Comment

Comment by Ted Bruner on July 9, 2010 at 6:44pm

I think you're confusing people with nerdy-testers. Real people want things to work as advertised. Nerdy-testers want things which they can play with and discover what - if anything - they can do. It is interesting that you would claim that people are unfair concerning Apple Inc. I see just the opposite most of the time; people who brag about "owning" something which does not, in fact, work as claimed. I have seen Apple produce stuff since the '80's and am still quite unimpressed. That does not make me a MicroSoft stooge, though, as I used and have preferred C/PM over most other OS'es offered since then. Apple is much like Am-Way; they came out with something which appeared "new and different" years ago and now just sell stuff with more hype than others. Their followers are extremely cult-like, not focused on quality and performance, just worshiping the "newest-blessings" thrust on an open market. That's the focus of the company and its disciples, and on it goes. Some things they have and offer may actually be found to be useful to some, but that's not, nor has it ever been, the criteria for their perceived success. It is, and always has been, the non-empirical "faith" of the "faithful". Sorry, but that's the only thing which is obvious to most casual bystanders, of which I am just one.

Comment by uturnnot on July 3, 2010 at 1:44pm

Well! Let put it this way. Apple's innovation is far excel than Microsoft which try hard for decades producing half working software and device to consumer at ridiculous high price plus encourage piracy culture in stealth mode. Apple software and hardwares do have bugs, but all updates are either free or at lower cost plus have a higher quality control.

Comment by KR Toronto on July 2, 2010 at 4:40pm

@Gavin:

At least products like Refrigerators tell us what they actually DO - just check out the latest ad for the iPad:

http://gizmodo.com/5537753/what-is-ipad

In case the page/video doesn't load up - here's the narrative that goes along with it:
(and my commentary after most of the points)

------------------

What is iPad?

iPad is thin. ***(Thanks)***
iPad is beautiful. ***(That tells us a lot)***
iPad goes anywhere and lasts all day. ***(That's what I keep telling the ladies, anyways ;) )***
There's no right way or wrong way - it's crazy powerful. ***(See below)***
It's magical. ***(YET another useful point)***
You already know how to use it. ***(Can it get any MORE Sheeple than this???)***
It's 200,000 apps - and counting. ***(Not for free it isn't!)***
All the world's websites in your hands. ***(Except for those that are Flash based, that is...)***
It's video, photos, more books than you could read in a lifetime.
It's already a revolution - and it's only just begun.

------------------


How is this supposed to be informative to anyone who is NOT already a Fanboy/girl?
Too bad they didn't use the "There's no right way or wrong way" line in ads for the new iPhone ;)

Comment by Gavin Roskamp on July 1, 2010 at 11:56am

@KR Toronto
How is any other series any different? So apparently now, you will be refusing to use Windows, or any OS in that case, and you will refuse to use any line of refrigerator, any model of car, any phone, or pretty much any piece of technology. Why do I need to buy Windows 7? I thought Vista was supposed to fix all my problems? See. It works both ways. Apple just tries to make it more flashy and hide the fact that there were problems before that they are overcoming with the latest updates. iOS 4 is an update. iPhone 4 is the next part of the iPhone series. Even the failure of a phone, the Kin, was a series. Sure, only a two part series, but it was a series. Windows is a series. Mac OS X is a series. The computer you typed that message on is part of a series. Don't wanna pay to update? Fabulous. I know I'm not gonna buy the latest and greatest Mac Mini, nor am I going to buy every single laptop in the Gateway T-Series, the series my less-than-acceptable-quality laptop came out of.

Comment by Matthew Johnson on July 1, 2010 at 9:08am

I don't hold Apple to any standard it doesn't claim to hold itself to. Whenever Jobs talks about how magical, perfect, and amazing his products are and then claims if it doesn't work it's the people's fault I can't help but to complain about his products. I mean they spent years just to get folders "right" on their system you'd think they could avoid problems like this.

Granted every company tries to sell its products this way, but you don't see three city blocks crowded by customers of other products.

But in all seriousness, I don't think people do hold Apple to an impossible standard. I think people are just more vocal about their problems with Apple. This difference is important, bad products are always told to be just that. But how loud people complain seems to be the thing, at at over a million sold in a single weekend you're bound to have a giant uproar.

Granted you'll never account for all problems before testing in a major market, people tend to do things with a product that the original developers could not account for. So I expect problems from new products, granted I laugh a little louder at Apple people who suddenly feel they've been let down because it's not actually anything new, and was not surprised nor upset to find that a new product had flaws.

But let us also consider the nature of the problems, not just the fact that problems occurred. The new antenna is not simply a mistake it's bad design. If any other company had done this they'd get the exact same amount of flack that Apple is getting, possibly even more. And spending $30 to get a case that is not worth $30 just to fix a problem with how you hold the phone? This is worth complaining about.

Apple needs to hear these complaints to fix the problems. Just deal with them.

I don't believe Apple is held to an impossible standard, but the hype built off of their own hype and the fact that they do make good products later if not sooner. People get excited about Apple products because they get good. If Apple holds up to their end of the bargain people will be singing their praises in no time.

Comment by gypkap on July 1, 2010 at 8:56am

There's a rule about new hardware and software: don't be a pioneer.

