I’m seeing more and more anti-Apple blogs lately like the one Dave Winer posted yesterday. Why is that?
Well, Apple is getting bigger and bigger and our attitude is changing. Seven years ago Apple was a cute company that was in severe trouble. People generally like rooting for the underdog. Microsoft was (and still is, really) on top so it was fun rooting against Microsoft and for the company with 4% market share.
Then they started doing stuff we liked. The stores? Sheer genius. iPods? Finally we had a great player for our MP3 collections (which many of the geeks I knew had started collecting in the mid 1990s). Macs? Moved to Intel chips. Finally we could use Windows and whatever weird OS Apple produced on the same machine. Speaking of that weird OS. Back in the 1990s it was pretty damn buggy. I remember making fun of Steve Broback cause he was an Apple freak and his Mac seemed to crash every few minutes. Compare to NT4 and Microsoft was way ahead back then. But then they brought out OSX, which was based on Unix. Overnight it seemed like my friends who were Linux geeks switched over to OSX.
Now those geeks have to wait in line at Apple stores just to get machines fixed. My son today went to a Genius bar and had to wait until 8 p.m. to get help. That didn’t used to be the case.
Add in that even Dell has bloggers and has a team of people dedicated to building relationships with bloggers while Apple employees aren’t even allowed to talk with you if you’re a blogger at the iPhone Dev Camps (at least they aren’t allowed to identify themselves as being an Apple employee).
But back to Dave Winer’s post. It’s totally ridiculous to charge $160 for a drive that costs $90 elsewhere and then force the buyer to give over his old hard drive. Freaking amazing.
So much for the brand promise of Apple.
On the other hand, when my son’s iPod battery died they gave him a new iPod without asking too many questions. That was pretty cool.
Anyway, is your opinion of Apple changing lately? Or do you think they have nothing to worry about?
Something a few have mentioned on here and Dave Winer’s blog re BMW cars being top quality and priced accordingly: not sure what the view is like in the US but in the UK BMW’s definitely do not have that image; there are more BMW 3 series sold than Ford Mondeos. BMW’s are not in the slightest bit exclusive, or, in my view stylish/well designed.
Give me an Audi any day.
I worked briefly for Apple around 1980 and was allowed to test keyboards and that was all, despite a fine resume. All the good line jobs went to revered older Vietnamese ladies who did absolutely nothing. Ever curious I found bad chips but you had be a degreed male engineer to replace them. Hilarity ensued at the grand opening when the much awaited air balloon was overinflated by the drunken operators. Free beer and t-shirts weren’t enough to make up for 8 hours a day being paid nothing, hard work and being treated poorly. It left a bad taste in my mouth. I will never spend a dime on any Apple product. Yeah I know Kiddos - bitter old lady in Texas - but I was sole support of my family.
I worked briefly for Apple around 1980 and was allowed to test keyboards and that was all, despite a fine resume. All the good line jobs went to revered older Vietnamese ladies who did absolutely nothing. Ever curious I found bad chips but you had be a degreed male engineer to replace them. Hilarity ensued at the grand opening when the much awaited air balloon was overinflated by the drunken operators. Free beer and t-shirts weren’t enough to make up for 8 hours a day being paid nothing, hard work and being treated poorly. It left a bad taste in my mouth. I will never spend a dime on any Apple product. Yeah I know Kiddos - bitter old lady in Texas - but I was sole support of my family.
Heh yeah, go to repair a BMW out of warranty and see if you think you are getting value for the product.
As for having to go somewhere to get a product fixed? That’s just lame.
Dell users don’t have to deal with that since they make a phone call and either have someone come to their house/place of business to do the repair or a box arrives next day for them to ship the computer back.
And as far as iPod being the best media player out there? Yeah, right. It’s just the most stylish.
I think that the Creative players are every bit of good and are a much better value, you just don’t get the “cool” factor of owning the latest “designed in California/built in China” Apple toy.
Heh yeah, go to repair a BMW out of warranty and see if you think you are getting value for the product.
As for having to go somewhere to get a product fixed? That’s just lame.
Dell users don’t have to deal with that since they make a phone call and either have someone come to their house/place of business to do the repair or a box arrives next day for them to ship the computer back.
And as far as iPod being the best media player out there? Yeah, right. It’s just the most stylish.
