By SteveJack
To those of you new to Apple products: welcome!
Now quit your whining!
Whatever you buy today will be eclipsed by a model with better specs soon.
Get used to it.
That Mac or iPod or iPhone you just bought will someday soon sell for less.
Apple doesn’t stand still for anyone; and certainly not just so you’ll feel better about your purchase for longer.
If you don’t like it, head on over to Dell where I’m fairly certain you can still spec out boxes with 3.5″ floppy drives.
SteveJack is a long-time Macintosh user, web designer, multimedia producer and a regular contributor to the MacDailyNews Opinion section.
Being in technology for 30+ years I can attest to the fact that the technology road is bumpy. There is always change and improvement, and there is always someone who bought a product before a particular cutoff date and misses the new price or the new operating system or the new whatever. This is life in the technology lane. If you always wait for the next price cut or to buy the new improved model, you’ll never buy any technology product because there is always something better and less expensive on the horizon. The good news is that if you buy products from companies that support them well, like Apple tries to do, you will receive years of useful and satisfying service from them even as newer models are introduced. – Apple CEO Steve Jobs, September 06, 2007
I’ve heard Apple has a whole department dedicated to making their existing products obsolete.
At least Apple products aren’t obsolete BEFORE they ship like Microsoft’s are…
My director just gave us a new Dell computer he ordered because his needs had changed and he no longer needed it. Anyway I took it to run a machine in the lab and when I unboxed it I started to laugh and point at the 3.5″ floppy disk drive. I couldn’t resist, played stupid and asked all the PC users what it was.
Thanks Mike Dell….I am having a good week because of you. I think I will go home and listen to some Hank Williams on my 8-track stereo.
Seriously, you’re telling me you *wouldn’t* be pissed off if you bought something–anything other than an Apple product–for $600, which it’s been at for months, and the two weeks later (or whatever the price matching period is) the same thing costs $400?
It’s not a matter of standing still–it’s that there’s no warning, no discounts in the days and weeks leading up to a product refresh.
That’s thanks to Apple’s culture of secrecy, and lets them put on a big show to introduce things. But, while most Apple actions benefit consumers (fighting for consistent iTunes pricing, iPhone UI, advocating end to DRM, etc), in this instance it’s operating against consumer interests, so the “whining” there is understandable.
If you don’t have the budget to be an early adopter, well you can join the rest of us who aren’t. I bought a refurbed MacBook Pro because it fit in my budget. I would love a new Ipod Touch and as soon as somone hands me one for free I will be all over it. Meanwhile back in the real world, I will wait patiently while still listening to my 20GB Ipod, that still has decent battery life, for the price to drop. (The sticking point is the 20 GB level. My current Pod is maxed out so downgrading the hard drive size didn’t make sense and the $500 price tag is too steep.)
So, wannabe, how is a product that I buy today obsolete when Apple unveils a newer product tomorrow? Do you even know what the word ‘obsolete’ means?
Actually, I understand that Apple sits and waits until I personally make a purchase before bringing out their latest updates a day later.. I’ve grown used to it. Now I know when I want a faster computer, that I have to purchase one to release the flow… It’s just part of life.. If you don’t buy on announcement day, then you are pretty much taking the risk any time that you’ll be outdated the next day.
@Radius, I think wannabe’s tongue was implanted firmly in his cheek.
MDN is sure right on this one. Tech moves fast. No company will stand still just because you bought something today. Their survival depends on making the product better and making it cost less. Look at the iPhone and the Garmin nuvifone. That Garmin phone is very attractive. Should Apple hold off on improving the iphone because those who have purchased the phone will be upset?
Let’s say Garmin gets the nvifone to market for $300 and Apple, just to make whiners feel better, did nothing with the iPhone. I bet most of the whiners would run to purchase the Garmin phone.
I for one am glad that a company like Apple keeps improving the products I purchase. Around the time the iPhone gets to 48GB, and allows you to store files, I’ll be in line.
“I bet most of the whiners would run to purchase the Garmin phone.”
The thing is, the iPhone is so much better than anything else, the whiners WON’T purchase the Garmin phone, much as I wish they would go away. They’ll continue to purchase Apple products and continue to whine. It’ll never end.
Seriously, you’re telling me you *wouldn’t* be pissed off if you bought something–anything other than an Apple product–for $600, which it’s been at for months, and the two weeks later (or whatever the price matching period is) the same thing costs $400?
I would only have bought it at $600 if it was a compelling value proposition at $600. Either it is or it isn’t.
It’s not a matter of standing still–it’s that there’s no warning, no discounts in the days and weeks leading up to a product refresh.
Sorta like buying a stock. It can go up. It can go down. And, get this, there’s NO WARNING.
That’s thanks to Apple’s culture of secrecy, and lets them put on a big show to introduce things. But, while most Apple actions benefit consumers (fighting for consistent iTunes pricing, iPhone UI, advocating end to DRM, etc), in this instance it’s operating against consumer interests, so the “whining” there is understandable.
