From the iMac to the iPad, Apple's design sense has typically been synonymous with "sleek and sexy." Sometimes, though, it gets a little carried away. Take for example the 1998 USB Mouse, aka "the hockey puck" -- colorful, translucent, and... where's that mouse button again? Or the , a bronze-colored $7500 monstrosity meant to honor Apple's 20th birthday in 1997 but ended up tarnishing it. Or the Power Mac G4 Cube: Beautiful to look at, assuming you got one that wasn't cracked, but not all that useful unless you need a to hold your fish. Call it the 3F rule: When form triumphs over function, it usually leads to failure.

In the Apple universe there's only one way to do things: Steve's way. Want to develop apps for the iPhone or iPad? You'll have to meet Apple's arbitrary and . Want to use Flash in your app? Go talk to those Android people, they'll take anything. You say your ? . Sure that "tightly controlled ecosystem" Apple fan boys like to brag about leads to fewer technical snags, but Jobs' obsession with control also drives the nonfaithful to the more free (if less reliable) world of Android.

Apple is like the mean kid on the playground who has all the cool toys. Cross him and he'll get his goons to pummel you. Like, for example, the company's in 2004 and 2005, all of whom had the temerity to publish news about Apple products before the company had officially released them. (Imagine Apple trying to do the same thing today to the thousands of blogs that breathlessly repeat every iPhone rumor.) Or last year, when police raided the home of Gizmodo blogger Jason Chen after he got his hands on a lost iPhone 4 prototype. later revealed that Apple met with police and , claiming his blog post was "" to the company. But the only real damage was to Apple's reputation.