PB 17" and Apple business practices

[StevenFW]

I have been an Apple enthusiast for over a decade, and I feel at this point I would like to tell Apple to take their PBs, promises, and you know what. I have been following the plight of the 17" since 1/7 and frankly, I am disgusted by everything this company has done. They announce the machine, then they take 3 months to ship it after promising a February ship date, and then only provide models to their own stores, leading the resellers to move back their dates for the seventh, eight time....Oh yeah, and the Apple stores can't even put a working model on display-only one in the window that is not powered...really smart.....I have been thinking about how many years Apple has been playing these games with hyping and then not delivering, and it goes back over a decade...it's really despicable.....You read PowerBookCentral and you see that their lies place delivery dates literally all over the place....what kind of comany is this? Well, I will tell you-it's a monopoly....this is a company that has no competition for the hardware/software and mainly sells to overzealous computer fanatics that continue to put up with their business practices....if Dell announced something and then did not deliver for 10 weeks, 99 percent of buyers would go to the competition immediately, and there are tons of competitors who are just as good and would deliver the goods...Dell knows this and that is why competition is always a good thing (amongst other reasons)....I'm sick and tired of Apple taking our loyalty for granted....and for all the people who will write that they would rather wait for a PB without mechanical problems, well, thal leads to another point....WHAT WOULD BE WRONG WITH JUST GIVING US A LIITLE INFO, LIKE THE SCREENS ARE NOT AVAILABLE, OR THE MOTHERBOARDS ARE PROBLEMATIC, ETC....why all the secrecy? This is getting ridiculous as well-the whole aura that is created by their lack of communication....their steadfast refusal to offer even the slightest amount of information as to delays, etc leads to misinformation and worse.....

Now I am told by a reseller representative that they have word that Apple is planning on not really releasing the machine until next quarter? Do you believe this? They make people wait, and wait, and wait, and then to play these games? Well, here is what I propose: Wait! Why buy now when it's just a couple of months until the next expo...they may even speedbump this thing by then....wait to see what is around the corner, and hopefully Apple will realize this in their pocketbooks....I am tired of being taken advantage of by this company.....Over time, I promise you that this will eventually come back to haunt them-how low must market share be before they wake up and start treating customers with respect? Do they really believe that ALL of us will put up with this forever? All of their great hardware and software does not obviate the need to treat customers properly...I imagine them sitting around, (and just like Barry Bonds said about a proposed baseball strike that fans will always come back) saying, "Our customers will always come back, no matter what we do..." I'm not so sure about that.....

I know that this is a lot of venting, but hey, I'm really fed up....I think that a concerted effort by the buying Apple public, which KEEPS THIS COMPANY AFLOAT AND IN BUSINESS is mandated to let them know that these business practices will not be tolerated....I assure you that if we continue to keep our mouths shut and our pocketbooks open, they will never get the message....oh, and by the way, I have not even mentioned the premium we pay to be in this camp...

Finally, before attacking, let me say that I have been a Mac evangelist and supporter for all of these years, and I would not waste my time writing this if I did not feel that their products are light years better than Wintel...I'm just frustrated...

[yzedf]

I have to agree. I am from the camp that believes a computer is a tool, not a lifestyle. Apple has gotten so involved in selling a lifestyle that they have forgotten why people buy their machines to begin with; to get work done. It is not a toy first, tool second. For the lucky few (rich) it is just a toy, and they don't mind waiting forever to get a new one. That is not the core market. The core market is like me, someone who can't quite afford the best thing offered, but is willing to make a sacrifice to get something one step better than we can afford. But I would be buying for a reason, to use the damn thing!

[GeneR]

I get pretty frustrated too. I'm so sick and tired of waiting it's no longer funny. And yes, this has been going on forever and a day.

Am I just stupid enough to keep following Apple? Yeah, probably. I am tired of waiting for a chip upgrade. Will I wait? Heck yeah. Will I be happy that I have had to wait? If you've read my previous posts, the answer is a resounding NO. Am I happy that Apple has JUST begun their 17" deliveries. HECK NO! Am I happy that Apple is still around 1GHz in terms of processor speed and that PCs are now routinely getting the reputation for kicking our butts? ABSOLUTELY NOT.

Does Apple take my loyalty for granted? Yeah. Is this an abusive relationship? Yeah. Is it as abusive as the one offered by M$ and the PC world? In some ways, yeah, but in most day-to-day ways, no.

I still hate this waiting and abuse that Apple puts us through. BUT I hate even more the absurd GUIs that M$ creates and their offerings for Office and other software. And with M$ S*** you have to deal with their stupid designs every single moment you have to use a PC. And THAT is real torture in my opinion.

So, I'm in your boat (sort of), but then again, I'd rather choose Apple than a Wintel piece of C***.

My $0.02. :D

[nanosound]

I completely share your frustration. I love the Mac, but the way Apple has handled this (deceit, monopolistic strong-arming to name a few), has been discouraging and angering. I begin to question my loyalties. While it may be a hot ticket, I think in the long run the negative news will hurt Apple. They may innovate, but mainly in the features, not the parts that really count: CPU, bus speed, RAM throughput. OS X, while stable, really needs a next generation machine to run it efficiently (perhaps Apple planned on this earlier but it didn't happen).

When I heard another 2-3 weeks from my reseller (I ordered Jan 22!), at this point I don't know what to do. The resellers don't have any firm dates either. But I am near angry enough to cancel.

My problem is I was raised on a Mac, and it is hard to kick like a bad drug-habit.

So besides venting our frustrations to each other, what can we do for Apple to take notice? Take away Steve's airplane after product announcements and only give it back once the product ships? That'll teach him.