are we bad for apple's sales?

[jefhatfield]

i went into a mac store and the salesman said that the rumor sites build up macs that are supposed to be coming out, that when the real thing comes out we are always disappointed

he says we build it up to fall so that sales suffer and apple never really lives up to the expectations that WE demand from them

personally, i don't think that there are that many people who know about the rumor sites or even care

those mac users and potential mac users find out about a certain mac when they see it at the store and they don't have any expectations that apple can't meet

basically, i think most other people besides the hard core rumor types are happy with where apple is right now

what do you think?

 

[Rower_CPU]

hatman dropped another pound...good job man!

The only people's buying habits we influence are our own. Anything else is just sour grapes because Apple knows they should be more competitive in the hardware arena and we're not afraid to point that out.

 

[arn]

Re: are we bad for apple's sales?

Originally posted by jefhatfield
i went into a mac store and the salesman said that the rumor sites build up macs that are supposed to be coming out, that when the real thing comes out we are always disappointed
what do you think?

I think this is a great topic, and something I've thought about a lot - especially as the admin of a Mac Rumor site...

Now, the first thing to realize is that Mac Rumor sites exist because of user interest in the rumors/gossip. not the other way around. ie. if all Mac rumor sites disappeared, the demand would still be there...

However, do the rumor sites build up hopes/expectations beyond reason?

It depends - on the site and on the user. Believe it or not, the users are generally the ones with unreasonable expecations. You should see posts around here pre-MacWorld.... it's enough to make you want to scream at some of these people. I've said this before - once the G5 comes out, I guarentee that there will be users demanding the G6 at the NEXT MacWorld Expo. (for those reading this and thinking "what's wrong with that" - wakeup! it's not going to happen )

Now... rumor sites do this as well.... iWalk, anyone? and MacOS Rumors tends to have distant rumors of the next best (unattainable) thing.

Now, for my own part in "socially responsible" rumor mongering, I try to temper the news items here with a somewhat realistic slant... if you look at the rumor roundups here pre-show, they have actually been pretty realistic regarding the upcoming announcements:

MWNY Roundup
MWSF Roundup
MW Tokyo Roundup

So, my final answer opinion is that individual users make expectations too high for Apple or anyone to meet... but if you view rumors with the properly critical eye... you can have a realistic view of what's coming.

arn

 

[LimeiBook86]

well...

I guess that's sorta true...

 

[bunton]

Mac Athon

Well now that Apple employee probably posts in this very site so dont listen to him try and stir his own ****, you know what i am saying?
yahoo

 

[AlphaTech]

I think that there are people that post unrealistic expectations on the rumor sites pre-MW expo. I don't really fault people that put up links here to other rumor sites rumors, but you should use a bit of intelligence before reporting them. That also goes for when you read the same rumors, use your brains people (if you haven't fried them already ).

Some of you might have noticed how I tend to treat rumors that I don't find creditable. Granted, I have been proven wrong before, but it's all rumor until Apple makes their release.

We all know that Apple will come out with a new processor eventually. When will it happen?? No one really knows until they are released. All 'inside sources' aside, Apple can cancel a release a day (or less) before the expo if they decide to (or Jobs decides).

Unless you personally know people in high positions, inside all the companies, and divisions, and get them to violate their NDA (grounds for being terminated), you won't know what is coming out until the rest of us do. While it can be fun/humorous to read about the [supposed] next greatest thing/release, people need to be more realistic.

As for buying habits being influenced by the rumor sites, I don't let the rumors influence me. I have made it a habit to wait until after an expo before purchasing a Mac. Then I wait to see if the specifications are where I wanted them to be, or if enough of them are there. Apple has to realize that many people purchase systems with that method. It has very little (if anything) to do with what gets posted on the rumor sites.

 

[tjwett]

please...

oh yeah, it's our fault Apple is not doing as good as they'd like. it has nothing to do with their hardware specs, or pricing plan, or lack of gaming support. i can't believe someone even said that. save it for the tourists. i'm assuming we are talking about the average consumer and potential "switcher" here. everyday people shopping for a computer don't look at rumor sites. lol! they look at Consumer Reports. and it tells them that Apple's consumer line starts at over a grand and is about half the mhz and twice the price of a Dell, or whatever other piece of crap comes with a free monitor and printer. and that they will have to pay another three hundred for support. support is very important to consumers, especially those coming from a Wintel background. and those that are accustomed to free support will look away quickly. there are many other reasons why Apple doesn't move machines and none of them have anything to do with rumor sites. most Mac users, and every PC user i know don't even know about the rumor sites, or care to for that matter. and as for the hardcore Mac fans that aren't buying, well, that's because we know better

 

[Hemingray]

I say that Apple employee needs to rethink what he said... after all, WE are part of Apple's consumer market too. And we're smarter than the av-er-age joe blow that walks into the Apple Store and wants to buy a "newfangled iMac thingamajigger for his grandmother". We may not all be computer geniuses, but we know how computers work and what makes the difference in speed.

