Welcome to Steve's Apple world

I am not surprised by third party applications on the iPhone being hosed by Steve.  If you have been an employee working for Steve, you know that it is Steve's way or the highway.

Apple iPhone customers are just a little slow to catch onto the program.

If you want to be an Apple customer, you pay your money and take what the company gives you in updates. That's Steve's law.

There are those of us who have bought Quicktime Pro keys only to find a few days later that a new update from Apple has made the key of questionable value.

That new iMac you bought this summer with the world's best operating system, don't expect to get a deal on the next greatest operating system due this fall.  Think of your $129 payment to Steve as an almost yearly tax which Apple isn't interested in prorating.

Apple's warranty looks expensive compared to what other company's offer, but this is a Mac, when Steve sells it, he doesn't want it back for any reason if he can help it.  By the way, you're probably mistaken, Macs don't break. (Especially if you happen to be one those Aluminum PowerBook owners with a bad lower memory slot which somehow aren't in the covered serial numbers).

This is just Apple, they do things that no other technology company could even consider.

When is the last time you saw computer prices go up?  Consider the Mac mini and then be prepared for Apple's faithful customers who will defend Apple's pricing actions unto the death.

Most iPhone customers just took it on the chin when Steve reduced prices.  While most manufacturers have to consider the competition when they announce a new product, Apple's products don't really have any competition.

Part of the reason is innovation, some of it is the famous Steve Job's ability to make things cool, and the rest of it happens to be driven by Apple customers who hunger for the next Apple product.

Apple seems to get into your blood.  I'm sitting here typing this on my Dual G5 while there is a MacBook down on the kitchen table.

If anyone should know what Apple is capable of, it should be former employees.  I have no excuse.  I should be running Windows or Linux, or anything but OSX on products whose purchase added to Apple's cash horde.

Yes, Apple is capable of greatness, but as so many customers have told me over the years, "love the products, hate the company."

Those who haven't gotten to that point, probably just haven't been using Apple's products long enough.

Think about it, Apple at one time had a pretty good chunk of the computer market.  They now have absolutely wonderful products, yet not much of the computer market.

For some reason the vast majority of computer users, including many who have used Macs at some time in their lives, are choosing not just to stay with Bill Gates, but to stay with the old operating system from Bill Gates.

If and few will argue this point, Apple's computer products are the best, why then isn't there an absolute stampede to Macs?

Could it be that Apple the company has burned a number of people over the years?  Perhaps a few of them were enterprise users who had bet their careers on Macs in the early nineties only to find Apple abandoning them in the mid-nineties?

I found Gizmodo's article, iPhone Re-Reviewed (Verdict: Don't Buy) very interesting, but not nearly as close to a true picture of Apple as Ian Betteridge paints in his Technovia post, Irreparable damage... to software?

(From TUAW) "many of the unauthorized iPhone unlocking programs cause irreparable damage to the iPhone software."....

In fact, of course, Apple is just lying. It's not irreparable. It voids your warranty, it makes you ineligible for any help from Apple, but it's not irreparable. Apple is simply pointing out that you have been a bad person, and it will try and punish you for disobeying His Steveness.

Do you want to do business with a company which treats its customers like that?

All I can say is Apple will be Apple because Steve is Steve.

If you want to go on the great Apple ride or journey as it used to be called, just pay your money, hope what you bought doesn't break or get broken by the company, and perhaps enjoy your product, though don't count on your neighbors understanding your dedication to Apple.

Also don't expect Apple to be some mythical, better than the competition in the way it treats customers company, because it isn't.  I fought tooth and nail battles with Apple corporate to get broken computers replaced for customers who had excessive failures with their Macs.  Many of these customers were important folks who got to see how other companies behaved.

One consistent thing that I heard (and it may have changed in the last four years) was that Dell was far easier to get a replacement computer from than Apple.  Almost every enterprise customer told me that.

It wasn't hard for me to believe because I had the scars from the battles to get those computers replaced by Apple.

Enjoy your iPhone, but a better name is probably the iTether.

