Just Curious---Why do People complain

[tttexxan]

Post after post all you read is negativity. People wanting an update now complaining about the update when the get it. Will it ever stop.

I researched the iphone prior to buying and knew all its limitations, why didnt you?? Im very satisfied with my phone and frankly get tired of the bitching. If you wanted a phone with other functions then why is apple to blame. The iphone does exactly what Jobs stated and does it well.

[LizKat]

Bad case of the lacks. Lack of perspective, lack of gratitude, lack of empathy, lack of insight, lack of enough chores ;) to wear them out by 9pm.

[iphoneord]

Post after post all you read is negativity. People wanting an update now complaining about the update when the get it. Will it ever stop.

I researched the iphone prior to buying and knew all its limitations, why didnt you?? Im very satisfied with my phone and frankly get tired of the bitching. If you wanted a phone with other functions then why is apple to blame. The iphone does exactly what Jobs stated and does it well.


Well I am also happy with my Iphone but people will always complain no matter how good the Iphone is. Thats just how it is.

Like where is my mms apple lets get on that :D

[MarkMS]

Thank you!

I mean there was never an iChat (in Jan.), so why did people assume there was going got be an update to include it. Mind you the iPhone isn't perfect, but it does a lot of things flawlessly. It could stand a few better enhancements, but I think they are mostly worried on Leopard shipping on time and launching the iPhone in other countries.

Also, I think it's the nature of many human beings to complain, aka "bitch", all the time. You could have given them MMS, iChat, a video recorder, a real SDK and more ... and they would still complain that "uhh Safari doesn't have a password manager like Firefox".

[Geffen]

I'm a new iPhone owner i just bought mine last night at the Apple store and i'm very happy with mine I think most people forget this is the first generation iPhone just as there was a first generation iPod, some iPhone people just cant be pleased with what they have and always must complain.

[Sobe]

Something ancillary to this issue came up (not addressing this specifically obviously) in an ethics in science class I took earlier this year.

Until fairly recently, the concepts of autonomy, beneficence, and justice were interpreted in one way, but in more recent times, autonomy in particular has morphed into a more catch-all box meaning that people should be allowed complete freedom in controlling their lives.

This wasn't always the case.

An example of this is the doctor-patient relationship.

In the past, doctors would withhold information from patients and act as more of a guardian, as opposed to now when the individual acts more like a consumer picking and choosing the health care he or she wishes to purchase a la carte with the doctor only there to provide the services that the individual is unable by law to provide.

Now it is a little bit of a stretch, but when you superimpose this philosophical paradigm of autonomy onto the world at large, it is not at all surprising to see the sort of responses we get when someone cannot have exactly what they want.

[tttexxan]

It just gets old.......If apple had promised MMS, Flash, and other functions in the last three updates I could see some reasoning behind the complaints. I do believe more is coming. When it does people will complain its on a faster higher gig phone. If that happens I wont be upset or complain. I will simply sell my current phone and buy the next. To much energy wasted when complaining. Esp on a material object that will ALWAYS be changing

[MarkMS]

Something ancillary to this issue came up (not addressing this specifically obviously) in an ethics in science class I took earlier this year.

Until fairly recently, the concepts of autonomy, beneficence, and justice were interpreted in one way, but in more recent times, autonomy in particular has morphed into a more catch-all box meaning that people should be allowed complete freedom in controlling their lives.

This wasn't always the case.

An example of this is the doctor-patient relationship.

In the past, doctors would withhold information from patients and act as more of a guardian, as opposed to now when the individual acts more like a consumer picking and choosing the health care he or she wishes to purchase a la carte with the doctor only there to provide the services that the individual is unable by law to provide.

Now it is a little bit of a stretch, but when you superimpose this philosophical paradigm of autonomy onto the world at large, it is not at all surprising to see the sort of responses we get when someone cannot have exactly what they want.

That's deep! I agree with you though, especially with the doctor-patient relationship.

[Cinemagic]

We complain because what we had was a good thing. I'm not talking about SIM unlocking. Third-party apps made the phone more fun. And it didn't cost Apple a single penny. To be able to get different backgrounds, change the SpringBoard and adding applications are not for everyone or even the majority. But for those of us who do it, we had enjoyment of making a great phone unique. And again - it didn't take a penny of revenue out of Apple's greedy little hands. But Apple doesn't want people to be individual. They want everyone to be the same little Apple clones that Mr. Jobs wants us to be. Look the same, talk the same, be the same. The same as Apple wants us to be. So they killed the fun. Hopefully just for now. Third-party apps are not illegal (actually even SIM unlocking is not illegal - it may be a breach of contract which is civil, not criminal), immoral or hurting anyone. Apple is trying to kill the fun. Just because they can. Therein lies the reason for my complaint.

