“Karma. Doing the ‘right thing.’ Thinking different. Apple’s enlightened approach to building customer loyalty is now famous, generating big headlines every time CEO Steve Jobs takes on Hollywood or the music industry. Attempts to raise iTunes prices? ‘Greedy.’ A fight with NBC over revenues? ‘Give peace a chance.’ That’s Apple, your socially-conscious corporate friend, who does right by you while standing up to big bullies — sort of like a character from a Pixar movie,” Jeremy Horwitz writes for iLounge.
“But over the past two weeks, Apple’s fans have been grumbling that the company they knew and loved is transforming into another Microsoft, making short-sighted, anti-consumer decisions and carelessly releasing products with user experience-diminishing problems. In response, an increasingly angry erosion of Apple’s brand loyalty is beginning, with complaints mounting all over the Internet, including on the company’s own discussion forums,” Horwitz writes.
Horwitz covers four of issues that are “still largely unresolved by Apple, and the extreme anger and disappointment that its customers have been expressing as a result.”
• Apple Breaks 2005-2007 Video Add-Ons: No Warning, Just Buy New Ones
• iTunes Store iPod Games: Buy Them Again for New iPods
• iPod touch Screen Problems: Deny Them, Charge Restocking Fees
• iPhone Ringtones: Pay Twice for Each Song; Forget Using Your Own
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Davecc” for the heads up.]
Apple’s decision makers would do well to post the following quote in prominent places where they will be reminded of it daily:
“Goodwill is the one and only asset that competition cannot undersell or destroy.” – Karl Ludwig Börne
re: Tonybiker
“Apple did not “break” anything this is no different than when they stopped using firewire.”
The only bad thing about it is they are selling a $10 cable for $50.
@ @spark
Whoever you are, you are replying to the wrong guy. I didn’t write the comments that your are attacking.
A good article. I hope Apple reads it and makes things right.
God forbid that I should say this, I agree with the assertion that Apple is somehow, losing it’s shine, but not for the noted reasons, yet … I can not pin down the reason, just a gut feeling … maybe it’s a tribulation of scale.
Too many ventures on the go at once and the ability to manage them all effectively and of an acceptable standard; satisfactory to all, not only longtime users. Steve Jobs can not oversee, every and each detail of all the projects, like he once was able to, the vortex of scale will suck in bad and or indifferent management.
The recent spate of stories that parallel Apple and Microsoft is a fair warning to Apple to engage in an introspective rumination, regarding their core quiddity.
Stuff like this has been going on for a while. While never turning into M$, this is getting attention now because Apple itself is gaining attention. Remember iTools dying and .Mac starting up. You had to pay $100 to keep your email address.
Apple is not always going to do what their users want, today is no different. Is Apple turning into M$?? You got me, but these few examples can be swapped out with a few from the past with the only difference being Apple’s size and popularity.
“I like how every other cell phone maker and carrier have even worse ringtone plans, but somehow when it’s Apple they are evil and greedy?”
No, when other cell phone makers and carriers (mostly carriers, as they have the lock-in) do it, they are evil and greedy.
So what you’re saying is that Apple is just as bad as my cell phone company?
I remember Steve Jobs saying something to the effect that most people hate their cell phone company and how Apple was going to change that. Ultimately, Apple is doing the same things we hate the cell phone companies for–they’re just doing it cheaper.
The “Gosh, you can buy a ringtone for only 99 cents versus those other guys that rent you ringtones for $2.50” isn’t winning fans because of the whole principle that I have to buy the song again. The complaint wasn’t with the expense. The complaint is that I shouldn’t have to rebuy the song to use it in this manner.
Wil Shipley had a post on his blog yesterday revolving around some of these issues. I posted a response on my blog. Essentially, when it comes to ringtones, I don’t think Apple had a choice other than to charge for them. And not because of the music labels, but because of AT&T;.