As I've said "No one forced me to work at Apple" and it follows that no one forced you to buy your iPhone either.

There are more important things to worry about than Steve and his iPhone protection plans.

Maybe all those upset about the iPhone should consider that Apple warned you.  A little listening goes a long way.

If that doesn't work, try visiting my Carteret County Blog.  The pictures there should bring you some peace.  If not, maybe you should visit us down on the Southern Outer Banks. 

Walking the beaches and getting your feet in the still warm salt water might help.  It is pretty nice down here in the fall.  I have yet to see anyone flashing around an iPhone so you will likely get some attention, maybe even interviewed by the local media.

Who knows, maybe you will want me to find a house for you with a nice beach view?  A view of the ocean can make thoughts of an iPhone without third party applications just so much digital chaff.

Comments

[JS]

Hyperbole

[ocracokewaves]

One person's hyperpole could be another person's reality.

[Robert]

It sounds like your employment frustration has colored your more general views. Why, if Apple's customer frustration is so high in your view do they come out on top in surveys? Think about what a typical PC customer, not corporations, experiences in their first year of ownership. Then think of what the computer world would be like today had Jobs gone into real estate instead. Saying Apple had a "good chunk" of the PC market is cheating a little. You must be talking of the pre PC days and corporate sales. Early days indeed. Apple has said they're not deliberately destroying the hacked phones. In the iPhone's first year of world wide roll-out I hope you're not suggesting Apple should support all 3rd party unauthorized software installations.

[blc]

With Apple it is all about the experience and mine has been terrific. I recently was in the Applestore and overheard a woman at the genius bar who was having trouble with her ipod nano. The technician had just told her that it wa about 30 days out of warranty and that the gift she recieved had probably been purchased on the black market. She told him that it was a gift from her husband. The Genius then said "no problem. We will replace it, it is not that far out of warranty." Apple earned both my business and her business for life. This is a great company that Mr. Jobs runs. The warranty thing is amazing.

[Randy]

You have a real love / hate thing going here, don't you? You love the product, but the sour grapes oooz through. I love the products and I refuse to get too bogged down with every little thing the company does. I have my own company to worry about.

[Alex cumbers]

I find that TUAW & the gizmodo comments quite ridiculous.

when any company supplies a product & you dick around with it, do you really expect the company to help?

Apple needs to keep control of the iPhone s/w & security and at this time does not provide third party support. Reasons could be the API is not 100% ready for external use yet.

What happens if third party s/w drains the battery and renders the phone inoperable?

Apple simple reserves the right to make any changes without being concerning about third party s/w at this time. if their changes break hacks, then that's tough luck.

in time we'll see the platform opened up - this is version 1 !!

I've used Apple since the Apple II days & never had any major problems. if people are not smart enough to get Apple, they should stick with the no taste windows brigade!

you should pop over to www.roughlydrafted.com for accurate comments.

[ocracokewaves]

Apple did have a good chunk of the PC market in the early nineties.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3311/is_n3-4_v30/ai_16569407/pg_2

"Apple slipped from number one in the United States to a fairly close number two, due primarily to a weak first quarter and a flat year in portables. The short-term outlook for Apple is positive. The vendor's product line has been refreshed almost from top-to-bottom since last spring and is the strongest and most competitive in years. Shipments of the Power Macintosh are picking up steam as more native software becomes available, and the multimedia-oriented 630 line appears to be an across-the-board hit in its business, consumer, and education versions. The main short-term problem facing Apple is its renowned inability to match supply and demand, with supplies of the 630 and the PowerBook 500 series remaining tight."

Certainly I'm not suggesting Apple support any third party software, that would be out of character.

People tend to generalize their own opinions about Apple into what they think everyone should experience.

Apple is probably no worse than Volvo and Magtag.

Some people have problems with products. If you have worked at a company and seen literally thousand upon thousands of customers, you have a different perspective of customer satisfaction.

I'm glad blc found a Genius who will replace iPods.

Perhaps he will share the location so some others can get theirs replaced.

