The issue is not the one you are pointing out
- Make sure the screen works
No, it's ridiculous and if that's what you're expecting from a mass-produced product you're always going to be disappointed I'm afraid.
**sigh** I can do that too...
Your post really relates to a product that is "mainstream", a phase the iMac 27" has not yet reached. Read on if you wish.
The title of the thread says it all "Quality : That's part of the product"
Products have a life. They are new, they are mainstream, they are mature. Quality should be constant throughout the lifetime, but a customers "quality expectations" will change.
The iMac 27" is a "new" product. And we know that :
- Apple has a backlog of orders because the screen manufacturing process is not yielding as expected.
- Customers are waiting (when I ordered) up to 5 weeks for delivery.
- One of the "fancy" things of the 27" is exactly the 27" screen.
- Since there is a backlog of orders, production numbers are low.
So one could say that the "Quality expectations" that need to be met for customer satisfaction are :
- Make sure the "fancy" things work
- Make sure those aspects that are causing delay work
This really means that the customer will most probably check the 27" screen carefully - a he knows that there are production problems.
Then comes the question, how to go about ensuring the expectations are met. Here it is quite simple
- Make sure the screen works
- Stick to your delivery dates
The reality here is simple, if a customer is willing to wait 5 weeks !! then make sure that what he is receiving actually works - with a big emphasis on the "fancy" things. If this requires "extra" checks, then do them. Not doing them is asking for trouble.
And, in all honesty, somewhere Apple is trying to recup this messy situation with a no-fuss exchange of the iMac 27".
And now for the production could. Low yields means low production counts. So the number of iMac 27" to check would be ... max ... those produced to date. I don't know the numbers, but that's not millions...
Obviously, later, when this iMac is mainstream, then it may make sense to stop the special "extra" checks.
Hence, my thread.
In the past apple was willing to post-pone sale of products until they knew that they worked.
Now Apple announces products for the x-mas holiday and then delivers a product with the "fancy" aspects not working after the x-mas holiday.
Doesn't this sound sort of awful ?
At least Apple should stick to high-quality.