[overcast]

We complain because what we had was a good thing. I'm not talking about SIM unlocking. Third-party apps made the phone more fun. And it didn't cost Apple a single penny. To be able to get different backgrounds, change the SpringBoard and adding applications are not for everyone or even the majority. But for those of us who do it, we had enjoyment of making a great phone unique. And again - it didn't take a penny of revenue out of Apple's greedy little hands. But Apple doesn't want people to be individual. They want everyone to be the same little Apple clones that Mr. Jobs wants us to be. Look the same, talk the same, be the same. The same as Apple wants us to be. So they killed the fun. Hopefully just for now. Third-party apps are not illegal (actually even SIM unlocking is not illegal - it may be a breach of contract which is civil, not criminal), immoral or hurting anyone. Apple is trying to kill the fun. Just because they can. Therein lies the reason for my complaint.
Some of us even complain about the laws of mathematics.

[MarkMS]

We complain because what we had was a good thing. I'm not talking about SIM unlocking. Third-party apps made the phone more fun. And it didn't cost Apple a single penny. To be able to get different backgrounds, change the SpringBoard and adding applications are not for everyone or even the majority. But for those of us who do it, we had enjoyment of making a great phone unique. And again - it didn't take a penny of revenue out of Apple's greedy little hands. But Apple doesn't want people to be individual. They want everyone to be the same little Apple clones that Mr. Jobs wants us to be. Look the same, talk the same, be the same. The same as Apple wants us to be. So they killed the fun. Hopefully just for now. Third-party apps are not illegal (actually even SIM unlocking is not illegal - it may be a breach of contract which is civil, not criminal), immoral or hurting anyone. Apple is trying to kill the fun. Just because they can. Therein lies the reason for my complaint.

I can see why you are complaining, but why not switch to a phone that is more open? Apple isn't going to budge for a few complainers, so why not you make the move?

[Benjamindaines]

Amen angry nerds piss me off :p

But seriously people need to get it in their heads that this device is not an open source phone, it was never meant to be hacked and have you put everything you want on it. The fact is, you were lucky that you found a way to do it, now that way is gone, get over it, and chances are that someone will come up with a new way in a few weeks. It seems to me that people have a mind set that everything is open source and they should be able to do whatever they want with it, truth is you can only do what the manufacture wants you to do. Go hack your toaster oven and then go cry to GE that you can't get it to control your TV.

[d21mike]

The iphone does exactly what Jobs stated and does it well.

I agree with you for the most part. But your statement above is a bit overstated. It appears that you are not aware that there are some serious bugs that really need to be addressed and appear to be ignored by Apple.

Here are a couple of examples:

1. Yahoo Push Email - Promised and highligted but does not work very well. Many have reported this problem.

2. iPod still crashes when using Safari - I have not had this problem but seems like a lot of people do.

I understand about your argument that iChat is not on the phone and was never promised.

[QuarterSwede]

Something ancillary to this issue came up (not addressing this specifically obviously) in an ethics in science class I took earlier this year.

Until fairly recently, the concepts of autonomy, beneficence, and justice were interpreted in one way, but in more recent times, autonomy in particular has morphed into a more catch-all box meaning that people should be allowed complete freedom in controlling their lives.

This wasn't always the case.

An example of this is the doctor-patient relationship.

In the past, doctors would withhold information from patients and act as more of a guardian, as opposed to now when the individual acts more like a consumer picking and choosing the health care he or she wishes to purchase a la carte with the doctor only there to provide the services that the individual is unable by law to provide.

Now it is a little bit of a stretch, but when you superimpose this philosophical paradigm of autonomy onto the world at large, it is not at all surprising to see the sort of responses we get when someone cannot have exactly what they want.
Brilliant post. I think this also has to do with the emerging internet culture where people think that freedom means they can do anything they want. Um, read the Constitution you ignorant ... nevermind. It's funny, the more information we have access to the more ignorant we become. It's almost a paradox.

[Slightly Off Topic]I may get slammed for this but Christianity actually explains it all. Those of you who are understand what I'm saying. It actually makes me laugh when the talking heads (TV analysts) get on and start explaining what's going on like it's something new. A lot of times they are somewhat right, but they never get to the core of the issue.