[ocracokewaves]

Maybe if I owned a company I wouldn't be so worried about my Quicktime Pro key being invalidated or changes to Apple's user interface not really adding to productivity.

I love my Apple products too. But they do have their warts as does the company.

If you haven't found one of those warts, I'm happy for you, and should continue forward in your bliss.

If you have found a wart, I hope it isn't enough to get you off the platform.

I started with an Apple ][+ and haven't seen anything yet that was bad enough to make me leave.

However, there has been plenty to make me keep my eyes open.

I suspect most third party developers for Apple's computer platform might even say that dancing with the elephant is both a challenge and an opportunity.

I still believe using Apple's products gives me a competitive advantage.

http://viewfromthemountain.typepad.com/applepeels/2007/04/surviving_maybe.html

[Stephen Keese]

David,

As an Apple customer since Lisa and a former Enterprise Evangelist at Apple, I share some of your historical frustrations with the company. And I sense a bit of whining in your continuing complaints. Would you rather that Apple had not reduced the price of the iPhone? Do you want Apple to offer a cheap warranty and poor service that would go with it like the PC companies? Do you want Apple to spend its time and money taking care of tinkerers who just have to take apart everything or to focus on creating more great products?
I for one am glad that Apple did not build the iPhone as a platform for people to mess with. I want it to work, period. Having spent weeks over the past few years on getting my Macs to sync with Treos and having to use 3rd party software to do it, I'm very happy to have Apple design the whole system.
I'm also happy with Apple's pricing. My Macs and Powerbooks have worked very well long after PCs would need upgrading. Over their lifetimes I have spent far less than my friends have on their PCs. And I have been much more pleased by my choice than they have.
Just my experience and perspective. Fortunately for Apple it looks like more people in the PC world are coming to the same conclusion.

[Ian Betteridge]

Apple is no worse than the printer makers who insist on putting chips in their cartridges which make it hard/impossible for third parties to make compatible ones - and then claim they're "protecting the interests of consumers".

I, too, use lots of Apple products - I'm typing this on a MacBook Pro which is both "insanely great" and "insanely hot" :)

But the iPhone is a line in the sand that I'm not prepared to cross. I'm simply not interested in a completely closed platform where the company not only fails to provide tools for third parties, but actively works to prevent them opening up the product. Unlike the iPod, the iPhone isn't a single-use device competing largely against other single-use devices: it's a phone, a PDA, and a media player. And that means it's a computer, and that in turn means I want it open to developers.

That's why I bought a Blackberry 8800 this week. Proper instant email, a decent web browser (and I better one yet with Opera Mini), GPS, instant messaging (with any protocol) and much more. Oh, and a keyboard you can actually type on, plus support for the foldable bluetooth keyboard that I already own. Sure, the music support isn't there - but that doesn't matter, as I have an iPod big enough to carry all my music with me, which the iPhone close to doing.

[Ronbo]

Wipe your chin, lad. You're frothing.

[Mike]

A lot of this is true, but, you have to admit Macs work a lot better than the Dark Side machines. Back when I was a brand-new 757 Captain, on a layover in Orange County, I walked into a large computer store and there were the 540C and 520C laptops for sale! The 540C had a video of Terminator II, the bar scene, playing. "I want your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle!" Im told the sales person I'd buy the 520C if he'd transfer the video to it ( 5 minute video). He said that would take 2 hours and it was 6:45PM. I said we'd better get started. So, I got out of there with a new laptop, something I never had before!
The next day, I was showing it off in the crew lounge in Chicago and every other crew member there was amazed! They said play it again, but the battery crapped out! I think I was one of the first airline crewmembers to start carrying a laptop! The internet was just staring up then and it was difficult to get on line through hotel switchboards. But, for the weak battery and small 350 meg HD, It was a handy thing to have.

[Lee]

I thought it was a great move for apple to be conscience enough to give the iPhone hackers a
heads up that the new update may possibly brick your phone. They weren't obligated to warn them. That gave the hackers chance to upgrade or not. I believe Apple considers the iPhone to be an incredibly important piece to their future business plans that they simply can't take a chance and slip up. The iPhone needs to be rock solid perfect before 3rd party developers are invited. I hope. I hope. I hope.

