After the Hype Dies

Macworld: Editors’ Notes: Is Apple on the wrong path?

While the headline is pure link bait (hooked me, gahhhhhhhh), Chris Breen makes some great points about Apple’s hubris. No one does “you really want this device” better than Apple right now. While I’m less angry about the price reduction, the iPhone headphone jack issue and video out issues are dead on.

Apple, your marketing lube is drying and the fist kind of hurts now. Just don’t hit me anymore. For awhile.

  • Julia

    While these are all annoying things, the biggest disappointment with Apple for me is the downward spiral their customer service has been going. The true reason Apple has always been great is for their customer service. And that is gone.

  • http://www.canyonjam.net/eblog erat

    Apple really needs to worry about this. What I’m seeing is reminiscent of what’s happened with Dave Eggers: once an icon of hipster literati, folks now seem desperate to prove they hated him first.

    If there’s one thing Apple absolutely, positively can not let happen, it’s to let itself fall victim to a bunch of self-absorbed, smirking, bed-headed, ironic thrift shop t-shirt wearing hipsters competing in an I-Hated-Them-First contest. (Oops, got off on a tangent at the end there. My bad.)

  • http://fiddley.com Pete Dunn

    The iPhone is still lacking some seriously obvious features. That said, mine and the wife’s have literally changed our lives.

  • http://auniverseaway.com chris
  • http://radmarshallb.typepad.com Marshall

    @ Julia

    Most customers say otherwise.

    @blurb

    I’m not so sure I agree with the premise of the article. Recessed headphones = iMac G4 line out. Still a great machine. The video out chip is now component vs composite. It’s worth paying for some cables for that.

    And on of his points was that he doesn’t like Leopard’s dock and folder icons or the new keyboard (which a lot of people greatly prefer)? Gimme a break…

  • http://theblablab.com doug

    I think it’s interesting that it’s now Macworld speaking up. Yesterday, it was Information Week, but that fact that a more Mac-friendly publication is ‘on board’ says a lot.

    The unlocking thing? I knew the risk when I bought mine, so I’m just not going to update. But the bricking, if it turns out to be intentional and malicious, is just plain evil.

  • http://theblablab.com doug

    *the* fact

  • http://radmarshallb.typepad.com Marshall

    …*one* of his points…

    No editing? Alas.

  • Julia

    @Marshall

    When was the survey taken? I see when it was published, but not taken. From personal experience and talking to Apple Geniuses, the fall in customer service is due to the iPhone, which, at least in my city, is backing up all repairs and you need appointments two days in advance. And just go take a look at any Mac forum to see what people think about customer service right now.

  • http://www.montanajen.typepad.com MontanaJen

    i always hated Dave Eggars.

    but i’m a pc girl — used a Mac in grad school when our whole lab was Mac but now am drumming on a Dell laptop. Not enough scratch for a Mac, yet.

    Peripherally, I do feel badly for iphone owners who got shafted with the price drop. ouch, without the lube and all that.

  • http://minxlj.tumblr.com minxlj

    The price drop: isn’t it always the way with brand new technology? I know people who were perfectly happy to shell out nearly £300 on new Samsung phones on release day, which were available for much, much less soon after, and available for free on a phone contract only 6 months later. That’s the way it goes.

    I personally can’t wait until the iPhone hits the UK on Nov. 9th. I will likely be in line at a nearby Apple Store from the early hours — I can’t help it, I’m a geek! The so-called issues with the line out, ringtones and headphones I will debate when I have my hands on the iPhone and can form my own opinion. Some people will be happy, some won’t — you can’t please everyone. And frankly, if the ringtone issue stops the irritating few from blaring out their badly-recorded sound effects and moronic rave tunes on the bus, I’ll be thankful…

  • http://theblablab.com doug
  • http://www.omarphillips.net omar

    Let me preface this comment by saying that I’m a longtime Apple lover.

    This sort of article burns my chaps. This is like a local news story, making news out of a story that’s not news. Apple’s not any more arrogant now than they’ve ever been under Steve Jobs.