And locking into one cell carrier? Well, just imagine the nightmare of having to support an entirely new platform on all carriers. Not a pretty picture.
http://itjobsrus.blogspot.com/2007/09/wil-shipley-i-respectfully-disagree.html
– o
http://itjobsrus.blogspot.com
Wil Shipley had a post on his blog yesterday revolving around some of these issues. I posted a response on my blog. Essentially, when it comes to ringtones, I don’t think Apple had a choice other than to charge for them. And not because of the music labels, but because of AT&T;.
And locking into one cell carrier? Well, just imagine the nightmare of having to support an entirely new platform on all carriers. Not a pretty picture.
http://itjobsrus.blogspot.com/2007/09/wil-shipley-i-respectfully-disagree.html
– o
http://itjobsrus.blogspot.com
A corp is a corp of corp of corp.
http://ThunkDifferent.com
I’m a loyal mac fan since 1989, but have come up against the kind of problem/lack of response I associate with Redmond, not Cupertino. Tiger broke operability for me (and many other people, if the forums are anything to go by) with iChat AV. Since Tiger, it’s unusable for many people, with an ‘insufficient bandwidth’ error message, in spite of many suggested remedies. Ok, software bugs are software bugs. But so many people having them, so little response (= so little care?) from Apple, makes me disillusioned. I’ve persuaded several people onto Mac on the strength of iChat alone. Now I’m embarrassed. Please, Apple, don’t do a M$ on us.
When Apple:
Lands an exclusive OS deal through Jobs’ parents…
Blatantly (and poorly) rips-off an OS to fulfill that exclusive deal…
Completely fscks someone through licensing, ala SpyGlass…
Does a BOB, Clippy, and Vista…
Releases, revises, and resells alpha-quality software…
Needs third-party tools to keep their own products secure…
Sends out the BSA Gestapo to shake down big, profitable customers…
Is so universally hated that customers are kept only through a perceived lack of choice…
Puts a freak like Ballmer in charge…
…then it’ll be time to be concerned.
People who complain about things that don’t meet their “expectations” are whiners.
People who complain about products that don’t perfrom as advertised have legitimate gripes.
People who can’t tell the difference are losers.
re: Joe B
I did need to get a new itrip. That the way it goes. No one has to buy a new ipod, you can get the and improved Zune. This happens all the time with cars.
ZOMG!!! You n00bs totally forgot the most egregious thing Apple has done EVAR: Charging $1.99 for the 802.11n Enabler for iMacs that had 802.11n hardware, but no firmware support.
Why did Apple do this? Hmmm? Was it Greed? Could it have been Satan? Well, yeah, it could been Satan, if you consider certain overreaching accounting-reform laws to be satanic.
This is just an example of why people need to find out why things are done the way they are before simply calling it greed or some other form of malice.
I don’t have one of the latest iPods (still on my 4G iPod), but I don’t like that Apple now requires their own expensive cable if you want to hook up your iPod to your television. I usually load TV shows from iTunes onto my wife’s 5.5G iPod and watch them in the living room. Seems with the new iPods you can’t do that without Apple’s cable. I can’t see any reason for this other than greed.
I still love my Mac, and wouldn’t buy anything else, but this just seems unnecessary.
Apple ain’t dealing with Mac users anymore. The majority of iPod and iPhone owners use PCs. Guess what? PC users play a lot more games than Mac people. Games are sacred. If Mac people didn’t stand up for firewire when Apple dropped it, why should a PC user have to pay $5.00 for something they already own. Why switch from Windows when it would require buying new software.
Apple WILL cave into the masses that are PC users, the iPhone rebate is proof. Eventually these demands will hobble Apple products with backware capability like they did Vista!
“Why pay for quality when free is good enough.”
– M. Dell
I’ve been a loyal Apple customer since 1993, but I’m sorry to say that increasingly the company I’ve come to respect is beginning to lose my respect.
The first thing was when my 3rd gen. ipod got completely screwed up with an iTunes update. But as I’d just bought a 60 gig ipod photo it didn’t really worry.