I think that the Creative players are every bit of good and are a much better value, you just don’t get the “cool” factor of owning the latest “designed in California/built in China” Apple toy.
Ever since they dropped the “Computer” from their name they’ve been building up a pretty consistent track record of bad karma. Just a biiiit more of this, and Apple will bury itself in the hole it keeps digging up. I think Steve needs his soul aura cleansed.
Ever since they dropped the “Computer” from their name they’ve been building up a pretty consistent track record of bad karma. Just a biiiit more of this, and Apple will bury itself in the hole it keeps digging up. I think Steve needs his soul aura cleansed.
BTW #55:
So when Mac people do it they were just being “bitterly defensive” (how noble and upstanding). But when Windows people do it they are “whiners” (how childish). Got it.
I love it when such brilliance shines through from the murkiest turd.
BTW #55:
So when Mac people do it they were just being “bitterly defensive” (how noble and upstanding). But when Windows people do it they are “whiners” (how childish). Got it.
I love it when such brilliance shines through from the murkiest turd.
I find it amusing that in all the noise, the signal - that Winer’s whole case blows up when you see that it’s based on an error (assumed a 2.5″ drive is roughly the same price as a 3.5″ drive) - has been ignored.
On the other hand, the ignorance seems willful (Winer has yet to even approve my comment on this), so I’ll put it down to ego rather than stupidity.
I find it amusing that in all the noise, the signal - that Winer’s whole case blows up when you see that it’s based on an error (assumed a 2.5″ drive is roughly the same price as a 3.5″ drive) - has been ignored.
On the other hand, the ignorance seems willful (Winer has yet to even approve my comment on this), so I’ll put it down to ego rather than stupidity.
If I were Apple, and I were promising to “Think Different,” I would work my hardest to avoid acting like those I was supposed to be thinking different from.
That sentence is a grammatical nightmare, but maybe you see my point.
Much has been made of the fact that Dave Winer may not have asked in advance to keep his old drive, or read the fine print, and so on. I think what he has pointed out is that there shouldn’t be fine print, and the company should do the asking.
IP, or “data” if it’s on a hard drive, is important after all. Even the MPAA agrees.
If I were Apple, and I were promising to “Think Different,” I would work my hardest to avoid acting like those I was supposed to be thinking different from.
That sentence is a grammatical nightmare, but maybe you see my point.
Much has been made of the fact that Dave Winer may not have asked in advance to keep his old drive, or read the fine print, and so on. I think what he has pointed out is that there shouldn’t be fine print, and the company should do the asking.
IP, or “data” if it’s on a hard drive, is important after all. Even the MPAA agrees.
On the premise that Apple launches inferior products masquerading as cutting edge, and limits usage primarily to its own software (the iPhone and iPod being prime examples)I will snub and boycott anything from now on which comes out with an “i” in front of a capital letter!
On the premise that Apple launches inferior products masquerading as cutting edge, and limits usage primarily to its own software (the iPhone and iPod being prime examples)I will snub and boycott anything from now on which comes out with an “i” in front of a capital letter!
I’ll use a frikkin’ abacus before I buy ANYTHING associated with Apple/Mac/Steve Jobs.
I’ll use a frikkin’ abacus before I buy ANYTHING associated with Apple/Mac/Steve Jobs.
It’s just bound to happen as Apple grows in popularity and mindset. And this is true for anybody: the more tech you put in your devices, the more ways things may go wrong. It’s the price of advancement as Apple strives to be more cutting edge than anyone else. And what was said above is true: people almost never switch from Mac to Windows, and that speaks volumes.
I think the more interesting argument is how Apple is handling customer service when problems do pop up.
It’s just bound to happen as Apple grows in popularity and mindset. And this is true for anybody: the more tech you put in your devices, the more ways things may go wrong. It’s the price of advancement as Apple strives to be more cutting edge than anyone else. And what was said above is true: people almost never switch from Mac to Windows, and that speaks volumes.
I think the more interesting argument is how Apple is handling customer service when problems do pop up.
In high school we had to use PowerMacs and then the first imacs for laying out the newspaper in Pagemaker. Freezing was a regular problem, and with no restart button, we were forced to create the iMac repair center: an uncoiled paper clip housed in a place of honor on the chalk rail to jam into the little hole the restarted the cruddy things.
