Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Glassed Silver

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Mar 10, 2007
2,096
2,567
Kassel, Germany
(section 1:21:00h - 1:22:10h)​

Alternatively: Link to video - start and end time stamped

Transcript:
Apple was the only technology company that I knew of […] where if a customer got angry with the company they would yell and yell loudly, but they would continue to buy.

At Compaq, if people got angry at Compaq - they would just buy from Dell.
At Dell, if they got angry at Dell, they would just buy - at that time - from IBM.

And so people were moving freely to and from, but an Apple customer was a unique breed.
And there was this emotion that is so - you just don’t see it in technology in general - you could see it and feel it in Apple customers.
And so I knew that was different and when I looked at the balance sheet of the company, I thought I could add something and participate in turning around what I thought was a great American company.
-Tim Cook (2012, All Things Digital Conference 10)

I'll leave this here without a comment, at least for now.
I remembered this quote recently and thought it could be interesting to have a discussion about this.

Glassed Silver:mac
 

hotpotato123

macrumors member
Sep 15, 2009
56
51
YouTube: video
(section 1:21:00h - 1:22:10h)​

Alternatively: Link to video - start and end time stamped

Transcript:

-Tim Cook (2012, All Things Digital Conference 10)

I'll leave this here without a comment, at least for now.
I remembered this quote recently and thought it could be interesting to have a discussion about this.

Glassed Silver:mac

In hindsight, I find that quote from Tim Cook to be f.r.i.g.h.t.e.n.i.n.g.!!!!! He has done it. He has done things, knowing it will Pi$$ people off, but knowing that Apple won't lose money.

e.g.
- solder in the RAM in MacBook Airs
- solder in the RAM and hard disk of Mac Minis
- remove the last anti-glare option from the MacBook Pro meaning that people that need anti-glare screens are out of luck.

Tim Cook, can you find a word for that guy. He knew he could stick a roasting fork into us and we'd still keep buying Apple.

Mark my words, he followed through on what he said.
 

Phoenixx

Suspended
Jul 3, 2015
377
556
"Apple was the only technology company that I knew of […] where if a customer got angry with the company they would yell and yell loudly, but they would continue to buy.

At Compaq, if people got angry at Compaq - they would just buy from Dell.
At Dell, if they got angry at Dell, they would just buy - at that time - from IBM.

And so people were moving freely to and from, but an Apple customer was a unique breed.
And there was this emotion that is so - you just don’t see it in technology in general - you could see it and feel it in Apple customers.
And so I knew that was different and when I looked at the balance sheet of the company, I thought I could add something and participate in turning around what I thought was a great American company.

Oh Tim you are SO WRONG. There are a small number of Apple users who are like this, but the vast majority will NOT put up with Apple not listening to them forever. The number of "loyal" Apple customers is diminishing rapidly. Apple is NOT the only technology company out there, it's not the 1980s anymore, people have a lot of choice these days, and many of us have no loyalty whatsoever.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Glassed Silver

MacsRgr8

macrumors G3
Sep 8, 2002
8,316
1,832
The Netherlands
IMHO, that used to be the truth regarding Macs.
Hate Apple, but love / need Macs an Mac OS? You will (have to) stay loyal to Apple.

With iOS it is different. People switch easier to Android.
 
  • Like
Reactions: navaira

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,682
43,740
At Compaq, if people got angry at Compaq - they would just buy from Dell.
At Dell, if they got angry at Dell, they would just buy - at that time - from IBM.

I think the general consumer is still happy with apple, but given the premium price we're paying if there's any perceived disenchantment people will be more likely to change platforms.
 
  • Like
Reactions: keysofanxiety

keysofanxiety

macrumors G3
Nov 23, 2011
9,539
25,302
I think the general consumer is still happy with apple, but given the premium price we're paying if there's any perceived disenchantment people will be more likely to change platforms.

Very true Maflynn, just difficult to get out of the ecosystem really if all your devices are Apple - though I know you use a lot of everything so you've always got your options open (makes me sometimes wish I was more competant with Android and the likes). I think people who'll be disappointed are the ones buying Retina iMacs on good faith that Apple wouldn't ship junk, and struggle with the performance of the platters as a result, are going to be the most disenchanted. Sad move because it saves profits in the short-term but really damages Apple's brand in the long run, IMO.

Hopefully Tim Cook will just ease off a little on cost-cutting, because they've got more than enough money to give consumers just a little more value for money with some of the stuff they sell.
 

Tech198

Cancelled
Mar 21, 2011
15,915
2,151
price will always be there as a barrier between going Apple, or not.

I hate to say, but there are long standing Apple users, even the not so long standing ones, that will continue to buy Apple for whatever reason: Maybe they have other Apple gadgets that only works together, or maybe its iOS/apps and "security" which it a cloud cover in itself.

people will always get angry regardless, but more on Apple then any simply because they do stuff different in a unique/or different way to achieve the same goal... Sometimes its a longer route, sometimes shorter, and other times it just doesn't exist. As simple enough for an desktop OS to have cut and paste for everything, and Apple using the excuse "...well we don't want users to lose their work on clipboard." is just a reason not to implement it.... There is 'undo'... people know what they are doing sometimes, are if mistakes do happen there are keyboard short cuts as well.. to undo. The fact Apple chooses to safe guard themselves with 'crippled' and i question weather everything nick and cranny they do is in relation to improve "security" half of the time, its not .... more often they do it just because they can... How would the elimination of cut and paste of everything help with security ? It won't... it only means u may loose work,,, your Mac is still safe.

This promotes developers to make apps for little issues that on Windows just makes more sense, and all this builds up to anger people..... However, at the end of the day, we are still Apple users..

Just because we have these things, we wanna make our voices heard, but guess what, tomorrow we will still be an Apple user :) we will never know who actually remains and who doesn't since Apple never says "out numbers have dropped" .. They only relate to how *good* they are doing, add to the fact there is no way to close an iTunes account, which has allot to to with things too.
 
Last edited:

navaira

macrumors 68040
May 28, 2015
3,934
5,161
Amsterdam, Netherlands
IMHO, that used to be the truth regarding Macs.
Hate Apple, but love / need Macs an Mac OS? You will (have to) stay loyal to Apple.

With iOS it is different. People switch easier to Android.
That would be me. Sold the iPad, got a Sony tablet. Same with iPhone replaced by Xperia Z3 Compact. But there isn't much I can do regarding the iMac or a Macbook. And I shiver at the thought of moving back to Windows. It's not like I have no clue what Windows looks like in 2015, my fiance uses Windows (in VirtualBox). With all its faults and bugs I prefer El Capitan to anything Microsoft have released. I put Ubuntu on a Chromebook and half of the time I use it is spent on fixing things that stopped working.

Sigh. In a way I am not buying a Macbook. I am buying Mac OS. I don't care how thin the machine is but it has to run Mac OS.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.