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A letter to Apple

M

mystic man

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 1, 2009
51
0
Athens, Greece
[please whatever you have to post, post it after you have read my thoughts, just hear me out, thats all I ask]

Apple,

I ve been your fan for quite some years
I ve always admired your innovative products and the way you thought different
but it seems as lately you have lost your focus on your true fans, and pursue a hunt to the most profit market.
That is not bad because profit is what keeps a company going.
But what seperates a company that stays loyal to their fans and just another faceless company going for profit is how loyal it stays to the customers and fans that has already created.

Of course when having 7 billion people on the planet and more than 7 billion mobile devices, with demand for more, thats the market you want to be in, I understand this.
But you simply do not forget where you came from.

My computer died on may, I decided not to purchase anything though I was in a serious need for it, till July when new mac products would be released. Nothing was announced on the WWDC. I decided to purchase a cheap pc just something to get me through the following months, and would pass it on to my father when new mac desktop computers would be announced, as he is also in a need for computer.
What does not fit in this equation is, that there is no effort that can be seen, that Apple desktop computers line is going for a refresh or even a renewal. And I m most concerned for the mini, thats why this is posted here.

In my house I have 2 TVs I use also for monitors, they are 42'' and 32'' thus I have no use for an iMac because another screen doesnot fit in my setup. My best fit is a mac mini. I love mac minis. They re small, they fit anywhere, they do not take too much place, not so many wires running around. It fits my needs perfectly! But buying a mini now, with technology of 3 years old, on that price, is just out of the question.

I hate to be that guy that always brings this up, or thinks that way, but if Steve was alive, would he have left it this like this? I truly believe no. Because as much as he knew he has to stay in the game with new technologies and trying to compete in the most emerging markets, he never forgot where he started of, and the customer base he already had.

As much as I say to myself I will wait till new mac computers come out, I really do not think I can hold on much longer. I am not the only one on this position, I know there are a lot of people with the same needs as mine. From me you are losing a purchase of a mac mini with a keyboard and a trackpad and whatever gear I would have bought down the way, plus an extra mini I would have loved to buy for my father after seeing mine. But multiply this by all the people that are on the same position as me. We have to go somewhere. If you do not give us what we need, we will have to look elsewhere.

Dont forget where you coming from Apple.
 
mystic man said:
[please whatever you have to post, post it after you have read my thoughts, just hear me out, thats all I ask]

Apple,

I ve been your fan for quite some years
I ve always admired your innovative products and the way you thought different
but it seems as lately you have lost your focus on your true fans, and pursue a hunt to the most profit market.
That is not bad because profit is what keeps a company going.
But what seperates a company that stays loyal to their fans and just another faceless company going for profit is how loyal it stays to the customers and fans that has already created.

Of course when having 7 billion people on the planet and more than 7 billion mobile devices, with demand for more, thats the market you want to be in, I understand this.
But you simply do not forget where you came from.

My computer died on may, I decided not to purchase anything though I was in a serious need for it, till July when new mac products would be released. Nothing was announced on the WWDC. I decided to purchase a cheap pc just something to get me through the following months, and would pass it on to my father when new mac desktop computers would be announced, as he is also in a need for computer.
What does not fit in this equation is, that there is no effort that can be seen, that Apple desktop computers line is going for a refresh or even a renewal. And I m most concerned for the mini, thats why this is posted here.

In my house I have 2 TVs I use also for monitors, they are 42'' and 32'' thus I have no use for an iMac because another screen doesnot fit in my setup. My best fit is a mac mini. I love mac minis. They re small, they fit anywhere, they do not take too much place, not so many wires running around. It fits my needs perfectly! But buying a mini now, with technology of 3 years old, on that price, is just out of the question.

I hate to be that guy that always brings this up, or thinks that way, but if Steve was alive, would he have left it this like this? I truly believe no. Because as much as he knew he has to stay in the game with new technologies and trying to compete in the most emerging markets, he never forgot where he started of, and the customer base he already had.

As much as I say to myself I will wait till new mac computers come out, I really do not think I can hold on much longer. I am not the only one on this position, I know there are a lot of people with the same needs as mine. From me you are losing a purchase of a mac mini with a keyboard and a trackpad and whatever gear I would have bought down the way, plus an extra mini I would have loved to buy for my father after seeing mine. But multiply this by all the people that are on the same position as me. We have to go somewhere. If you do not give us what we need, we will have to look elsewhere.

