[Blaine]

This piece was posted at iLounge yesterday:


Customers Ask: Is Apple Going Rotten?

[Extract]

'Karma. Doing the "right thing." Thinking different. Apple's enlightened approach to building customer loyalty is now famous, generating big headlines every time CEO Steve Jobs takes on Hollywood or the music industry. Attempts to raise iTunes prices? "Greedy." A fight with NBC over revenues? "Give peace a chance." That's Apple, your socially-conscious corporate friend, who does right by you while standing up to big bullies -- sort of like a character from a Pixar movie.

But over the past two weeks, Apple's fans have been grumbling that the company they knew and loved is transforming into another Microsoft, making short-sighted, anti-consumer decisions and carelessly releasing products with user experience-diminishing problems. In response, an increasingly angry erosion of Apple's brand loyalty is beginning, with complaints mounting all over the Internet, including on the company's own discussion forums. This time, it's not just a cadre of Microsoft fans trying to anonymously stir up trouble for the Cupertino-based company, but rather legitimately upset Apple customers who are threatening boycotts of current and future iPod, iTunes, and Mac offerings.

Put aside Apple's $200 iPhone price drop, which generated a lot of anger but was quickly resolved by the company, and bugs in both new iPod and iTunes software, which the company is certainly working to repair. Instead, consider just four of the issues that are still largely unresolved by Apple, and the extreme anger and disappointment that its customers have been expressing as a result.'

 

[MoSXS]

I love my Apple products, but that article is definitely spot on.

Every point they touch on is completely true. Every single point seems more like something Microsoft would do and less like something Apple would do.

They really need to step up on all of those issues and make them right, or else they're going to find out just how fast they can lose their popularity.

Locking out video accessories is just plain wrong. As is telling the people who spent $50 or so on iPod games (theres a lot of them out there!) that they need to repurchase all of them again.

I'm also extremely upset about ringtones. I will certainly never spent money on a ringtone. Especially not when the last phone I had, a free one from the most draconian of all cellphone companies (Verizon) let me use my own sounds and songs for ringtones.

 

[dr.morton]

There are two seperate problems tackled here:
1. The so called "loyal" supporters have to realize that even Apple is only cooking with water. There is no logical reason to believe that the company is able to be top-dog with each new generation of products. To be able to be ahead of the pack (160 GB hard drive, slimer, longer battery life when it comes to the Classic) and keep the prices low, sacrifices have to be made.

2.The reason behind certain questionable decisions coming from Apple was IMO formulated in the "Peter Principle". Managers having a huge success with their company show the tendency to overestimate their abilities. At the peak of their glory they tend to believe that they can overcome any resistance easily - and fail. Customer satisfaction or brand loyality are not heaven send these days.

Honestly I do not understand the current outrage.

 

[afobisme]

what dont you understand?

 

[mirumu]

This is nothing new. Apple have always been this way. Almost every product they've ever released has had significant negative reactions or has caused them to be accused of anti-consumer behavior. They regularly break backwards compatibility (often with good reason) and frequently ignore consumer demands. Anyone who thinks the company has just suddenly changed has clearly not been a long time Apple customer.

That said, the reaction this time does seem a little more strong than usual. I'm not entirely sure why, it's not like they've done anything recently that's worse than some of the things they've done in the past.

Oh, I saw an article this morning that said Apple have acknowledged the problems with some iTouch displays. It would seem they're currently just deciding how to best resolve it. My guess is they'll replace them.

 

[Blaine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mirumu /img/forum/go_quote.gif Anyone who thinks the company has just suddenly changed has clearly not been a long time Apple customer.

Had that charge been levelled against Joe Blow, it might have been worth thinking about. As it is, this article has been written by iLounge's editor-in-chief and thus should be taken very seriously.

 

[ak40ozKevin]

I just think they need to drop a few product lines. It should be iPhone how it is now, the iPod touch with more storage to replace the classic, and the nano and shuffles. They need to quit worrying about product lines bleeding into eachother because that's not how iPods became successful in the first place.

There was no reason to cripple features in the iPod touch like Calendar and **** compared to the iPhone if it's wholly capable of doing the same thing. I just don't understand how they thought this out. It's all Apple products and if they sell their product shouldn't they be happy?

christ...

 

[mirumu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blaine /img/forum/go_quote.gif Had that charge been levelled against Joe Blow, it might have been worth thinking about. As it is, this article has been written by iLounge's editor-in-chief and thus should be taken very seriously.

I'm not disputing his conclusions. I'm just pointing out that to come out now and make the claim that Apple is suddenly going rotten suggests he hasn't been keeping his eye on the ball for quite a long time. Not a year goes by without Apple having a few class action lawsuits filed against them for various anti-consumer practises. That said, I doubt any other company would act differently in their position.

 

[kugino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mirumu /img/forum/go_quote.gif This is nothing new. Apple have always been this way. Almost every product they've ever released has had significant negative reactions or has caused them to be accused of anti-consumer behavior. They regularly break backwards compatibility (often with good reason) and frequently ignore consumer demands. Anyone who thinks the company has just suddenly changed has clearly not been a long time Apple customer. That said, the reaction this time does seem a little more strong than usual. I'm not entirely sure why, it's not like they've done anything recently that's worse than some of the things they've done in the past. Oh, I saw an article this morning that said Apple have acknowledged the problems with some iTouch displays. It would seem they're currently just deciding how to best resolve it. My guess is they'll replace them.

i disagree. apple has not "always" been this way. just because apple doesn't cave into consumer demand does not make them wrong. what is different in the last few weeks is that apple has made some very bad blunders. blunders that have touched the core of its loyal fanbase. i don't care what regular apple-bashers say - they'll criticize apple for every little reason. but when the fanboys start revolting, apple should listen.

i read a great blog post this morning by wil shipley, who develops the wonderful "delicious monster" software for the mac. his criticisms of apple are spot-on. i, too, am an apple "fanboy." but i, too, have seriously questioned some of the moves apple has made recently. i don't like the road they're going down...

