What the hell is happening to Apple?

[scotty96LSC]

I agree, man.

I understand Apple loves it's secrecy... but really -- why should the customer be the beta tester?

I want to know HOW app installing/updating and all of these other inexcusable messes got past apple QC.

As guy who does beta testing and building software for a living, and believe me no where near the scale of Apple, time is the biggest enemy. You have only so much time to build, test and get something to the consumer. The consumer is looking for the "next" thing and in the business you have to provide it to them.
The powers to be, and I'm talking about our company, don't care if it is 100-percent right, lets get it sold. We'll deal with the fixes in updates. Profit and margins are their priority. And we do get it sold.
That attitude has lead our company to fall in customer satisfaction. There are other factors but this is a big one.
I feel Apple has let this happen too.
But, I will continue to buy Apple because the alternative is worse.

 

[R6Seven]

Do you really think manufacturing in US would be better than China?

Uh... yes. Because we have higher standards and controls and they don't give a rat's ass. Remember the lead scare? It's a part of the process for them. They will eventually have to come to grips on the poor quality and place higher controls, but for now they're busy rising on the world stage.

 

[Megalobyte]

Oops, double post.

 

[Megalobyte]

That's funny, most Nokia or Microsoft phones are ten times more stable/better built than this piece or crap iphone 3G

I agree the new phone has it's issues but you can't compare it to a typical cell phone, the iPhone is a pretty complex device relative to what you're comparing it to, plus I doubt those phones were remotely as in demand upon their releases, scrambling to satisfy a huge demand coupled with the phone being a pretty complex device would cause problems for any company.

I agree it shouldn't have as many issues, and I don't like it either, but I understand it.

I'd rather have a buggy 3g iphone than a 100% perfect Razr, and that's the comparison you seem to be making here. Different animals.

 

[Haruk]

seriously, wtf are people replacing iphones with a dent, or scratch on them for? who cares if it has a dent or scratches on it, it still works fine, it's not like a scratch is gonna make the iphone unreadable, especially those that aren't on the screens.

 

[CalmEnvy]

I have owned 3 iPod's and one MacBook, all of which have worked amazing. None of my iPod's have dead yet... my damn mini still works. My MacBook has worked amazing, no problems what so ever. But then again, I've never bought a product when they first come out.

 

[ubersalad]

Uh... yes. Because we have higher standards and controls and they don't give a rat's ass. Remember the lead scare? It's a part of the process for them. They will eventually have to come to grips on the poor quality and place higher controls, but for now they're busy rising on the world stage.

Then you know very little about manufacturing. Americans still can't imagine a world where we're not the best, though the truth is slowly sinking in.

 

[newyorksole]

seriously, wtf are people replacing iphones with a dent, or scratch on them for? who cares if it has a dent or scratches on it, it still works fine, it's not like a scratch is gonna make the iphone unreadable, especially those that aren't on the screens.

Alot of people will argue with you saying that if we stood in line for hours (which was our choice) and payed $200-$500 for a product and have to pay $70+ every month for it then we should have it in pristine condition without these scratches dents and cracks that it comes with.

My phone has a hair under the screen and some uneven parts, but I don't feel like returning it because I can deal, but alot of people don't find it acceptable.

 

[ichii]

Wow a lot of people hate China, The reason why I think there is no or low quality check is that companies don't pay them enough for them to care.

 

[mr.stinki]

I honestly think software 2.0 was rushed.

Honestly, with apple trying to get the app store running, and mobile me, and the iPhone 3G launch, and adding developers to the program, and adding apps to the store, there's no way they were being lazy.

 

[Karl40]

Apple is a computer company trying to do cell phones. The other companies mentioned here are cell phone companies trying to do more-advanced computing devices. Pick your core competence.

 

[RexTraverse]

Nokia's China manufacturers check every single cell phone and every single cell phone part under an X-Ray machine? News to me.

Nokia manufactures phones in China?

Okay... so I kinda figured, but I've had three Nokia's over the last 10 years and they were all made in Finland.

And I may be in the minority here, but I'm one of those people who would be willing to pay a price premium if Apple assembled stuff in the US, not necessarily for patriotic reasons or anything, but whenever possible, I try to buy good made in the countries the company is from. I just think the company has a little more hands on quality control when the factory is close to headquarters.

 

[Tosser]

Nokia manufactures phones in China?

Okay... so I kinda figured, but I've had three Nokia's over the last 10 years and they were all made in Finland.

And I may be in the minority here, but I'm one of those people who would be willing to pay a price premium if Apple assembled stuff in the US, not necessarily for patriotic reasons or anything, but whenever possible, I try to buy good made in the countries the company is from. I just think the company has a little more hands on quality control when the factory is close to headquarters.

You might think that would help, but take a look at the US car industry, or the 1970's UK ditto. It doesn't work like that.

Besides, being a european, I'm not sure something branded "build in the US" is a mark of quality – even if I do have quite a few Red Oxx bags, a Tiagra cane and so on.

 

[RexTraverse]

You might think that would help, but take a look at the US car industry, or the 1970's UK ditto. It doesn't work like that.

Obviously when the product design itself is fundamentally flawed, there isn't much that manufacturing can do.

But even with the US car industry, when they design and engineer a great car (see: Chevy Malibu, Pontiac G8, Pontiac Solstice, etc...), manufacturing will build a superior product. Don't blame manufacturing for poor R&D and design.

And for all the grief people in this thread are giving China, just look to Lenovo. You can bitch about them being ugly, running Windows, whatever. Those things, ThinkPads in particular, are solid, stable, reliable workhorses that Apple, Dell, HP, etc should acknowledge as a strong and very challenging competitor. (when it comes to work-related stuff, I wouldn't trust any other brand of laptop for what I do and continue to work as beautifully) Chinese company, Chinese manufacturing, somehow magically defying the curse of Chinese workmanship.

 

[Tosser]

Obviously when the product design itself is fundamentally flawed, there isn't much that manufacturing can do.

But even with the US car industry, when they design and engineer a great car (see: Chevy Malibu, Pontiac G8, Pontiac Solstice, etc...), manufacturing will build a superior product. Don't blame manufacturing for poor R&D and design.

I don't consider any of those "great cars", but I do see your point, and I agree with the following as well:

And for all the grief people in this thread are giving China, just look to Lenovo. You can bitch about them being ugly, running Windows, whatever. Those things, ThinkPads in particular, are solid, stable, reliable workhorses that Apple, Dell, HP, etc should acknowledge as a strong and very challenging competitor. (when it comes to work-related stuff, I wouldn't trust any other brand of laptop for what I do and continue to work as beautifully) Chinese company, Chinese manufacturing, somehow magically defying the curse of Chinese workmanship.

 

[kdarling]

Some Japanese and European cars are now manufactured in the US for the US market. It's simply cheaper to do so locally instead of shipping them here. I don't think the quality is any different.

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[RexTraverse]

Some Japanese and European cars are now manufactured in the US for the US market. It's simply cheaper to do so locally instead of shipping them here. I don't think the quality is any different.

.

Do some research. They're by no means building shoddy cars in the US, but the foreign automakers have had issues in the US. Nissan's had some very serious QC problems at their Canton, Mississippi plant. So has Mercedes at their Tuscaloosa, Alabama plant. Toyota is still hesitant to build any of their Lexus vehicles (other than the RX) outside of Japan. You'll find that the fanboys are very passionate about making sure they get one built from the fatherland and will pay a premium for that W or J at the beginning of their VIN numbers.

Until the foreign automakers trust their US workforces to build their flagship/halo vehicles, I think it's fair to say that they also think there is a quality difference.