Dont forget where you coming from Apple.
Click to expand...

You are the voice of so many people. Thank you for putting our frustration on to paper. But i personally doubt if Apple will listen. It is sad. I need a Mac Mini also...
 
While I do agree with parts of your letter, it does annoy me when people do the whole "Steve wouldn't allow this" crap. They guy is no saint, he made mistakes too and I don't honestly believe we would be in a different situation than we are now, if Steve Jobs was still alive

He is just one man - one man did not make Apple what it is today, nor will it dictate what it will be in the future. It was a combination of him and the people he surrounded himself with - e.g Jonathan Ive that shaped Apple and will continue to shape Apple.

/rant over.:eek:
 
My guess is your wait will soon be over...first you get people addicted to your new gadgets,then once you have them hooked you sell them your even more expensive computers....couple this with the fact windows 8 is just around the middle of oct,i would expect to see both a new mini and new imac a week or so before win 8.
 
mystic man said:
[please whatever you have to post, post it after you have read my thoughts, just hear me out, thats all I ask]

Apple,

I ve been your fan for quite some years
I ve always admired your innovative products and the way you thought different
but it seems as lately you have lost your focus on your true fans, and pursue a hunt to the most profit market.
That is not bad because profit is what keeps a company going.
But what seperates a company that stays loyal to their fans and just another faceless company going for profit is how loyal it stays to the customers and fans that has already created.

Of course when having 7 billion people on the planet and more than 7 billion mobile devices, with demand for more, thats the market you want to be in, I understand this.
But you simply do not forget where you came from.

My computer died on may, I decided not to purchase anything though I was in a serious need for it, till July when new mac products would be released. Nothing was announced on the WWDC. I decided to purchase a cheap pc just something to get me through the following months, and would pass it on to my father when new mac desktop computers would be announced, as he is also in a need for computer.
What does not fit in this equation is, that there is no effort that can be seen, that Apple desktop computers line is going for a refresh or even a renewal. And I m most concerned for the mini, thats why this is posted here.

In my house I have 2 TVs I use also for monitors, they are 42'' and 32'' thus I have no use for an iMac because another screen doesnot fit in my setup. My best fit is a mac mini. I love mac minis. They re small, they fit anywhere, they do not take too much place, not so many wires running around. It fits my needs perfectly! But buying a mini now, with technology of 3 years old, on that price, is just out of the question.

I hate to be that guy that always brings this up, or thinks that way, but if Steve was alive, would he have left it this like this? I truly believe no. Because as much as he knew he has to stay in the game with new technologies and trying to compete in the most emerging markets, he never forgot where he started of, and the customer base he already had.

As much as I say to myself I will wait till new mac computers come out, I really do not think I can hold on much longer. I am not the only one on this position, I know there are a lot of people with the same needs as mine. From me you are losing a purchase of a mac mini with a keyboard and a trackpad and whatever gear I would have bought down the way, plus an extra mini I would have loved to buy for my father after seeing mine. But multiply this by all the people that are on the same position as me. We have to go somewhere. If you do not give us what we need, we will have to look elsewhere.

Dont forget where you coming from Apple.
Click to expand...

Have you received any response from Apple ?
 
You are being too sentimental. It's a company whose goals are short-term profits, they have been for a while now. Your loyalty is useless, it may have worked in 90s, this sort of approach.
Steve Jobs was a genius salesmen but placing him on pedestal as a "spokesperson of people" is not sensible.

I like Apple and their products but I don't delude myself, they're a corporation, if they feel like desktops aren't earning enough they won't hesitate to cut them off. Tim Cook does not make these decisions alone, they have board of directors and they make these decisions based on facts (=sales numbers), not on loyal customers.

Get over it.
 
comatory said:
You are being too sentimental. It's a company whose goals are short-term profits, they have been for a while now. Your loyalty is useless, it may have worked in 90s, this sort of approach.
Steve Jobs was a genius salesmen but placing him on pedestal as a "spokesperson of people" is not sensible.

I like Apple and their products but I don't delude myself, they're a corporation, if they feel like desktops aren't earning enough they won't hesitate to cut them off. Tim Cook does not make these decisions alone, they have board of directors and they make these decisions based on facts (=sales numbers), not on loyal customers.

Get over it.
Click to expand...

That got them into trouble once in the past... Don't you remember?
And yes, Apple was different because they had one man that had to say yes or no on every single product... Luckily that man had very good taste and judgement... Not so sure they have one now.
 