    I don’t have an iPhone, but that headphone jack thing? It’s just one example in Apple’s rich history of having design infringe on practicality. Other examples off the top of my head include the PowerMac G4 cube, the dock for the 2nd generation iPod shuffle, the (until the Mighty Mouse) strict adherence to the one-button mouse, and as he mentioned in the article, the circular mouse. Marshall gave another example above, and there are probably a dozen others that I’m forgetting about.

    And the iPhone bricking, we had to see that coming. At least Apple warned the public first.

    Is it just that Apple is expected to be less arrogant now that they have a larger customer base?

  • http://blurbomat.com blurb

    doug, I think that Wired article you linked to is another great way to look at it.

    I updated my phone and lost some photos. I had used iToner to install a couple of ringtones (one of which made it so my microphone and earpeice on the phone wouldn’t work until I changed it to another ringtone!) and I think the 1.1.1 update was not as clean as it should have been. That aside, I bought a 1.0 product that functions better than any 1.0 product I’ve owned.

    I waited three years before getting an iPod and because I hated my cell phone so much, I was willing to pay a premium for something that was better. I still love my iPhone, but I thought the Macworld piece was necessary. It’s important for the fanbase to speak up when they are unhappy.

    I can’t decide on what to spend my $100 Apple store credit, but it probably is going to be headphones… or that Shure adapter (ships in “2 or 3 months”!).

  • southerngirl

    Love, love, love my iPhone and I’ve been happy with it from day one.

    It is so great to be able to surf the web while my husband drives us down to visit the parents or to be able to check my email while I’m in town to see if something needs to be taken care of before I drive back to the farm.

    Although I’m a computer consultant and computer literate, I see no reason to “hack” my phone. It does everything I want it to do (and what it was advertised to do) and does it very well.

    And I’ve already spent my iPhone refund and got some great Apple products with no problems.

    I’ve loved Apple since I got my first Mac SE and I’m still in love.

  • http://radmarshallb.typepad.com Marshall

    @blurb

    That Shure adapter is really nice. I use it on my iPhone with a pair of E4’s. I also have a friend who uses it with his car stereo. He just plugs it into the auxiliary port and clips the microphone on so he can answer calls when he’s driving. Pretty slick.

  • http://fiddley.com Pete Dunn

    @blurb The Shure adapter is in stock at the Gateway Apple Store. I’ve seen it there with mine own two eyes.

  • Jimmie

    To the people that are upset about Apple’s customer service: they don’t just provide it through their stores, you know. Have you tried apple​.com/​s​upport, or dialing their 1–800 number? I have never had more friendly, caring or comprehensive support from Apple over the phone. They replaced my iBook’s keyboard when the letters wore off for free, OVERNIGHTING me the replacement. When the screen started going dim and I wasn’t in the logic board program, they still let me overnight it to them for repair — FREE. One time three albums didn’t download properly from iTMS and they weren’t coming back through — guess how many free credits I got to the iTMS? Why, enough for the three albums!

    I don’t think that Apple’s service has gotten worse. I think people have just gotten much, much more vocal about telling everyone how incredible Apple is when they step above and beyond in extraordinary circumstances, and that people with completely invalid complaints then feel incredibly entitled to the same levels of service that are not the norm. There’s nothing wrong with the “norm” of customer service by phone or web.

    But I’ll agree on the stores. Both Apple Stores in Honolulu were packed every single time I visited in four months. Couldn’t touch an iPod or talk to someone if you were bleeding to death.

  • http://mouseinmyhouse.blogspot.com Ashley B.

    First, hi! I’m de-lurking.

    I’m going to agree with commenters who say Apple customer service sucks.

    I’m a huge Apple fan, having converted to the Macbook last year, but I often liken it to an abusive relationship. When it’s good it’s sooo good, but then Apple punches me in the face and tells me it’s my fault. We work it out, Apple says it’s sorry and will never do it again and I crawl back.

    My first Macbook was a lemon and it took me more than nine hours on the phone with customer service and more than a month of back-and-forth (after sending it back repeatedly) to get a new one. Even that was only after I had a male voice call customer service and complain — that male voice was able to work through the ranks in five minutes when I was able to get nowhere in four hours. Because of his VOICE.

    Now I’ve returned a DOA Airport Express and despite numerous calls they’re taking their sweet time crediting my account. Two thumbs down Apple.