminder *every time* we were (unknowingly) transferring that archived location data to our other devices.

Apple fucked up. Get David Pogue, get AllThings D to spread FUD. It won't work on this one, Steve. Apple should not be tracking us -- or, at minimum, since we do so love to give up our personal information in exchange for goodies, Apple should be proactively informing us of this tracking and allowing us to opt-in (not opt-out) and to change our mind about it at anytime.

You know this is so, Steve, no matter what Google/Android are doing. Which simply isn't as bad -- and you know that as well.

I still await my apology.