Thoughts on the MBA conspiracy...

[Anderson3133]

I think maybe pushing it to a Friday launch (Yesterday) might have been planned so some pre-orders would have them in hand. It's so screwed up that I don't think any of this nonsense is planned.

I honestly know where your coming from, but Apple is not that type of company. They always try to make it a strict deadline. I truly believe they wanted it to be Friday, but with flight cancellations, and not making enough macbook airs (they underestimated the sales).

 

[juanster]

I think they just dont want a whole lot of pre-orders pissing and moaning if they have them in retail stores before their loyal customers hands. It seems like common sense to me, look at how many people pre-ordered and would just be fuming if they could buy it in stores before they personally had one. And the whole weather thing is just making the situation much worse. Seems simple to me 🙄

i think so too, do you even remember the amount of moaners and whiners that were just on this site when iPhones got to stores before the pre-orders did? i dreaded just signing in to MR...just because some people believed (and still believe pre-ordering means that they get it before everyone else, even though in my opinion pre-order means you are guaranteed to get one, but whatever everyone is entitled to their opinions.)

 

[Anderson3133]

i think so too, do you even remember the amount of moaners and whiners that were just on this site when iPhones got to stores before the pre-orders did? i dreaded just signing in to MR...just because some people believed (and still believe pre-ordering means that they get it before everyone else, even though in my opinion pre-order means you are guaranteed to get one, but whatever everyone is entitled to their opinions.)

Exactly 🙂

 

[Hawkeye411]

Man .... this is some funny sheeeeeet!! .. lmao

 

[Flyer0815]

i think so too, do you even remember the amount of moaners and whiners that were just on this site when iPhones got to stores before the pre-orders did? i dreaded just signing in to MR...just because some people believed (and still believe pre-ordering means that they get it before everyone else, even though in my opinion pre-order means you are guaranteed to get one, but whatever everyone is entitled to their opinions.)

The iPhone never was on Pre-order. It went on sale at 6PM online at the same time as the retail stores. The shipping time frame on the iPhone was a few weeks, so many individuals chose to simply pick up in store, rather than wait for the 2 week (or so) ship time.

 

[navanod]

i think so too, do you even remember the amount of moaners and whiners that were just on this site when iPhones got to stores before the pre-orders did? i dreaded just signing in to MR...just because some people believed (and still believe pre-ordering means that they get it before everyone else, even though in my opinion pre-order means you are guaranteed to get one, but whatever everyone is entitled to their opinions.)

Apple never did pre-orders for the iPhone. They sold it online at 6PM just as the store. Just because it's on the website doesn't mean you should get it first.

 

[rsbell]

Alright. I could understand shipping delays because of weather, holiday, whatever.

What I can't understand is a horribly misinformed/lying sales force.

How hard would it be to tell the reps exactly what has happened, and when they are expected to be in-store in sufficient quantities?

Enough with stupid games and give us, the loyal apple fan base, a straight answer!

😡

 

[MacsAttack]

Apple does two kind of product launches...

Shipping Today (says Steve). The product is more or less ready to go, and most of the delay will be the result of massive orders... Example - My MacBook was a "shipping today" but still took two weeks to crawl all the way to me (thanks to the truly god-awful shipping Apple uses to the UK, and because the refresh generated lots of orders). The First Gen Nano took a week to reach me - again more a shipping thing and demand.

Shipping in N Weeks (says Steve). This should set of warning bells. Apple have just announced a new product, but are not yet ready to ship. The experienced will know never-ever-ever buy into an Apple product that is not yet shipping. Often they get it out the door around the time that was mentioned to somebody, but not everyone is going to get their new toys on that exact date. in fact virtually nobody will. No conspiracy with the MBA. It is no worse (and in fact is a lot better - some people are receiving their orders) than any other "Coming Soon!"

Thankfully I now have a local Apple Store. I'll just deal with them in future and avoid the grief that direct ordering (and the waiting for shipping and delivery) brings 😉

The iPhone was an atypical product launch as it had a very long run-in and people knew it was coming for months. Apple were able to build up a stock to satisfy projected demand (we will probably never know how accurate they were), and so a lot of people did get it on the launch date. In contrast consider the Touch launch. It was a "Shipping in N Weeks" gig - and it took several weeks after launch before supply had settled down - like most other Apple launches for that matter...

 

[cowpaintings]

Excellent synopsis. Add snow in shanghai-which has been reported over and over, and has been verified to be the culprit when weather reports are aligned with fedex tracking reports-and the conspiracy quickly evaporates.

I am, however, disheartened by the lack of communication in apple retail stores.

A few other posters should write for the X-files rather than macrumors.

Apple does two kind of product launches...

Shipping Today (says Steve). The product is more or less ready to go, and most of the delay will be the result of massive orders... Example - My MacBook was a "shipping today" but still took two weeks to crawl all the way to me (thanks to the truly god-awful shipping Apple uses to the UK, and because the refresh generated lots of orders). The First Gen Nano took a week to reach me - again more a shipping thing and demand.