If I were going to upgrade or discount a product next week, I should announce it this week. Wait a minute, that’s unfair to the people who bought it last week. Better give 2 weeks notice. Wait a minute, that’s still unfair…better give 3 weeks notice. Wait a minute, that’s still unfair…
I bought an iPhone two days after launch. Then price dropped.
I didn’t care.
I had the phone.
I used the phone, it did what I wanted.
When Apple soothed the whiners with the $100, sure I took it. Never asked for it but who turns down $100?
I bought an Xserve a year ago. They just came out with a better one at about the same price.
Good!
That means when I am ready to replace it I can get a better one, not the same one.
Geez – this goes on in all facets of retail. Are people really whining about this?
@wannabe, That department you’re talking about is called “Research and Development”. That’s what you meant, right?
I have the same problem with my daily newspaper. No sooner do I buy a copy, than they put out a new and better model! And they don’t even phase in discounts as the day wears on. I can buy an issue at full price at midnight, and by five the next morning it’s obsolete. I don’t even have a 14-day grace period where I can exchange it for the new model for free! But even worse, if I buy one on Saturday, the very next day, they come out with a new model that is larger and has better visual effects.
I’m so tired of the newspaper company. They can never make up their mind what the news is. Every day it is different. I guess I’ll have to cancel my subscription.
OW! I bit my tongue. Shouldn’t have had it in my cheek so long. I guess I made my point.
“Whatever you buy today will be eclipsed by a model with better specs soon.”
Really? Tell that to the new iPod buyers who discovered they’ve been denied the previous ability to output audio/video to a TV/stereo. A gilded cage is still a cage.
When Apple dropped the iPhone price, everyone was up in arms. I had an online chat with Apple and told them that everyone expected the price to go down, but this was too much too fast. They said, well that’s the way it is in the cell phone business, and they said they had the same thing happen to them with their carrier. I said, “But you are Apple. Apple doesn’t behave that way.” She was at a loss for words.
After that the protests got worse. I called Apple and talked to someone. I said that I understood that what they did made good business sense, and I realized that a refund was out of the question, but I said, “You just pissed off one million loyal customers who serve as your uncompensated sales and support team.” Then I reminded him that Apple has good markups. I said that Apple could give us something that would be valuable to us that would cost them very little. The man got very excited. He said over and over again that it was a great idea, that he was going into a management meeting in few minutes and he’d suggest it.
The next day, sheerly by coincidence I’m sure, we got the $100 store credit.
What people don’t seem to grasp is that your [apple product] is just as good today as it was yesterday, before [newer apple product] got released.
Obsolete doesn’t mean something better came out. Your product is obsolete when its usefulness has run its course. I’m typing this on a 3 year old PowerBook that still works just fine for web development and graphic design. I didn’t start whining because Apple put intel processors in my beloved PowerBook, and changed its name. It means that when I feel that this machine is no longer performing on par with what I need it to do, I can go buy a new shiny MacBook Pro at the same price I bought this PowerBook for.
Yeah, Apple, why don’t you warn us about two months ahead of a planned update. That would make a lot of business sense.
I still like a quote from a previous similar thread:
“I married my wife when she was young and pretty and now she’s old and ugly. It’s not fair!”
Anyone still think moving to Intel was a bad move? LOL.
I switched when the 17″ MBP was released and even though it has been superseded I don’t feel the need to go and buy another one yet.
It’s the best fucking laptop I’ve ever used. It shits from a great height over the crappy PC laptops my missus brings home from work.
Hmmmmm, you said.
“It’s not a matter of standing still–it’s that there’s no warning, no discounts in the days and weeks leading up to a product refresh.”
Yea, like Yahoo told you in advance it was killing its music rental store. After you just paid for a year in advance.
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Apple. Buy a GREAT product. Enjoy it. When your finally ready for a new one, check back. They will still be making great products.
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Just a thought.
“Tell that to the new iPod buyers who discovered they’ve been denied the previous ability to output audio/video to a TV/stereo.”
Oh please.
Previous-generation iPods continue to play any video they did before, including to a TV/stereo. They just don’t support the new, special, time-limited rental video content.
The new iPods support TV out for all video. See http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300233
Granted you may have to buy a new cable, but that’s hardly the end of the world.
You said, “Good!
That means when I am ready to replace it I can get a better one, not the same one.
Geez – this goes on in all facets of retail. Are people really whining about this?”
BINGO. Right on. Continue to enjoy Apple products. I just bought my first iPod nano 3rd gen (a referbished model, looks like new). Love it.
en
thank goodness for Apple’s HIGH resale value, you drop a little but not much and it is easy to keep the latest stuff.
Jim
So, what part of this isn’t the obvious part?
@Chris: “So, what part of this isn’t the obvious part?”
The part where MDN got you to go to a new page to view more advertisements….
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