[jmarc21a]

Another biased article that provides absolutely no insight into anything.

You make it sound like the only reason people don't buy apple products is because they hate the company. That's just ridiculous.

Whenever I talk to people about macs versus windows, even computer people, they spew out the typical nonsense that they were brainwashed with: that macs are not compatible, they have viruses too, you can only have a one button mouse, there's no software etc etc... It's amazing how these things just won't die.

Also a huge hurtle is that people have been so traumatized by windows that they terrified by the thought of having a similar experience learning to use a mac.

For the reader who bought the blackberry 8800, I'm wondering if you seriously looked at the iphone. I had lunch with my best friend the other day who has one, and we did a side by side comparison with my iphone and he was totally blown away.

If you give yourself time to learn how to type, it goes very quickly. I use my two thumbs. And seriously anything graphic on the blackberry is beyond underwhelming. It's dated.

This whole opening up the iphone to third parties thing is irrational. People act like the phone doesn't have anything on it and it will only be useful with 3rd party apps. That's nonesense. Every day I'm more and more amazed and what this thing does.

What is this:"I need the iphone to be absolutely everything I would ever want it to be now, or I won't buy one"?

No one is going to tell me that was the case when they bought their other smart phones.

Let them stabilize the platform (there are bugs) and then worry about third party apps.

Some of you seem to get what I trying to get across, others are missing the point.

Lots of times it takes comes comments to drag out the meat of a post.

As Ian said he's using "an insanely great" and "an insanely hot MacBook Pro."

I wrote this post because there are people who believe Apple doesn't make mistakes.

There's a secret some Mac users don't know. Even some Mac products have problems.

Having said that, Apple products in general are far better than the competition's products.

1) Apple makes great products, some of them aren't perfect.

2) Apple has some policies that aren't nearly as good as the products.

It's not sour grapes out of me to hope for Apple to fix some of less than satisfactory policies.

I expect the same attention to detail in the policies as I see in the products.

It doesn't happen.

Having said that, I've made my peace and continue to buy Macs.

However, I didn't promise to be quiet about it.

What I am saying in the post is you have a choice buy the products and take what you get and be happy about it or complain about it which at least lets you get it out of your system.

I will speak out when I see problems or missteps even if they only have a snowball's chance in hell of being fixed.

Like Ian, I won't be buying an iPhone. I have similar reasons plus I don't even like email on a phone.

[JS]

"One person's hyperpole could be another person's reality."
-------------------------------------------
If reality is based on perception, not facts...I guess you have a point.

[ocracokewaves]

There are people who don't like Apple as a company, no matter how good the products are.

http://www.ronbailey.us/2007/09/iphone_ipod_iwouldnt.html

Read the comments section of this post.

http://cuppajoekennedy.com/2007/09/24/i-am-waiting-for-the-famous-truck/

[Mr Roberto]

"If and few will argue this point, Apple's computer products are the best, why then isn't there an absolute stampede to Macs?"

Another reason you've left out is the Mac users themselves. I have a few friends who are adamant about not going Apple Mac simply because they didn't like the holier-than-thou attitude of Mac users. I think many of the "Apple can do no wrong" comments above exemplify this.

[Rodvaldr]

I know why you worship him. But I fear for you all the same

[Neil Anderson]

Loving my aluminum iMac. Don't give a rot that I have to pay full price to get Leopard in October. :)

[Andrew]

Apple is a consumer electronics company. It is not a computer company, even less so a business computer company. It manufactures products. True they are beautifully designed from both a hardware and user interface perspective, but they have a limited life and no upgrade potential. The only way to upgrade is to buy the next product and hope that it is compatible. Take for example the fact that the iPhone, unlike every other mobile phone on the market, does not have a field replaceable battery. We don’t want to risk people hanging onto their phones beyond a couple of hundred recharges do we? Especially when iPhone 2.3 is available at full retail cost.