Shipping in N Weeks (says Steve). This should set of warning bells. Apple have just announced a new product, but are not yet ready to ship. The experienced will know never-ever-ever buy into an Apple product that is not yet shipping. Often they get it out the door around the time that was mentioned to somebody, but not everyone is going to get their new toys on that exact date. in fact virtually nobody will. No conspiracy with the MBA. It is no worse (and in fact is a lot better - some people are receiving their orders) than any other "Coming Soon!"

Thankfully I now have a local Apple Store. I'll just deal with them in future and avoid the grief that direct ordering (and the waiting for shipping and delivery) brings 😉

The iPhone was an atypical product launch as it had a very long run-in and people knew it was coming for months. Apple were able to build up a stock to satisfy projected demand (we will probably never know how accurate they were), and so a lot of people did get it on the launch date. In contrast consider the Touch launch. It was a "Shipping in N Weeks" gig - and it took several weeks after launch before supply had settled down - like most other Apple launches for that matter...

 

[OllyW]

the NEW intel chip that is only in the mba.... and some macs have blown up to some extent.

It's terrible, you are sitting outside a cafe and decide to check your email. Next thing you know you are being labelled as a suicide bomber.

I hate it when that happens.....

 

[juanster]

The iPhone never was on Pre-order. It went on sale at 6PM online at the same time as the retail stores. The shipping time frame on the iPhone was a few weeks, so many individuals chose to simply pick up in store, rather than wait for the 2 week (or so) ship time.

you are right,it was for the iPod touch that this happened. Now i rememeber, people were pissed off because some best buys had them before anyone got their pre-orders shipped...

 

[sushi]

the NEW intel chip that is only in the mba....

Not a new chip, just repackaged.

On a side note, in all the years I have been around computers, I have never seen a CPU cause a fire. I have seem them burn up inside, but not cause a fire.

and some macs have blown up to some extent.

AFAIK, only issues were due to bad batteries. Apple along with Dell, HP, and Sony who used the same batteries, which I believe were made by Sony. That's been fixed.

 

[southcounty949]

Snow Storms and Glass Allocation Problem

i don't think it's a conspiracy at all. the inclement weather in shanghai has had an impact on its infrastructure. barring regional problems such as weather out of apple's control, i think shipments would be pouring out of that country as opposed to trickling out.

of course, we won't know definitively until there's an official explanation.

Hey guys, I work in the electronics industry, working directly with LCD factories in China. At the end of this week, I found out a lot of my shipments were being held "Due to snow." I'm not sure if you guys know, but there is a industry-wide "glass" allocation shortage for LCD screens. This hit our company pretty bad extending our lead times. So this may totally be out of Apple's control.

 

[Killyp]

the NEW intel chip that is only in the mba.... and some macs have blown up to some extent.

Most computer models have blown up at some point, in fact most electronic products on the market have blown up from time to time.

Intel releases new chips all the time, I don't see why this one should be so different.


There is no conspiracy. Maybe Apple are delaying the release a little, but most companies will tend to announce products a little before they're really ready for release...

 

[JNB]

What I can't understand is a horribly misinformed/lying sales force.

Is there any other kind? 🙄

Trust me, they're not misinformed (by Apple) or lying (not intentionally, anyway), they're doing the same things folks on this forum do: pass along unsubstantiated rumors, and yes, that's wrong for them to do. Most of the salespeople do the only thing they're allowed to do, say "I don't know."

Honestly, though, would you expect the kid flipping burgers at McD's to know why they aren't making some new sandwich on the day promised ("I heard the truck got hijacked, but someone else sez it's because the meat's all poisoned")? Welcome to retail...

 

[rsbell]

Is there any other kind? 🙄

Honestly, though, would you expect the kid flipping burgers at McD's to know why they aren't making some new sandwich on the day promised ("I heard the truck got hijacked, but someone else sez it's because the meat's all poisoned")? Welcome to retail...

I expect the kid flipping burgers to tell me if they are out of burgers, and when they will be getting more.

And then I expect the kid frying french fries to tell me the same thing.

And then I don't expect to see someone walking out with a Happy Meal after I was told they don't have any.

 

[blairwillis]

Is this theoretically conspiratorial exploding MacBook Air intentionally designed to explode, or is this theory just hot Air?
😎

 

[chrislee]

If a horribly small amount shipped in two weeks means as promised then I guess so.
Well would be more professional to have a distribution center stateside for pre-orders and retail. A nice simple timeline. Not this whole pre-order here pre-order there, some demo units, some nothing, some sold, some nothing, untrained staff.

I don't even want to count how many useless hours I have spent dealing with the stores in person or on phone this week. A million and one different answers, recommendations that just made more hassle.

same experience here... its damn frustrating. why demo a laptop you have NONE in stock to sell? what a cocktease. hope this week they do get some or i may just give up.