Amen angry nerds piss me off :p

But seriously people need to get it in their heads that this device is not an open source phone, it was never meant to be hacked and have you put everything you want on it. The fact is, you were lucky that you found a way to do it, now that way is gone, get over it, and chances are that someone will come up with a new way in a few weeks. It seems to me that people have a mind set that everything is open source and they should be able to do whatever they want with it, truth is you can only do what the manufacture wants you to do. Go hack your toaster oven and then go cry to GE that you can't get it to control your TV.
AMEN! Well, said.

[LizKat]

Some of us even complain about the laws of mathematics.

"Do we, holding that the gods exist,
deceive ourselves with unsubstantial dreams
and lies, while random careless chance and
change alone control the world?" --Euripides

"You believe in a god who plays dice,
and I in complete law and order."
--Albert Einstein, in a letter to Max Born.

"Anyone who considers arithmetical methods
of producing random digits is, of course, in a
complete state of sin."
-- John Von Neumann

[Benjamindaines]

We complain because what we had was a good thing. I'm not talking about SIM unlocking. Third-party apps made the phone more fun. And it didn't cost Apple a single penny. To be able to get different backgrounds, change the SpringBoard and adding applications are not for everyone or even the majority. But for those of us who do it, we had enjoyment of making a great phone unique. And again - it didn't take a penny of revenue out of Apple's greedy little hands. But Apple doesn't want people to be individual. They want everyone to be the same little Apple clones that Mr. Jobs wants us to be. Look the same, talk the same, be the same. The same as Apple wants us to be. So they killed the fun. Hopefully just for now. Third-party apps are not illegal (actually even SIM unlocking is not illegal - it may be a breach of contract which is civil, not criminal), immoral or hurting anyone. Apple is trying to kill the fun. Just because they can. Therein lies the reason for my complaint.

Apple is not trying to kill your individuality, the fact (as I see it) is that SIM unlocking was way too easy for Apple's liking so they killed the 3rd party apps. I really doubt Apple cares that you put some games, an IM app, and a to do list on your phone. Its the unlockers that ruined it for the rest of us.

[tttexxan]

We complain because what we had was a good thing. I'm not talking about SIM unlocking. Third-party apps made the phone more fun. And it didn't cost Apple a single penny. To be able to get different backgrounds, change the SpringBoard and adding applications are not for everyone or even the majority. But for those of us who do it, we had enjoyment of making a great phone unique. And again - it didn't take a penny of revenue out of Apple's greedy little hands. But Apple doesn't want people to be individual. They want everyone to be the same little Apple clones that Mr. Jobs wants us to be. Look the same, talk the same, be the same. The same as Apple wants us to be. So they killed the fun. Hopefully just for now. Third-party apps are not illegal (actually even SIM unlocking is not illegal - it may be a breach of contract which is civil, not criminal), immoral or hurting anyone. Apple is trying to kill the fun. Just because they can. Therein lies the reason for my complaint.

Problem is the Iphone is Apples woman.....If they wanted you to touch it, fondle it, and get inside her that would be thier decision. Would you want them/everyone doing this to your woman??

[jasonsmith]

I like the iPhone, I have no complaints... I have wishes though.

I have however been loosing my respect for Apple as a company. This has been generating complaints and just a overall negative attitude towards Apple on my behalf.

I can admit it. I hate Apple, and I am done being loyal. They do however make awesome products...after the public finishes beta testing everything for them. :(

[tttexxan]

I like the iPhone, I have no complaints... I have wishes though.

I have however been loosing my respect for Apple as a company. This has been generating complaints and just a overall negative attitude towards Apple on my behalf.

I can admit it. I hate Apple, and I am done being loyal. They do however make awesome products...after the public finishes beta testing everything for them. :(

Beta testing???? You bought the phone knowing this...Why is it there problem??? Once more the phone does everything they said it would...You made the decision to buy their products. No gun was held to your head.

[plumbingandtech]

And it didn't cost Apple a single penny.


Really. You mean all those brickees going to the apple genius are not costing apple money?

And their support lines? Humans that get paid answering the brickees feigned "Well I didn't know if I hacked my iphone there would be problems later"

Really? No money?

beta testing everything for them

Dramatics. The iphone was done at launch and has been added to and improved since then.

This has been generating complaints and just a overall negative attitude towards Apple.


Mostly all by people trying to do things with their iphone that it was not intended to do.

I bought a bowling ball last week. It's really lousy as a Golf ball.

I think I will go to golfrumors.com and complain and ask for a rebate.