 

[Blaine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mirumu /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm just pointing out that to come out now and make the claim that Apple is suddenly going rotten suggests he hasn't been keeping his eye on the ball for quite a long time.

Given who you are and who he is that's rather like a high school physics student suggesting that Einstein didn't have a clue what he was talking about.

 

[Blaine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kugino /img/forum/go_quote.gif apple has not "always" been this way. just because apple doesn't cave into consumer demand does not make them wrong. what is different in the last few weeks is that apple has made some very bad blunders. blunders that have touched the core of its loyal fanbase. i don't care what regular apple-bashers say - they'll criticize apple for every little reason. but when the fanboys start revolting, apple should listen.

You've just hit the nail on the head.

 

[mirumu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kugino /img/forum/go_quote.gif i disagree. apple has not "always" been this way.

Let me remind you of a few then...
*The Apple Lisa being released for about $10K which was essentially made obsolete by the $3K Mac a year later (iPhone deja-vu?)
*The early model Mac's RAM being un-upgradable in spite of consumer backlash.
*The Performa Mac line that was crippled to the extreme
*The Powerbook 5300 which had batteries catch fire and Apple did not react immediately.
*The revolt over iPod battery failures in 2004 (inspired a class action suit)
*The controversy over Apple supposedly ripping off Sherlock search from Watson.
*The controversy over Apple supposedly ripping off their OSX dashboard functionality from Konfabulator.
*Logic board faults in the 2006 Macbooks which Apple refused to replace (inspired a class action suit)
*Logic board faults in the European iBook G4s which Apple refused to replace (the court case was just settled the other day)
*The downgraded iMovie in iLife 08 that very recently caused quite a ruckus.

This isn't even a remotely complete list, I'm sure I've missed other big ones. It also doesn't mention the fanboy raving that has occurred every time apple have removed a port such as ADB, Nubus, SCSI, ADC and most recently the iPod dock video functionality.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kugino /img/forum/go_quote.gif just because apple doesn't cave into consumer demand does not make them wrong.

I agree.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kugino /img/forum/go_quote.gif what is different in the last few weeks is that apple has made some very bad blunders. blunders that have touched the core of its loyal fanbase. i don't care what regular apple-bashers say - they'll criticize apple for every little reason. but when the fanboys start revolting, apple should listen. i read a great blog post this morning by wil shipley, who develops the wonderful "delicious monster" software for the mac. his criticisms of apple are spot-on. i, too, am an apple "fanboy." but i, too, have seriously questioned some of the moves apple has made recently. i don't like the road they're going down...

The thing is, this isn't the first time the Apple "fanboys" have revolted. Every time Apple does something in the slightest bit stupid there's some dyed-in-the-wool Apple fanboys who suddenly decide they're never buying an Apple product again.

I don't hate Apple, I'm typing this on a Macbook Pro listening to a 6G iPod but I don't see them going out of their way to be nasty to consumers any more than usual. Don't take my word for it, this is all well documented on the web.

 

[mirumu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blaine /img/forum/go_quote.gif Given who you are and who he is that's rather like a high school physics student suggesting that Einstein didn't have a clue what he was talking about.

I'm sorry but that's just insulting and uncalled for. You don't have to agree with my view but if you seriously are comparing the editor of iLounge with Einstein and insulting me without the slightest knowledge of my education or background then you will have to excuse me if I don't take your statements seriously.

 

[globiboulga]

There's nothing new there. The only significant difference is that with the success of the iPod, Apple have now a real large customer base and they will find more and more unhappy customers...

Yes, they are milking the cow, that's to be expected. It just becomes more obvious for thousands that there is a contradiction between the image that Apple attempts to create (young, rebelious, cool, free) and what they are: a corporation which objective is to make as much profits as possible.

The classic SQ issue, the attempt to block rockbox, the accessories upgrade issues (which would have been fair is apple accessories did not work as well), etc. It's all starting to smell Microsoft... Well, Apple is out of wood. It's no better, it's no worse, it's THE SAME.

 

[nvkid909]

the apple image is still there but the white ipod fashion is dying. too many new products too soon & new incompatibilities means models become obsolete even quicker & people get wise to the whole cynical wholesale fleecing of customers. very arrogant. it happened with mobile phones & even they went back to basics - affordability, simplicity, good quality basic functions like decent camera etc.. sad thing is, still some folk will get sucked in by it. iphone in the uk can't do 3g - what's the point? i think too many people have seen that technology is overtaking apple now. all those tacky 512mb pen-drive mp3 players have caught up & then some - flash memory is increasing all the time which suggests the future is cheap, cheerful & probably basic. as long as it performs well (good DAC, user interface...). i'm no apple hater, intend getting an ibook soon, but i do feel the extortionate price of their pocket 'toys' (exclusivity, pah!) does not get ploughed back into making said toys & interfaces better, like the whole iphone / ipod sales is just a front for funding other things. like, an ipod (iphone?) is a fun device where their computers are for serious work. shame.