It was one one small thing that did it…Quicktime. I still can’t resize the window with the resize button. This was the one of the OSX fundamentals and now it doesn’t work. Great!
When I read about Apple screwing over customers who have already purchased products and forcing them to buy that product a second time it’s time to speak up.
I might add that when Tiger came out I was roundly condemned by the ultra fanboys form this site for being:
– disloyal
– not knowing what I was talking about
– and being condemned because Panther worked and I was waiting for Tiger to completely work.
So now I’m still waiting for Tiger to completely work…two years after its release. Is that acceptable?
Is its acceptable to bite the hand that feeds their market; Apple consumers and the accessory market that feeds the ipod market. Is that acceptable?
Is it acceptable for failing to fix a simple button resizing issue after several months of waiting?
It is totally unacceptable to be treated like loyal little milk cows that Apple can milk to their heart’s content.
Oh and for the record I don’t own shares in Apple or any company so I don’t carry any biases when it comes to criticism where and when it’s warranted.
Why am I so pissed off with Apple is because:
1. I use Apple in my marketing classes as a model company which I then compare to Microsoft and if I do that in six weeks it will be with some pointed caveats and,
2. I’m buying an iMac at the end of the year and I’m worried that something going to go wrong because Apple is allowing things to go wrong.
It’s just unacceptable!
PLUS:
Shiny iMac screen. ok, if that’s a consumer product, why does it have anodized alumunium body then? Or why don’t they at least give an option?
Apple is indeed turning into another Microsoft.
For everyone who says Apple is loosing their way and you are starting to have doubts, what are you going to do in response? Buy a Windows machine? I don’t happen to agree with all that Apple is doing but still prefer them over anything else out there. Also, don’t even get me started on the “iMac have low end video cards!” nonsense. I am typing this on a 24 inch 2.8GHz iMac which as far as I am concerned performs fantastically. The way people complain about not being able to get 600FPS or whatever is insane especially when you consider the fact that the human eye can’t see more than about 45FPS. Finally, regarding the making ringtones thing, Ambrosia software makes an application that allows you to take any part of any track you own and turn it into a ring tone without having to pay for it again and they have already updated it to be compatible with the latest version of iTunes that was just released.
End of rant.
I think the iLounge article is right on the money–I was thinking exactly the same thing myself, as I suddenly found myself advising my aging mother to, e.g., not get one of the new iMacs, because of their distractingly glossy screens, unconventional keyboard (which I consider right up there with the hockey-puck mouse for inflicting unnecessary pain and distraction on the user) and inferior LCDs (in the 20″ configuration). Instead she got one of the last of the previous generation from MacConnection.
Besides that move to make iMacs unviable as prosumer machines, the ridiculous new menu system on the new iPods, and the various forms of crippling of the iPod Touch also left a really, really bad taste in my mouth. Not just the Touches’ obviously crappy manufacturing quality, but the whole scramble to remove features from them, and Jobs’s calling them ‘training wheels for iPhones.’ Training wheels for something with a minimum annual subscription cost equivalent to buying a new iPod every six months? Since when are top of the line iPods supposed to suck in ways that leave you itching for a different product?
Apple used to try to make every product “‘insanely great,” so that “you will love it as much as we do.” They tried to stretch each product as much as they could, and to make them exceed users’ expectations. Now I agree that a different set of assumptions is operating, and they’re consumer-hostile. I also agree that these are short-sighted, self-defeating assumptions that will set Apple up for a Dell-style fall. Anytime you start to think that some of your products aren’t really very good, and your customers aren’t really very smart or discerning, you’re headed for rough water, sooner or later.
I think Apple’s negotiations with the cell-phone companies (or all the attention paid to Apple’s stock price) short-circuited Jobs’s previous humility and common sense, and turned him back into something very close to the arrogant oaf that he was, by all accounts, back when he was fired from Apple.