I just want to say that it's cool you wrote a letter, better than b[tch]ng on forums only, I too would be interested in the answer (if there was any, in the first place.)

@borostef: They had board of directors even with Jobs, I mean every corporation/company that goes public has them. Steve Jobs had to answer to them, Tim Cook has to, you just don't see these decision or hear about them.
 
comatory said:
@borostef: They had board of directors even with Jobs, I mean every corporation/company that goes public has them. Steve Jobs had to answer to them, Tim Cook has to, you just don't see these decision or hear about them.
Click to expand...

Of course they have board of directors... All I am saying is that it is not a good thing when you have a bunch of guys deciding on creativity side of things...
All creative input is always welcome but it should not be stifled by corporate gibberish... I have read a very interesting article on how Microsoft got their creative process completely wrong and alienated their own employees, I just hope it doesn't happen to Apple... It would be a shame...

Link to the article:
http://m.vanityfair.com/business/2012/08/microsoft-lost-mojo-steve-ballmer
 
stuaz said:
While I do agree with parts of your letter, it does annoy me when people do the whole "Steve wouldn't allow this" crap. They guy is no saint, he made mistakes too and I don't honestly believe we would be in a different situation than we are now, if Steve Jobs was still alive

He is just one man - one man did not make Apple what it is today, nor will it dictate what it will be in the future. It was a combination of him and the people he surrounded himself with - e.g Jonathan Ive that shaped Apple and will continue to shape Apple.

/rant over.:eek:
Click to expand...

This made me chuckle. You are annoyed by people saying Steve wouldn't allow this crap. Yet you respond with Steve would allow this crap. :D

To the OP - good for you! I hope you receive a response.
 
I'm all for letting companies know when you are dissatisfied and satisfied with them. But I think that your letter would be taken more seriously by Apple if you had taken the time to use your built-in spell/grammar checker and dictionary.

The first thing I noticed when reading the letter were all the errors; they detract from the message. Companies like Apple receive thousands of letters and e-mail messages every day and you want to stand out from the crowd. Don't give the recipient a reason to easily dismiss what you wrote.

What may be acceptable to some when it comes to text messaging, online forums, etc. isn't the norm in the business world.

I will probably be accused of being an elitist Grammar Nazi. But even though I do a lot of writing as part of my work and I am proficient, I make good use of the available tools to check my spelling and grammar. Computers have made it a lot easier to edit writing; I don't miss analog dictionaries one bit... Errors still happen, but not very often.
 
It was on his Steveness's watch that the mini was allowed to continue with a GMA950 for so long it became a bit of a running joke on the web. As long as current product sells, they will not upgrade unless they are forced to by suppliers or the market.
 
mystic man said:
[please whatever you have to post, post it after you have read my thoughts, just hear me out, thats all I ask]

Apple,

I ve been your fan for quite some years
I ve always admired your innovative products and the way you thought different
but it seems as lately you have lost your focus on your true fans, and pursue a hunt to the most profit market.
That is not bad because profit is what keeps a company going.
But what seperates a company that stays loyal to their fans and just another faceless company going for profit is how loyal it stays to the customers and fans that has already created.

Of course when having 7 billion people on the planet and more than 7 billion mobile devices, with demand for more, thats the market you want to be in, I understand this.
But you simply do not forget where you came from.

My computer died on may, I decided not to purchase anything though I was in a serious need for it, till July when new mac products would be released. Nothing was announced on the WWDC. I decided to purchase a cheap pc just something to get me through the following months, and would pass it on to my father when new mac desktop computers would be announced, as he is also in a need for computer.
What does not fit in this equation is, that there is no effort that can be seen, that Apple desktop computers line is going for a refresh or even a renewal. And I m most concerned for the mini, thats why this is posted here.

In my house I have 2 TVs I use also for monitors, they are 42'' and 32'' thus I have no use for an iMac because another screen doesnot fit in my setup. My best fit is a mac mini. I love mac minis. They re small, they fit anywhere, they do not take too much place, not so many wires running around. It fits my needs perfectly! But buying a mini now, with technology of 3 years old, on that price, is just out of the question.

I hate to be that guy that always brings this up, or thinks that way, but if Steve was alive, would he have left it this like this? I truly believe no. Because as much as he knew he has to stay in the game with new technologies and trying to compete in the most emerging markets, he never forgot where he started of, and the customer base he already had.

