Apple PR

[thekb]

It seems to me that Apple, the most valuable company on Earth, could use a little positive PR. Their image has been a bit battered lately. They aren't the scrappy underdog anymore with the sterling reputation and, as much as I love their products, they come across a little bit money-grubbing.

If the only reason for changing the dock connector of the iphone was really to make it smaller, why not at least make it a faster connection? And why not include one free adapter in the packaging as a sign of goodwill to their long time customers who have invested a fortune over the years in the 30-pin interface? And why charge $29 for a piece of plastic and metal that could be sold for about $2.90, as I am sure Monoprice will do before too long?

As to the Apple maps fiasco, it is of little consolation to iOS 6 users that the maps app will be better in a year or two. It is almost imperceptibly helpful to create a special section of the app store to list alternative map apps. If they were really sorry for the inconvenience, I think they should have come out and said:

"We are genuinely sorry for inconveniencing our customers and disappointed in ourselves for releasing a product that is not ready for prime time. We are working tirelessly night and day to come up with a product worthy of the Apple name and will get there as soon as humanly possible. When Apple Maps is fixed, we are confident everyone that is using another mapping app will be blown away by what we offer and make it their number one GPS choice, but in the meantime as a gesture of goodwill, we are offering a one-time $20 app store credit toward the purchase of a mapping app of your choice for users of iOS 6 to help them find a workable solution until the problem is solved."

They sure got the cash to honor that offer and would have saved a huge publicity black eye for the company.

In the history of the world, no company has stayed on top forever. The mighty have always fallen from their perch eventually. The only thing constant is change. You can't take for granted that your customers' patience is eternal. They ought to be seen as the nice guy as often as possible.

 

[Mliii]

It seems to me that Apple, the most valuable company on Earth, could use a little positive PR.

I understand and appreciate your points. My only problem with it is that I think Apple needs to DO more and PR it less! It's great to have the slick presentations and cool effects (think Flyover), but it would be even better if the stuff "Just Worked" as Apple once claimed it did- and worked well.

Their image has been a bit battered lately.

Deservedly so.

They aren't the scrappy underdog anymore

Very true!

In the history of the world, no company has stayed on top forever. The mighty have always fallen from their perch eventually. The only thing constant is change. You can't take for granted that your customers' patience is eternal. They ought to be seen as the nice guy as often as possible

Again, i'm more interested in them being seen as brilliant, competent innovators where their products outperform and out feature their competitors.

In my opinion, IOS 6 is a disappointment.

I like and use Siri, but its now over a year old and I'd like to see it outperform even Apple's own old Voice Control let alone some of their competitors products.

And the Map App fiasco. What WERE they thinking?

QC issues on iPhone 5's, annoying glitches with data, WiFi and cell signals, and a rigidly controlled ecosystem that does things 'just because' is frustrating.

I STILL think the iPhone is a good phone and that IOS is easy to use, but the margin has been narrowed and overall customer satisfaction may be on the decline.

 

[thekb]

You will get no disagreement from me that Apple needs to get their ****** together. Nothing I said was intended to let Apple off the hook for production failures or releasing a crappy map app. Too many of those screwups and they will not been seen as the best of the best anymore. But people are more forgiving of a person or company that owns up to its failures and tries to make amends, while working to correct the problem.

And it's pretty clear to me exactly what motivated the change in dock connector, too (Hint: It's small and green and made of something like paper). We know they (and third parties) are going to make a fortune reselling things people have already bought over and over again. If they insist on proprietary cables, the very least they could do to ease the pain would be giving the first adapter free. IMHO

 

[AFDoc]

I'm a bit confused... did all your other products that you used with these connectors stop working?

I don't think apple owes us anything. It would be nice to have these things you suggested but why would they do that when we will continue to pay their high prices for their products?

Don't like the way they do business let them know by not purchasing their products but to suggest the owe you something (even if you call it a good will gesture) is nuts.

 

[bushman4]

I understand and appreciate your points. My only problem with it is that I think Apple needs to DO more and PR it less! It's great to have the slick presentations and cool effects (think Flyover), but it would be even better if the stuff "Just Worked" as Apple once claimed it did- and worked well.



Deservedly so.



Very true!



Again, i'm more interested in them being seen as brilliant, competent innovators where their products outperform and out feature their competitors.

In my opinion, IOS 6 is a disappointment.

I like and use Siri, but its now over a year old and I'd like to see it outperform even Apple's own old Voice Control let alone some of their competitors products.

And the Map App fiasco. What WERE they thinking?

QC issues on iPhone 5's, annoying glitches with data, WiFi and cell signals, and a rigidly controlled ecosystem that does things 'just because' is frustrating.

I STILL think the iPhone is a good phone and that IOS is easy to use, but the margin has been narrowed and overall customer satisfaction may be on the decline.

while not defending Apple, I will say that changing the connector is a positive and will have many benefits. As for Apple including a free adaptor it would have been nice or sell them for $9.99 which would be fair.
Keep in mind 'new models' don't always work with the technology from old models, we've seen this many times before. When buying an updated model of anything thinking about whether you can use old accessories is always a consideration.