Apple's Reputation Untarnished By Mishaps

Hardened Critics Look The Other Way As Electronics Giant Makes Major Missteps

(AP)  First an iPhone price cut left early buyers feeling foolish, and then came reports that some iPods were spitting sparks. Now the new iPhone 3G has been marred by bugs, spotty service, disappearing programs for the device and a veil of secrecy over software developers trying to broaden its appeal.

Such a string of mishaps and missteps might throw another electronics company into crisis. But of course, Apple Inc. isn't just another electronics company. Even as iPhone griping rages online, it looks like Apple's sterling reputation will emerge untarnished.

"The objective reality is that Apple does plenty of wrong," said Peter Fader, a marketing professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. However, Fader said, the company's loyal fans, and even casual users, have come to identify so strongly with Apple's high-end, individualistic vibe that they're willing to look the other way.

"Very few companies have this kind of iconic status where anything they do, even if it is mediocre, will automatically have a halo around it," he said.

Kern Bruce, a 25-year-old Web designer in Boston, waited in line for 13 hours to buy an original iPhone. He sold it to upgrade to a 3G.

"There was no going back at that point, but after I sold it, I quickly started to regret it," he said. Bruce's complaints echo countless Web forum posts: The device gets uncomfortably warm. Programs crash. And it so seldom connects to AT&T's speedier third-generation, or 3G, data network that Bruce carries the iPhone around with 3G turned off.

Apple, which declined to comment for this story, said little as complaints rolled in, then released a software fix it said would improve the device's ability to connect to 3G networks. Since then, users on various sites have reported no improvement.

Bruce, an Apple aficionado since the very first iPod, also recently returned a MacBook Air because it got too hot, and said his Apple cinema-display monitor sports burned-in images.

"They're skimping on materials, on testing things to gain market share, but they're kind of pushing away people who have been with the brand even when (it was) struggling," he said.

Yet when asked whether he'd abandon Apple, the answer was no.

Macs are "a lot better than the alternative, in terms of stability, viruses, being able to do high-end graphics work," he said. "I wouldn't tell people to stop getting Apple products. They make very good products."

The new iPhone marked an important shift in the company's relationship with software programmers. The first iPhone didn't let outsiders write legitimate software for the device, though hackers did so anyway. Apple reversed course with the 3G and gave outside programmers tools to build iPhone applications and sell them on iTunes.

But developers, too, are irked by Apple's secrecy and limits on the kind of programs they can design. An unusually restrictive agreement they must sign keeps them from comparing notes even with fellow programmers.

They also complain that Apple has limited their access to the iPhone's inner workings. For example, non-Apple programmers can't reach into a user's iTunes library and play a song or display cover art.

Apple has kept developers in the dark as to why some applications are rejected or, in rare cases, removed from the iTunes store without warning or explanation.

One such program let people use the iPhone's cell service to connect a computer to the Internet. Its developer, a company called Nullriver, did not respond to a message seeking comment, but wrote of its consternation on its blog.

DoApp, a small mobile-software company in Minneapolis, said it took two months for Apple to review and ultimately reject its 99-cent whoopie cushion application. Wade Beavers, DoApp's vice president of strategy, said Apple had never hinted that a program that mimics bodily functions would be considered inappropriate.

"Sometimes you feel like you're in line with the `Soup Nazi,"' Beavers said, referring to a "Seinfeld" episode in which a soup vendor capriciously banished patrons. "It's a really good deal to be part of the Apple thing, and you don't want to say anything to rock the boat. No soup for you! Your apps are gone!"

Beavers also grumbled about crashing Mac hard drives and terrible iPhone 3G service. Even so, he said he'd still buy Apple products on the strength of their design - and because Apple gave small companies like DoApp the same access to the iTunes store as industry big shots.

Baba Shiv, a professor of marketing at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, compares Apple's fan base to Harley-Davidson motorcycle riders who pass over arguably higher-quality Japanese bikes.

The critical move that changed Apple's relationship with users was the launch of the iPod, Shiv said. Apple went from being a private luxury - a maker of niche products - to a mainstream one, and wormed its way deeper into customers' psyche.