Most of us are bitter because of Apple's lack of output in the PowerMac department. G5's have been rumored for a long time now. They introduced the G3 in 1997 and the G4 in 1999 and it'll be well into 2003 before we *may* see a G5 and we're expecting too much?? That'll be practically a four year gap before any major change has been made to the PowerMac line!

Expecting a 4GHz G4 is expecting too much. Expecting Apple to keep up with or surpass the competition is only natural and until that happens I'll have reason to be somewhat disappointed. So there!

 

[AlphaTech]

Re: please...

Originally posted by tjwett
and that they will have to pay another three hundred for support. support is very important to consumers, especially those coming from a Wintel background. and those that are accustomed to free support will look away quickly.

The major computer makers offer a one year warranty free of charge. That includes Apple. If you want to extend the service beyond that one year period, you have to pay extra for it.

From what I have experienced, Apple and IBM offer top end phone support. Then again, as soon as I tell them that I am a tech their attitude and manner improves. With Apple, if you let them know you are a certified tech, and all of a sudden they pull out the big help. Hell, I even had the Apple support person make a suggestion that was less then legit, but is going to save us a few hundred dollars.

By the way, the Applecare plans cost different amounts for different systems. Ranging from $149 (i/eMac) to $349 (TiBook), the iBook and PowerMac G4 are $249.

 

[bousozoku]

I'm glad to see that Apple takes care of someone.

They don't offer consumers AppleCare at all, here in Florida. They gave the Orlando Sentinel newspaper several excuses which ranged from lame to ludicrous.

Of course, the state of Florida disagrees with them and says that they can sell their plan here.

 

[e-coli]

Hi this is iH8Quark. trying on a new face

I was thinking about this same subject last month. I was in my local Apple reseller, and there was a woman in there who was very interested in buying a Mac. She was a digital video artist. she was asking all the right questions, too.

I told her she might want to consider waiting until the PowerMac line was updated. I said "they're getting ready to upgrade their towers in a few weeks, so yoou might want to wait. " Well' the sales guy was furious and immediately retorted:

"Oh I bet you got that off a rumor site. Well Apple just released us a memmo that says the Rumors sites are wrong. Theycould or they could not release new towers. In other words, don't be an a**."

Well, I was a bit aghast. But I conceded and trotted along. The woman made her way to the PC department.

I thought: "Whoops. Shouldn't have said it." I killed this dude's sale. Missed an opportunity to convert someone.

 

[3rdpath]

do these sites kill sales? i think thats blaming the messenger...

all of the rumor sites contain some rumors.... but really the majority of the between expo time is spent discussing the presently available hardware/software and it's pros and cons. if the consensus is apple's pro line is outdated...why on earth blame the pro users for discussing it in an active and open fashion. yes, some people will never be pleased but by-and-large most pro's just want apple to be technologically competitive...give the towers ddr and such...we're not talking new or bleeding-edge technology here.

the huge portion of the consumer market that apple is targeting doesn't read these sites...as was stated earlier-they read consumer reports. and they respond to advertising. they'll buy the imacs, emacs and ipods and be very happy.

i think apple's playing the blame game and its coming off pretty unflattering...

 

[teabgs]

Here is the deal. Apples line is in desperate need of a major update. We all know this. The Pros who used to dish out a ton of cash and kept Apple afloat during the hard times are not buying anymore.

Macs can last a long time if you need/want. I'm still using a 6500...when I get a new tower it will be such a HUGE upgrade for me, and I wont be as upset as I would otherwise be.

If people wait say 5 or 6 years to upgrade or choose to get an upgrade card by themselves it hurts Apple's sales.

I want the most current hardware and I didnt want the Dual 1GHz, because Im hoping for DDR and a faster bus. This is in all the PCs and there is no reason apple shouldnt have it. I waited as long as I possibly could, actually longer since I really need this thing a month ago, but I figured itd be out at MWNY.

Anyway, because of prices mac users are more consious of apples moves and dont upgrade as much since the machines are higher quality.

If they were cheaper and/or more on track with PC's people would buy new machines more often. Nuff said. The loss of sales has only to do with Apple Marketing. Theyre targeting new users which is great, but they need to make the old users happy to keep up their sales at the same time.....I think they've lost sight of this.

 

[mymemory]

The difference between us and the sles guy is that he get pays to sell a product and we are the consumers of that product and we are the ones who pay his salary.

Is like a political party, the promess a lot of things and they have the people agree and against. Apple should listen more the mac forums, now that people complais too much and are not ever satisfy? that is true, you can not please every body but at this point Apple is pleasing no one.

About Macrumors, the difference between Macrumors and other rumor sites (ex Macosrumors) is that this is a forum and we can lieve our opinions.

If the rumor sites have and influence in the market? surely yes, not at we spect but lot os people goes trhue here and most important is not the visitors if not ourselves carring the information around, there is the real influence.

Just remember the traffic we had the days around the Macworld.

We are good or bad for Apple, depends of how they behave. If Apple still underestimating their public I may en up gatting a used SGI because it cost about the same for 300 time the performance