I find it rather tiresome the comments that Windows is useless and Windows computers are no better that bricks or door stops. Look under the bonnet people. Virtually every teller machine in the world runs Windows, countless embedded systems, airline ticketing machines, supermarket checkouts. The number of transactions successfully completed each day runs into the billions.

Why? Because Microsoft understands business and business models. If I have a company running 100,000 computers, and they are out there, I don’t want to wake up and find I can no longer buy Apples because of the whim of one man wearing a turtleneck top. I don’t want to rewrite all my software because Jobs has decided that OSX is no longer platform du jour and we are trying something else.

Yes, Apple products are beautiful to hold, easy to use, but I am not risking my business to use them.

[Ishan Bhattacharya]

Just a couple of points:

1. Proving malicious intent (in the legal sense) in the corporate sphere is an expensive and usually fruitless endeavour. But...common sense suggests that Apple could have prevented the "bricking" of unlocked phones and thus granted a one-time reprieve to those who had, deliberately or without thinking hard, unlocked their phones. Apple undoubtedly has a contingency plan to do exactly that if the public outcry over this (the front page of BBC.com and the NYT are two examples) is generating too much publicity _and_ is causing a decrease in sales of new iPhones. I don't know what that threshold is, but I dare say Jobs & Co. do.

2. In a similar vein, I am sure that Apple budgeted for the $100 Apple Store vouchers granted those after the price drop on the iPhone. Financially, this costs them nothing; in fact, they will make more money from people using the vouchers then from not using it.

I would like Mr. Jobs to issue another "open letter" stating that another iPhone update will be available shortly to "unbrick" phones and that this will be a one-time offer. Good PR, more money for AT&T and a lot of friendly back-slapping at Cupertino for yet another clever PR victory.

I don't run my company that way, but then again, I'm not a multibillionaire, and I don't have shareholders. I know that "business ethics" is considered by some to be an oxymoron, but a simpleton like me still recognizes the difference between right and wrong.

Ishan Bhattacharya, MD

[God of Biscuits]

No one who doesn't directly develop APIs for public consumption has any appreciation for how difficult and conservative a job it is. Not even other engineers.

When you release an API, you've not only done the work to get it out there, but you're also committing huge resources to *supporting* it. And not only for now, but for YEARS TO COME.

The Cocoa APIs are a work of art, but even the newest ones have taken a huge amount of time to get right.

And you don't release APIs (for the above reasons) until you get it right.

Unless you're Microsoft. Win32 anyone?

[Laird Popkin]

From all that I see reported, the iPhone firmware update doesn't actually 'brick' any iPhones. When a decide is 'bricked' that means that it was damaged in a firmware update in a way that is impossible to recover from (i.e. you just turned your device into a 'brick').

If you 'hacked' the phone to add third-party applications to it, the update removes the added software from the icon list, so you can't run them, and it fixes the security hole that allowed the software to be added, both of which are a bummer (the third-party apps are amazingly good!) but the result is a perfectly working iPhone, which is hardly 'bricked'.

And if you activated your phone on another carrier using one of the 'unlock' techniques, the phone is deactivated, but can be activated with an AT&T SIM. So, again, it's not 'bricked' - it's just awaiting activation with AT&T, which is to say that Apple is enforcing the terms under which it was sold.

So while you might be unhappy not to be able to run third-party apps, or to activate on another carrier, both of those were clearly communicated product limitations before the iPhone launched, so you don't have much room to complain about Apple treating customers unfairly.

Still, I do hope that they get 'jailbreak' working again - the third party apps are AMAZING!

[roz]

kinda think there might be a stampede to macs right now. I know tons of people buying them.

apple is basically just like every company - but I do like there stuff. I think when you work at any company its tough to maintain the same image.

back in the dot com days I heard one analyst say that having customers whine and complain about a company is not all bad. It means that they have adopted. They for whatever reason have decided not to leave. So they must complain. I think that is the case for Apple right now. People don't complain much about PCs or Vista lately, they just get the hell out.