"In the public domain, the coolness factor matters," he said. Indeed, an iPod "halo effect" is thought to be one big reason why Macs have boosted their share of the U.S. personal-computer market to nearly 8 percent.

Shiv said Apple's fans play down negative information to explain their relationship to the brand - and justify spending more for products that may not be better than the competition's.

Once that loyalty is formed, "the transgression has to be so egregious for someone to completely change the narrative," Shiv said. "If something like this had happened to Microsoft, the long-term impact would be much more for Microsoft than for Apple."

[jerr11]

What''''s the alternative, Windows? Sure when I can have a snowball fight with the devil.

Posted by Timfitz42 at 01:52 PM : Aug 31, 2008



Been using Windows XP for years now.

Has been working great so far!

Apple = False Advertising + Hype

Windows = Good and reliable OS!

[timfitz42]

They lost because they didn''t include a disclaimer specifying the conditions needed to maintain the 8 hour life ... just telling you what happened with mine.

Sure I agree, it''s annoying that the battery life degrades EVERY time I use it. And having to keep an iPod at a single temp at all times is unreasonable, as is only charging it when it''s entirely dead. It''s just like companies using the "as low as" ploy.

But no other products are up to par (for me anyway) after using Apple''s. What''s the alternative, Windows? Sure when I can have a snowball fight with the devil.

[jerr11]

Jerr111:
That''''s from improper battery care. I don''''t mean to criticize you, but on a challenge from my father he bought me 2 iPods, one I used entirely at my own convienience.

Posted by Timfitz42 at 08:55 AM : Aug 31, 2008


Improper battery use?

Apple had a classaction suit concerning this very issue and lost! And they had to replace all the batteries.

I missed the deadline by 1 day because my order wasn''t processed in a timely manner by the vendor and Apple refused to honor the suit.

First it''s a poor company that does not stand by their products and needed a classaction suit to get them to replace defective parts.

And second to deny someone the change of battery because they missed the deadline by one day, that''s their commitment to their honesty and integrity.

I was a diehard Apple fan before the battery debacle, had my Mac II''s, and my Power Macs.

After this, NO MORE Apple products for me, EVER!

And Steve Jobs can shove it up his A!

[timfitz42]

Jerr111:
That''s from improper battery care. I don''t mean to criticize you, but on a challenge from my father he bought me 2 iPods, one I used entirely at my own convienience. I used whilke plugged in, in the heat, cold, humidity, charged it before it was dead etc. The other I only charged after it was too dead to turn on, and only used within the confines of my home where it''s climate controlled. Lo and behold: 1 battery lasts 3 hours now ... the other still goes for 8.

[jerr11]

Apple is all about FALSE ADVERTISING!

I bought the third gen Ipod on the advertised promise that the battery life would last 8 hours.

Turned out it lasted barely 2 hours! And they refused to change the battery.

That''s Apple for you.

They know how to stand behind their products!

[idnnsg]

Apple''s reputation is: "We make shiny toys with pretty colors for people who are afraid of computers." How could THAT reputation be tarnished by "mishaps"? Their toys still have pretty colors!

[rwsmith29456]

Apple at least tries to fix their problems rather than stick it on the customer and then promise that the next release will be better.

[queticomn]

Also why bother with a huge smart phone, a phone is a phone that''s all you need. Heh

[queticomn]

*bah* Why bother with Micro$oft or Apple, such a hassle. Shoot for Linux, SUSE Desktop Enterprize from Novell. http://www.novell.com/linux/demos/desktop.html . No viruses, malware, trojans, worms, spy ware, add ware to worry about. :)

[photogeezer]

BC makes a good point. Of course Apple is more expensive up front, in my case, it sacred me off. $2,500 for what I wanted made no sense. I needed 2 gigs of Ram, and a lot of hard drive space.

I would have been better off buying the Apple up front with what I wanted, and then sat back and enjoyed the lack of virus hassles and the superior color management for Photoshop. Short term, I saved. Long term, I have too much invested in Windows software.