Let someone else get the arrows in their backs, not you. In a couple months the bugs will be found and fixed. Once that's done, buy your iPad or iPhone or Windows 8 or whatever.

In the meantime, Jobs and similar salesmen shouldn't get all evangelical about the Next Big Hardware or Software Thing.

Comment by Dean on July 1, 2010 at 7:40am

I'm someone who uses Apple products. I've had my share of complaints with it especially when I came from from a Linux background. Its really clear to me that the only thing all 3 of you are interested in doing is being rude jerks. I don't understand why though. So why is that? I know from personal experience that it doens't feel good to be in that mode. So why do people insist upon taking issues with something so insignificant rather than actually addressing the question put forth in the blog, which was not "How do you feel about Apple users?" or "Do you reckon Apple sucks?" or "Come on over here and be a jerk to a cross section of the community".

If you want to do that, you should make a forum post or blog entitled "Come on over here and be a jerk to a cross section of the community." Why stop there though, why not make a user group that you have to decalare your hatred with the consequence being that you won't offer advice or tech support to anyone who doens't join...

Comment by Michael on July 1, 2010 at 6:25am

Apple themselves and everyone who follows them wallet in hand has ALWAYS said their devices JUST WORK......So how ya like APPLE now when they just don't always work???

Comment by KR Toronto on July 1, 2010 at 1:42am

When it comes to (cr)Apple, there is only ONE standard...

It's the one where the Shepherd (some guy named "Jobs") tells the Sheeple what they want to hear - and then said Sheeple line up en masse to get their latest "fix".

As for those of us NOT fooled by Job's "Pied Piper" routine - we can see these over-priced toys for what they really are ;)

Comment by Dean on June 30, 2010 at 9:35pm

I expect quality from any tech product especially if it costs me a lot of money. While I don't have an iPhone 4, I woud be pretty off if I bought one only to find out that holding it makes it useless. There's adequate consumer protection laws in Australia that are geared toward quality of workmanship and a phone that doesn't work as a phone may actually not cut it. I'm actually kind of wondering if the release date will be held back for a while here or if there won't be a free bumper or if it'll come with a pamphlet explaining that you have to hold it upside down with the hands the size of 3 year old in order to make a call. Probably the latter.

As for the people who had issues with yellow screens, which I've only heard a little about, its just plain obvious that regardless if you have a two dollar device or a thousand dollar device, and it is a thousand dollar device in Australia with a currency exchange making it between $850 and $870 US dollars.. well you just don't ship stuff to people until the glue dried. You just simply don't. You wait until the glue has dried. This is a no brainer.

It seems to me that removing any expectations a person had to take away the emotional disappointment of attachement to the product or the brand, that its still very reasonable to get upset when something that cost a lot money just doesn't live up to a certain standard of quality.

And it is true, Apple's top dude is out there in the front saying... well I think its even on their website, that its the most advanced something or other, ever?
Apple's marketing and expansion is largely based on people who are fanfolk. They're sales are and have been built upon both the reputation of quality and expectation of cool gadgetry. If they don't live up to that then sure, you can tell people to just get over it, but if it ends up being a regular thing then they've failed their customers.

By the way, there were also plenty of complaints when the 3Gs came out. This is nothing new. There's a wider range of stuff people have issue with in regards to the iPhone 4 but I'm sure its just a matter of time until until people are content with what they have... unless of course those glass screens start breaking at 3 times the rate of the previous phone, in which case it'll be fair that people feel duped into buying something that was engineered to need replacement more often. Sort of like microwave and refrigerators. They used to last for 20 years but manufactures wanted more money so started using cheaper fittings, thinner metal, crappier hinges, etc. We'll see what Apple has in store for us.

Dan people may bring themselves into their own frustration by getting excited and making large dollar impulse buys, however at the same time it really is huge part of the Apple marketing strategy and I'm sure you can appreciate that if Apple screws up then people are, regardless of feeling like dumbarses, going to be upset with the company and that further to that its going to effect Apple sales. The appeal of the iPhone is the gadgetry itself, like when James Bond gadgetry was really cool back in the day because it was a lot more clever looking in that era. If the gadgetry doesn't work and the answer is "You're holding it wrong" when you're actually just holding it normally then there's room for complaint. Granted there's easy fixes and that its even more practical to put a bumper on the thing anyway, but its to be expected that people are going to feel that they shouldn't have to pay another $30 for one when they just forked out a lot for the thing to begin with. If you bought an Asus laptop and it said it had wifi, but it only got a signal when it was 10 feet from the access point then you'd take it back and if it was a problem with every unit of that model, but Asus didn't care, you'de surely tell people what a crap value it was. There are similarities here if you look over the varying problems people are running into with the iPhone 4, and not to say that it isn't inflated by the expectation of the consumer, but just that there's possibly legitimacy behind the complaints and we can't really judge it quite yet. Blaming people for being enthusiastic about a brand is pointless though. If I buy brand name jeans for top dollar and they fall apart but the ones at WallMart are still going strong I'm going to say "Brand X sucks", and yeah, that statement happens to come out as a complaint but to turn around and imply that people are idiots or "Well let this be a lesson to you then about being picky about brand names" can be arrogant and even self righteous if you aren't careful, and you aren't careful.