As much as I say to myself I will wait till new mac computers come out, I really do not think I can hold on much longer. I am not the only one on this position, I know there are a lot of people with the same needs as mine. From me you are losing a purchase of a mac mini with a keyboard and a trackpad and whatever gear I would have bought down the way, plus an extra mini I would have loved to buy for my father after seeing mine. But multiply this by all the people that are on the same position as me. We have to go somewhere. If you do not give us what we need, we will have to look elsewhere.

Dont forget where you coming from Apple.
Click to expand...

HAAAA!! HA HA HA!! I cannot believe this big long belly ache of a letter was written simply because the 2011 MacMini hasn't been refreshed since July 2011. A 14 month old computer!!! *shudder*
 
Hitch08 said:
This made me chuckle. You are annoyed by people saying Steve wouldn't allow this crap. Yet you respond with Steve would allow this crap. :D

To the OP - good for you! I hope you receive a response.
Click to expand...

I think you missed the point of my post but nevermind :)
 
pc replacement for Mac mini?

What's a good pc to replace a current Mac mini? About 90% dedicated to play my video library on HiDef TV via VLC and sometimes plex, 1080p HDMI. My bank of 16 3TB hard drives (2 feeds of 8 drives each) making up the library really needs to feed through USB3, USB2 occasionally stalls for a moment on VLC though not on plex. eSATA (with the ability to recognize the multiple hard drives on a single feed) would be even better. Willing to build. Looking to spend a little under $1,000.

The mini's small shelf space is nice but a full size pc case is OK; I'll hide it. Running quiet would be nice.
 
I have serious doubts whether steve would have felt the way you suggest, it's a tiny beautiful computer.

It has an i5/i7 cpu with thunderbolt ? What are you looking for here?
 
I'll wait for a new Mac mini until the end of october, if Apple doesn't release it I will have to get this:

MB: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP5-TH thunderbolt motherboard
CPU: Core i5 3570K or Core i7-3770K both with HD4000
RAM: 2x 8Gb - Corsair CMX16GX3M2A1600C11 kit

Already have:
USB Bluetooth | TARGUS ACB20EU-22
Mushkin Chronos Deluxe SSD 240GB 2,5" MKNSSDCR240GB-DX
Apple wireless keyboard
Apple magic trackpad
Apple 27 thunderbolt display
 
nfilg said:
I'll wait for a new Mac mini until the end of october, if Apple doesn't release it I will have to get this:

MB: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP5-TH thunderbolt motherboard
CPU: Core i5 3570K or Core i7-3770K both with HD4000
RAM: 2x 8Gb - Corsair CMX16GX3M2A1600C11 kit

Already have:
USB Bluetooth | TARGUS ACB20EU-22
Mushkin Chronos Deluxe SSD 240GB 2,5" MKNSSDCR240GB-DX
Apple wireless keyboard
Apple magic trackpad
Apple 27 thunderbolt display
Click to expand...

Nice build, but no video card?
 
ToothTooth said:
HAAAA!! HA HA HA!! I cannot believe this big long belly ache of a letter was written simply because the 2011 MacMini hasn't been refreshed since July 2011. A 14 month old computer!!! *shudder*
Click to expand...

Yes, shudder. 14 months is eons in computer world.

And it wasn't new tech when it came out.

I can't believe some people are such fanboys that they will put up with any garbage and smile about it. Or worse, mock and criticise others who have more sense than them.
 
What goes up, must go down... So will it be with apple to.

Very nice letter, but so sentimental, (i know what you feel)

I'm also in for a new laptop or desktop, but i'm allready looking to alternatives.
I know windows for Graphic design market isn't that great, but the gap between this to major companies is getting smaller. So if they not come with something, i buy a used one. No money to this company.
The other companies like asus and dell or coming with nice machines.
IPS, better graphic card, same options but cheaper.

Cupertino shares will grow a little bit (maybe reaching the 800$ could be possible), but then they are on the way back.
They will be victim of their own succes, spoiled the people 5 years with new gadgets with beautiful designs and innovations, they've been a trendsetter for the mobile market, design market (now trying tv market) ... but they forgot that if you (as a parent) should spoil your own child to much, that the child will always want more. They are really losing their minds.

The apple hype will go on untill the people become smarter...
Some our really worshipping a company.:D A company??? Come one.
Apple is becoming a hype... Hypes don't last long periods of time.
 
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