I try to love, but I can’t. So I hate.
April 8th, 2010 at 8:21 pm (Companies, Techie)
I try to find logical arguments for both sides of a story. Sometimes I find myself in no man’s land because at times that is best. Other times I find myself partial to one side. Then as time goes on that changes to being heavily biased or the complete opposite.
The story of Apple. Truly a company that has done wonders. Not in it’s technological advances, certainly many before have accomplished something very similar, but in it’s tactics in increasing market share and hijacking customers and building a huge fan-base. No one even comes close to the strides Apple has made there. Their strategy wasn’t very complex at all:
- give the users something nice to look at
- give the users choices, but not too many choices
- give the users freedom, but not too much freedom
- give the users belief that they have the best, then release something better
Few can blame Apple for this. How many companies have this much control over so many people? None. When you are in a position like this, what do you do? You milk it for all it’s worth. As a smart business man you realize that what goes up must come down. In Apple’s position you want to make enemies. Enemies unwittingly produce allies. Not any sort of allies. The sort of strong, strongly opinionated ones that believe they have their own reasons for their decisions, unlike the others.
Ethically speaking, you can argue Apple’s tactics are disgusting. Things like purposely disabling features to await a future release of a product. Or handicapping older hardware to highlight advantages of owning the latest model. Or cutting corners during the manufacturing process to maximize profits. Or have the confidence that you can charge customers whatever you desire, knowing that they will buy in regardless.
How many people would buy the exact same laptop twice, or three times? What if you were to release a laptop without video output or a DVD drive, and then release one later on that has video output, then one yet again with both? Given enough time, the dedicated consumers will eventually buy all three.
Eventually users will catch on. How long will it take? Who knows. People can’t be stupid forever.. or can they.
F.K. said,
April 15, 2010 at 9:06 pm
I hate to agree with this… But it seems you leave no choice in the matter.
Peter V said,
May 4, 2010 at 3:52 pm
Ethically speaking, you can argue that any large corporation’s tactics are disgusting. Did we not witness recently a myriad of financial companies using federal bailout money for employee bonuses? But that’s beside the point, let’s talk technology here! Microsoft, anyone?
Mind you, I’m not disagreeing with your arguments. They are sound, however they are applicable to almost any other tech company. Some get more publicity than others but in the end, it’s all the same garbage. I absolutely hate the way Apple markets their products. The iPad as a netbook replacement?! My ass! But think of it from an average consumer’s point of view. As you say, Apple gives users freedom but not too much freedom. Why? Because when you give people too much freedom, they fuck shit up. Plain and simple.
Apple has a relatively low market share and they only have one way of keeping it: by building a loyal fan base that lives and breathes Apple. That’s who they are targeting with their products. If they pick up some new customers along the way – all the better! Hell, if I were in their position I’d probably be doing the same.
More advanced users know what they want and know how to get it. Some people prefer customizing Windows to suit their needs, others refuse to use anything but a bash shell (I actually know someone whose music player is command line-based and his Firefox uses a VI-plugin that enables him to fully browse and navigate using a keyboard). The point is that the technology market offers something for everyone and there’s certainly a demand for what Apple is offering. Their marketing and pricing strategies may not be too ethically pleasing, but when it all boils down to cold, hard cash – can you blame them?
That’s just my $0.02
Faaris Kathrada said,
June 21, 2010 at 7:12 pm
11/30/01
“When you’re in jail, a good friend will be trying to bail you out. A best friend will be in the cell next to you saying, ‘Damn, that was fun.’”
—Unknown
Ahmad Hammado said,
July 6, 2010 at 8:01 am
Walykom assalaam, I like that
The Real Faaris Kathrada said,
July 6, 2010 at 8:45 pm
Hmm… Seems someone has been using my name to post comments.. I wonder who?
BTW.. I only use initials to post, or shortened nicknames, never my full name. If you want to be me, just ask, and have your wallet ready.