While I own other apples products, my negative apple experience at school (vs. the fully functional PC I had at home) will always make me hesitant to “go mac” for my primary computer.
In high school we had to use PowerMacs and then the first imacs for laying out the newspaper in Pagemaker. Freezing was a regular problem, and with no restart button, we were forced to create the iMac repair center: an uncoiled paper clip housed in a place of honor on the chalk rail to jam into the little hole the restarted the cruddy things.
While I own other apples products, my negative apple experience at school (vs. the fully functional PC I had at home) will always make me hesitant to “go mac” for my primary computer.
Well, with Apple’s stock above $200 for a time lately, Scoble and Winer’s campaign to influence people against the company appears to be faring poorly. Furthermore, Apple is just about the only tech stock above the market average. With enemies like them….
Well, with Apple’s stock above $200 for a time lately, Scoble and Winer’s campaign to influence people against the company appears to be faring poorly. Furthermore, Apple is just about the only tech stock above the market average. With enemies like them….
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It’s totally ridiculous to charge $160 for a drive that costs $90 elsewhere
I’d love to know where to find a $90 portable notebook hard drive for $90, because I can’t find one for less than $120 and that’s from Tiger Direct.
It’s totally ridiculous to charge $160 for a drive that costs $90 elsewhere
I’d love to know where to find a $90 portable notebook hard drive for $90, because I can’t find one for less than $120 and that’s from Tiger Direct.
Apple had the same philosophy in the 80′s that prevented them from becoming ubiquitous, extreme control. I remember in 1985 going to an apple store to just fix some hard drive problem and being charged $400. Closed systems, limited resellers, exploting customers and bottlenecks are the antithesis of mass market adoption. The reason must be obvious.
Apple had the same philosophy in the 80′s that prevented them from becoming ubiquitous, extreme control. I remember in 1985 going to an apple store to just fix some hard drive problem and being charged $400. Closed systems, limited resellers, exploting customers and bottlenecks are the antithesis of mass market adoption. The reason must be obvious.
Apple: (1) Applecare repairs are hit or miss - sometimes they are really nice and fix it for you right away, sometimes they are evil and blame you for fake water damage.
(2) Apple puts out buggy software in their updates and waits for the complaints to come in. Don’t be a chump and upgrade without checking up on it first.
(3) The apple Ipod - in general a good product but too expensive for what it is seems MS and Apple may have switched roles in this regard (Zune is superior product (save the ipod Touch)) and if you bought itunes music you have to risk violating DMCA to get your stuff on another player.
Apple OS X, even 10.4 way ahead of anything on a PC. Period. Windows is extremely frustrating and a time suck. Thus, pure and simple the only reason I stay apple and even continue to convert my machines to apple is the OS. After all of the disappointing experiences, if another flavor of Linux ever becomes consumer friendly I would seriously consider switching. I do not have the time to compile everything I want to install or recompile the Kernal or all the other crap that linuxites think everyone should spend there time doing. Not worth it. But if another supported flavor of unix was available I would definitely consider ditching Apple due to its unfriendly treatment of its customers.
Hey google-put out a unix flavored OS that is a more open!
Apple: (1) Applecare repairs are hit or miss - sometimes they are really nice and fix it for you right away, sometimes they are evil and blame you for fake water damage.
(2) Apple puts out buggy software in their updates and waits for the complaints to come in. Don’t be a chump and upgrade without checking up on it first.
(3) The apple Ipod - in general a good product but too expensive for what it is seems MS and Apple may have switched roles in this regard (Zune is superior product (save the ipod Touch)) and if you bought itunes music you have to risk violating DMCA to get your stuff on another player.
Apple OS X, even 10.4 way ahead of anything on a PC. Period. Windows is extremely frustrating and a time suck. Thus, pure and simple the only reason I stay apple and even continue to convert my machines to apple is the OS. After all of the disappointing experiences, if another flavor of Linux ever becomes consumer friendly I would seriously consider switching. I do not have the time to compile everything I want to install or recompile the Kernal or all the other crap that linuxites think everyone should spend there time doing. Not worth it. But if another supported flavor of unix was available I would definitely consider ditching Apple due to its unfriendly treatment of its customers.
Hey google-put out a unix flavored OS that is a more open!
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