[jasonsmith]

Beta testing???? You bought the phone knowing this...Why is it there problem??? Once more the phone does everything they said it would...You made the decision to buy their products. No gun was held to your head.

Like I said in my post, I like the iPhone. Please read before you wear out your question mark.

If you haven't realized that Apple releases items that need some serious updates BEFORE they fully work then you lack the experience.

[QuarterSwede]

They do however make awesome products...after the public finishes beta testing everything for them. :(
Hahaha, I'm sorry, we aren't talking about Microsoft are we?

Last I checked the iPhone performed exactly as Apple said it would. Oh wait, you didn't hear they don't support 3rd party apps? I guess they owe you an apology then. :D

At first all these threads were really pissing me off but now I'm finding them hilerious because of all the people who bought iPhones knowing full well that Apple doesn't support 3rd party apps. Please, let the hilarity continue.

ps. Did I miss a memo? Is this iPhoneRumors now? Hahaha.

[jasonsmith]

Quote:
This has been generating complaints and just a overall negative attitude towards Apple.

Mostly all by people trying to do things with their iphone that it was not intended to do.

I bought a bowling ball last week. It's really lousy as a Golf ball.

I think I will go to golfrumors.com and complain and ask for a rebate.

Like I said, I like my iPhone. I don't believe I mentioned anything about it other than I like it. :confused:

Don't own a bowling ball so I won't comment.

[Sobe]

I like the iPhone, I have no complaints... I have wishes though.

I have however been loosing my respect for Apple as a company. This has been generating complaints and just a overall negative attitude towards Apple on my behalf.

I can admit it. I hate Apple, and I am done being loyal. They do however make awesome products...after the public finishes beta testing everything for them. :(

You might want to check out the latest PC Magazine. The new iMac and MacBook Pro get very high marks (the highest I believe), and Apple outscores everyone in terms of user recommendations and customer service.

In desktops, Apple scores 9.1 (out of 10) overall which includes the subcategories of reliability, tech support, repairs, percentage needing repair, and likelihood of recommending.

The next closest is Velocity Micro with a score of 8.6.

For notebooks, Apple again scores a 9.1 overall with all the same sub-categories as listed above.

Almost everyone else took a dip over the last year.

Apple did not.

Now this is hardly exhaustive, and the number of respondants from Apple (509 for notebooks, 501 for desktops) is relatively low compared to others like Dell (5,797), but it reveals a trend of the rest of the computer industry sliding backwards in terms of tech support, reliability, repairs, percentage needing repairs, and likelihood of recommending.

[jasonsmith]

Last I checked the iPhone performed exactly as Apple said it would. Oh wait, you didn't hear they don't support 3rd party apps? I guess they owe you an apology then. :D

And for the third time, I like the iPhone...

[QuarterSwede]

And for the third time, I like the iPhone...
I had a feeling you'd say that ... again.

This is why we are responding the way we are:

I like the iPhone, I have no complaints... I have wishes though.

I have however been loosing my respect for Apple as a company. This has been generating complaints and just a overall negative attitude towards Apple on my behalf.

I can admit it. I hate Apple, and I am done being loyal. They do however make awesome products...after the public finishes beta testing everything for them. :(

I admit that I was assuming you were talking about that because that is the reason for most of the iPhone complaints. I shouldn't have assumed but you should also be more clear about the complaints you are making if you don't want to have to repeat yourself.

[jasonsmith]

You might want to check out the latest PC Magazine. The new iMac and MacBook Pro get very high marks (the highest I believe), and Apple outscores everyone in terms of user recommendations and customer service.

In desktops, Apple scores 9.1 (out of 10) overall which includes the subcategories of reliability, tech support, repairs, percentage needing repair, and likelihood of recommending.

The next closest is Velocity Micro with a score of 8.6.

For notebooks, Apple again scores a 9.1 overall with all the same sub-categories as listed above.

Almost everyone else took a dip over the last year.

Apple did not.

Now this is hardly exhaustive, and the number of respondants from Apple (509 for notebooks, 501 for desktops) is relatively low compared to others like Dell (5,797), but it reveals a trend of the rest of the computer industry sliding backwards in terms of tech support, reliability, repairs, percentage needing repairs, and likelihood of recommending.

Finally, a valid and convincing argument from someone who actually read my post.

You are right 100% They are the best out there. They make some amazing and intuitive products that are well worth the higher premium.

For me though there has always been a higher expectation. Just like a Honda, people fail to see any negatives that may exist... if they are seen they are overlooked just because of perception. The first few post after my initial proved this.

