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Is Apple losing some of its shine?
- Thread starter IJ Reilly
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Honestly, I don't think the control issues are taking off any shine that Apple previously had. This is Apple for God's sake. If they weren't manipulative and controlling, I'd be suspicious.
I think they do need to get their arms around launch quality. Go study quality circles or read up on Deming or Ford, or go visit a Toyota plant, or whatever works for them. But they need to rapidly improve their J1 capabilities before the general population becomes aware of what we know about recent Apple launches.
I think they do need to get their arms around launch quality. Go study quality circles or read up on Deming or Ford, or go visit a Toyota plant, or whatever works for them. But they need to rapidly improve their J1 capabilities before the general population becomes aware of what we know about recent Apple launches.
Bravo mkrishnan, couldn't agree more. It seems that many are willing to give Apple a pass when their first rev. stuff comes out with major issues (Macbook shutdowns, discoloring, MBP yellowing, sound issues, among the many other issues). Their quality has gone downhill big time from where they used to be.
I also agree with the article; Apple has definitely made some questionable decisions lately. They've left a LOT of their biggest fanatics in a quandary.
This will probably ruffle some feathers, but Apple has engaged in some practices that not even Microsoft has ventured into, and that isn't a good thing. Instead of looking at Apple like a friend that you love to love, they're much more of a monopolistic, completely bottom-line driven company, exactly like Microsoft. Of course, they always were (point of companies is to make money), but at least they convinced their users and fans that they didn't act like one.
I'm not sure of that anymore...whatever happened to "Think Different" Steve?
Answer: just more snazzy, hip, anti-The-Man Apple marketing.
I also agree with the article; Apple has definitely made some questionable decisions lately. They've left a LOT of their biggest fanatics in a quandary.
This will probably ruffle some feathers, but Apple has engaged in some practices that not even Microsoft has ventured into, and that isn't a good thing. Instead of looking at Apple like a friend that you love to love, they're much more of a monopolistic, completely bottom-line driven company, exactly like Microsoft. Of course, they always were (point of companies is to make money), but at least they convinced their users and fans that they didn't act like one.
I'm not sure of that anymore...whatever happened to "Think Different" Steve?
Answer: just more snazzy, hip, anti-The-Man Apple marketing.
It's always amusing when someone charges a company with being "greedy." No company that isn't "completely bottom-line driven" survives for very long. I also don't see any obvious truth in the charge that Apple's quality control has taken a dive, or that they suddenly care less about their customers. I think this is largely an illusion created by having far more customers. More customers equals more complaints. This is the inescapable result of success.
Really? When was the last time Apple had such widespread issues (as a %) with their products?
For example (in past 2 years):
1. Latest rev. 15'' Powerbook vertical lines
2. Macbook shutdowns/logic board failures
3. Macbook yellowing/discoloring
4. battery issues
5. MBP yellowing/warping batteries
6. iPod touch screen issue
7. New iMac freezing?
Yes, Apple has more customers, and more customers means more problems. However, I don't recall that they were having these kind of issues even 3-4 years ago.
There were. The infamous pitting of the PowerBook wrist rests. The infamous rev. A iMac G5. And I'm sure others-- those are just ones that I was more aware of (due to the timing of when I started paying more attention to Apple hardware).This is what worries me:
He called the recent iPhone upgrade and resulting disabling of non-Apple software a sign that the company was "looking at people who tamper with their products as hackers, not coders."
I can't think of any great examples off the top of my head other than CoverFlow, but Apple and any other great software company that is smart will learn of new and great apps and features and buy them off and implement and incorporate those products into their own; such as Cover Flow which had previously existed as a 3rd party app for OS X before being bought by Apple and used in iTunes and on the iPods.
Or am I totally off on this?
We don't know the percentage of Apple computers with these problems, and we can't even make an educated guess based on the number of complaint posts we see here or elsewhere. The number of participants in this and other Apple forums has exploded in recent years, in direct proportion to the increase in Apple customers overall. We now hear more of everything. Apple is still near or at the top in product quality surveys. This is the only metric that really matters.
I'm convinced that most of this bad press is success backlash. Apple has always been treated by the media as the company with the feet of clay, always on the verge of failure. Notice how difficult it seems to be to write an article like this without making deprecating references to "Apple fanatics." Nobody writes about any other company's customers in this way. I think we've be subjected to these media cliches for such a long time that we tend to forget how odd it is.