The biggest difference is that Steve Jobs, who was perfect and never made any mistakes, was around for the iPhone 4 launch.
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Apple Watch **might** be the biggest Failure to Launch from Apple yet
- Thread starter phirstube
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The biggest difference is that Steve Jobs, who was perfect and never made any mistakes, was around for the iPhone 4 launch.
Not a failure, no matter what anyone may claim. Apple does what Apple wants. They sell product in massive quantities. They're buried in cash. You may not agree with their choices, but Apple has terrific influence.
What would be better communication than what they have done if not a formal apology? They are upfront when you order when they think it will arrive.
A 30 day window is hardly anything you can set your watch to.
Give me an example of something you buy and they say come back in 45 days and it will be ready. A car is the only thing that comes to mind and this is nowhere near as customizable as a car. I can understand why it might take that long to find a car that fits your needs/wants. A watch that they make millions of that are exactly the same is not anywhere as close.
You're having a laugh, sunbeam. All this frustration? You, and everyone here so far, has been delivered exactly what Apple promised. A two week delivery window means a two week delivery window.
Lots of things. A custom-made suit or dress. Some jewelry. I've had computers that have taken that long (not including the current MacBook) between the announcement/order date and the shipping date. I ordered a pair of shoes last week that will ship in 4-6 weeks.
I'm sure it won't always be like this. Once Apple knows demand and gets their supply chain sorted out, I'm sure they'll have the popular models in stores and the other models will ship out more quickly. But they were starting from zero sales data and apparently had supply chain issues.
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Most people who got "May" or "June" shipment dates now have 2-3 week windows.
I agree. If they blow it up that way with marketing, they shouldn't make the launch with this "problems".
But they will continue to support them.
I don't see the problem in all honesty, I went into the store, they were up front and said June. When the end of June arrives and no watch then I will be upset. But, until the delivery date they haven't deceived me in any way.
Have they got upset customers? Sure. But what company doesn't?
I don't see the problem in all honesty, I went into the store, they were up front and said June. When the end of June arrives and no watch then I will be upset. But, until the delivery date they haven't deceived me in any way.
Have they got upset customers? Sure. But what company doesn't?
Having worked in the service industry...No.
If my customer thinks they've been hacked because they are getting popups for boner pills...they are not right.
If the customer complains the cheese ravioli has more cheese than expected...they are not right.
The customer doesn't have to be right in order to receive quality service, but the platitude is tired and frankly allows for a high level of abusive behavior towards workers.
I guess you and I have different opinions on what a pre order means. Typically when you pre order you will receive the item on the launch date announced, not 2-4 months or some unknown date later.
Might as well made pre orders in February...
Not necessarily. An earlier pre-order wouldn't have moved up the shipping times by much on the whole. It could have given Apple a better sense of which models were more popular.
Anyway, I'm not going to argue that this is Apple's best launch in recent times (that probably goes to the iPad 4), but it isn't the worst, either.
I agree, it wasn't the worst launch ever just rough around the edges and should be a learning lesson on what not to do or open up better communication.
And to think people at work call me an Apple fanboy...
When a large number of your core customers are upset, then they are right. We're not talking outliers here.
When a large number of customers have different expectations of what they think is right or wrong, you can not expect a single company or entity to guess what those expectations are. When you please one, you tick off another.
Case in point: people wanted something 12" in a Macbook, which those requests were answered. Then they got pissed off about the spec bumps, and complained that it wasn't enough.
In short, you can't please everyone.
BL.
It's nowhere near a "large number" of core customers. It's a vocal minority, many of which complained about the iPhone 6 launch, the iPhone 5s launch, the iPhone 5 launch, the iPad 3, the white iPhone 4, etc.
Also, Apple is targeting a somewhat different demographic for the Watch. Apple's traditional fan base (tech-oriented Millenials) isn't sold on the concept of wearing watches.
Maybe some kind of statement from Apple kinda half apologizing for limited supply wouldn't hurt at this point. But really they made a product that apparently a whole lot of people want. So what's the problem? I will agree with those who posted that having celebrities wearing them before "normal" people can get their hands on one might send a bad message.
Yet those that are complaining about it and claiming 'celebrity privilege' don't realise that it is that person's celebrity status that is selling the Apple Watch.
Why spend the money and time for all of the ads, when a celebrity can do Apple's work for them, at little to no cost?
I wonder if people will complain next if Charlotte Elizabeth Diana gets an Apple Watch before those with May or June delivery dates.
BL.
Exactly this. People like to complain more than they praise, especially on Internet forums. A lot of people seem to be under the impression that this forum, is the be all and end all of customer opinion, when infact, they're a minority, so the vocal minority is even more of a minority.
We have different opinions. No one really knows how many people are upset. I think it is a very significant number. Not only here, but I'm sure those dozens (hundreds?) of daily eBay buyers are NOT happy to be paying $200+ over original price to own a watch 1 week after the "launch". Plus at least a few dozen who spend hours waiting in line at Maxfield every day.
If you have evidence that it is a small number, I would like to see it.