When you purchase a keyboard and five keys don't function, and have to wait for an update, thats not good. When you are on your third laptop battery in 4 months for a $2600 MBP laptop thats not good. When you purchase a iMac and the screen has a "gash" in the center thats not good, when you purchase a nano and the screen cracks thats not good, when you purchase and iPhone and it has a super bright pixel right smack in the middle thats not good. Most hardcore enthusiasts know that owning a first generation Apple product is risky, and thats for a reason.

You are right, they are at the top of their game.

[jasonsmith]

I admit that I was assuming you were talking about that because that is the reason for most of the iPhone complaints. I shouldn't have assumed but you should also be more clear about the complaints you are making if you don't want to have to repeat yourself.

You are right, I certainly could have elaborated much more on my experiences but didn't want to jack the thread. ;)

[QuarterSwede]

You are right, I certainly could have elaborated much more on my experiences but didn't want to jack the thread. ;)
That I can understand.

[benlee]

The iPhone did something to these forums and something to apple. I bought an iPhone recently and I love it. I don't care if I don't have third party apps. Yes it would be nice, but I bought it knowing that with updates the ability may no longer exist.

I do think that a big reason for all of this is the fact that apple has a tendency to hype up their products (amazing marketing schemes). So people expect this uber amazing product. I will suffix that with the fact that the iPhone is an amazing product. But apple has a way of making people (especially their fans) wanting more and complaining when they don't get it.

Apple has a business to run. And they are doing a great job (their stock is at an all-time high) If you don't like their product, don't buy it. If it doesn't do what you thought it could, return it (you have 14 days).

Personally, I have not had any significant problems with any macs I have owned. Nor have any of the people that I have confinced to buy macs. Some people must have very bad luck. But again, if it is broke, return it. Yes its a pain in the ass, but when you get it sorted out I'm sure it will be worth it.

I wish people would stop having too many high expectations of Apple. They are judged too much. I had my girlfriend and her father telling me to wait to get an iPhone until the 'kinks' are worked out and it made me so mad because they have no idea what they are talking about. There are no 'kinks' it performs above and beyond my expectations.

Sorry for the rant but this has been bothering me because I love macrumors but there is nothing ever positive on here any more. It used to be a place where I could browse the forums for help and tips, then I joined and it was even better, now its being slightly overrun by babies.

[Benjamindaines]

I had my girlfriend and her father telling me to wait to get an iPhone until the 'kinks' are worked out and it made me so mad because they have no idea what they are talking about. There are no 'kinks' it performs above and beyond my expectations.

You can thank the mainstream news networks for that, because they have to be "hip" and up on technology. The fact is most of the reporters have no idea what they're talking about, if one blogger says that the iPhone will have issues when it first comes out, suddenly the media jumps on this and they throw it around like they are market analysts. Personally I think the blogging revolution is the worst thing to happen to TV networks and news papers.

[benlee]

You can thank the mainstream news networks for that, because they have to be "hip" and up on technology. The fact is most of the reporters have no idea what they're talking about, if one blogger says that the iPhone will have issues when it first comes out, suddenly the media jumps on this and they throw it around like they are market analysts. Personally I think the blogging revolution is the worst thing to happen to TV networks and news papers.

I agree. I do my own research from various sources. This used to be one of my favorite places to go for information about macs but know it is bombarded with negativity for the most part.

The funny thing is people know about something missing in a product (ex. the calendar entry on iPod touch, which does suck) but then go ahead and buy it and then come here and complain about it.

[solvs]

Because places like this are good for venting, justified or not, so we aren't out there doing terrible things to you well adjusted people to take out our frustrations over things that if we had lives wouldn't upset us.

[QuarterSwede]

... I love macrumors but there is nothing ever positive on here any more. It used to be a place where I could browse the forums for help and tips, then I joined and it was even better, now its being slightly overrun by babies.
Exactly. Even the forum spy is useless now because almost all of the posts are the same droning of the iPhone. Even if I choose it not to show those particular posts there is hardly any other activity. It really sucks.:(

[benlee]

Exactly. Even the forum spy is useless now because almost all of the posts are the same droning of the iPhone. Even if I choose it not to show those particular posts there is hardly any other activity. It really sucks.:(

and I'll point out the irony in it all. We (including myself) are bitching about people bitching. Haha. although I think ours is a little more grounded. But that's my opinion.
I'm not suggesting people shouldn't complain here-I'm just missing the optimistic and positive attitudes that were once the majority here at macrumors. Besides-aren't we all supposed to be mac fanboys?:D Now it seems like its more apptapp and sim unlock fanboys