Plus, in addition, this new Bad Steve is greedy and grasping as well! He wants to make money by frustrating, tricking, and manipulating customers–like AT&T;or Verizon–instead of by offering them irresistibly great products.
Somewhere along the way, something’s gone wrong. If this Apple goes through another downturn, no one is going to be hanging in there, loving and supporting it as something special and unique in the world of technology, to help it survive.
Say it ain’t so . . . .
By the way, if you doubt the old, Jobs is back, look no further than the new Bluetooth keyboards–sans numeric keypads.
Look familiar?
Steve Jobs is feeling more and more godly these days… and it’s BAD for consumers.
:: iPhone Debacle ::
Arguments of technology moves fast aside, I’m amazed that Apple felt it could get away with such a quick price drop and think it would be okay by its customers. Such moves cause market confusion and customer resentment, and dissatisfaction.
There are 2 key negatives that were demonstrated:
– Steve decided Apple could get away with it.
– Apple was completely dead-wrong on what the customer reaction would be.
Some call the $100 credit a brilliant PR move. The price drop is what has driven increased sales, not the part about screwing early adopters. Giving back 1/2 of the money back does not amount to brilliance.
:: Apple TV ::
Apple left so much out of this half-product dressed in full-product clothing. The one feature that everyone expected it to have is nowhere to be found… that’s DVR functionality in case you live under a rock.
Two things demonstrated:
– Apple thought it could get away with it.
– Apple was completely off with what customers really want.
:: Apple Customers Bend Over Easily ::
Okay, this may not be Apple’s fault but it does affect the decisions the company makes.
Apple’s customers are collectively “Thank you sir, may I have another?” types.
Apple can do no wrong and is always right, always producing the best products and making the right moves.
Many of Apple’s customers define themselves by the things they buy. That makes them cool, smarter, and feel superior. It’s the product that defines the person. So if you point out any flaw, criticism, or even a suggestion… it’s taken as an attack on the person and not on the product or company.
The problem this causes or allows for:
– Apple perceives they can do anything
– Customers don’t drive innovation and product features
– Mistreatment of customers is somehow the customer’s fault.
– Products lack many innovations and features
… and Apple becomes more and more like Microsoft.
———-
Just FYI, this “troll” has been an Apple customer since the days of the ][e and ||gs.
The screen problems and the games compatibility are manufacturing/technology change issues. We’ve seen all this stuff before. Nothing new here, move along.
What’s more interesting are the video accessories issue and the ringtone issue. What both of these indicate to me is: Apple is under pressure by its (current or desired) content providers to provide strong anti-copying and content re-use controls. For example, the new authentication chip for video accessories might mean that Apple wants to offer movie rentals, and the studios want to make sure before they allow it that users can’t rent a video for a couple bucks and then pipe it out to a recording device and have it forever.
Unfortunately, I don’t think Apple can get away from this class of problems without walking away from some (or all) of its content providers. Although they are trying hard to strike a balance, some users won’t be happy with anything other than total content freedom (and some content owners won’t be happy with anything that doesn’t give them absolute, pay-per-view content control).
The only options I can see are to continue to try and create a middle ground where most of the players can meet, or begin cutting out content providers entirely and creating their own music & movie studios (which is probably not a business Apple wants to be in).
I have 3 ipods, a macbook pro, an airport express, an airport extreme, and a iphone–and my customer experience is awesome. I don’t know what you kooks are complaining about. I know it was so cool to be a part of this ultra-cool, chic cult named “apple users” for so long. But now that the world is catching on, it’s no longer so cool, is it? You’ve lost your identity. I’m sorry a couple of 300 million people joined your exclusive club. I know that pisses you off. BUT THE PRODUCTS ARE STILL GREAT!
Apple is unfair to both retailers and consumers. They insist that your products be cheap! I know most of you are as insulted by this as we at MS are.
Boycott APPLE! Vote for value with your wallets!
http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com