Apple
I preface this by saying that I'm not an Apple fan. I think they make inferior desktops. The Macintosh operating system is a travesty. Their draconian requirements for integration are the product of a simple-minded obsession of simplicity at all costs. The result shows through.
They have a niche with artistic programs, and as I'm not an artist, I cannot speak to those programs, or how the interface works for them. For computing--by which I mean data crunching--they are not ideal.
But today I had an interesting experience that I think is worth noting that reflects positively on Apple as a company, which is all the more interesting because Apple's stock has been rocked the past week, dropping 8% or so.
I've been told before that I need to post less more often, but that's not my nature. If I am going to post less, there are other venues for that kind of communication. I don't even have a Twitter account, because what can possibly be said in 140 characters. Long form, that's where it's at. So, here we go.
Last October (2010) I purchased an iPod touch. It was an extremely long time in coming. As I said, I'm not a fan of Apple, the company or their products. But my previous mp3 player (a Sansa) had gone missing--irony, it turned up about a week before the rest of this story commences. So I purchased the iPod as an upgrade and replacement for my missing device, and I decided to go the iPod route because I felt the Touch provided enough additional benefits, and that I'd be more mindful of the location of a more expensive device. Plus, the myriad experiences I'd had enough of shoddy products in this field. I still don't understand why Apple is the only company building a competent MP3 player. It's not like companies aren't trying. But every attempt fails, because they can't build a successful product that they can sell at a profit. Apple can.
And that profitability is where I'm going with this post--eventually. About a week and a half ago I noticed that my now year and a half-old iPod was experiencing some problems. The headphones would not fit into the jack properly, and when pushed in, the audio was washed out. If I pulled the phones out 90% of the way, the audio quality was restored, but the headphones would pop out at the slightest movement. This was a massive negative to my ability to use and enjoy the hardware. My first thought is what I eventually did, but it doesn't appear to be the first response for most people. Most people it seems get on Google and try to fix it themselves and end up voiding warranties and stuff. I checked out Google, but the responses were extremely unsatisfactory. I was not going try to crack open an iPod touch re-solder some pieces, and put it back together assuming it was good as new. I'll pay Apple a refurb fee, thank you. And so I came to the conclusion I needed to get to an Apple store, so they could look at it, determine the true problem, fix it, or at least get me on the path to fixing it. Exactly as I'd expected to do in the first place. But Apple stores are mildly inconvenient to get to, so I researched first.
Today was the day I finally got to the store. It was a mile and a half walk on the hottest day of the year, so I come in sweaty and breathing a little hard, but am immediately greeted by one of the sales personnel. I explain the problem to him, and he tests it himself, attempting to put his headphones into the jack, and realizes immediately that it needs to be bumped up. They call this the "Genius bar". Next appointment isn't for 40 minutes. That was a little disappointing, but he assures me that if I go check in I might get seen sooner, etc. So I go and browse for about 10 minutes--an impressive array of hardware add-ons for the i-Devices. Then one of the 'geniuses' approaches me and gets things started. I re-explain the problem and he takes the iPod and flashes a light into the jack. He sees lint, takes it to the back area and does the diagnostic and cleanup work. He comes back in about five minutes and indicates that he'd removed about a knuckle's worth of lint from the headphone jack, and asks me to test it now. I do, and it works perfectly. The audio quality is better than it had been in a long time, so clearly the lint had been a minor issue even before it got to be a major issue--I just hadn't known it. We shake hands, and that's it. All done. No fee, hardly any time spent. I spent more time walking back to work (another mile and a half in the heat--but now I'm listening to my audio-book, at least) than I did for the entire time in the Apple store. It was very good customer service, and definitely a credit to the Apple brand. I told Katie that this made me see why people could fall for them cultishly. I've seen similar reactions to other customer service giants, like Chick-Fil-A or Disney.
But why is Apple different? Culture is definitely one thing, but the other side of this is capacity. When I was in the store, I counted the 'blue shirts' that signaled the Apple employees. I counted 17 on the show floor, and I knew there were at least a few in the back room still. And this doesn't count the security personnel who was on the floor as well. A similar-sized retail store in a busy location will typically have 6-8 store employees on duty. Every single one of these people is being paid out of the margin Apple makes on their products--note that's a good thing. But what it does is really drive home how much that margin is.
Over the past few weeks Apple's stock has had some significant up and down days as investors debate their ability to maintain those margins, particularly on the iPhone, in the face of new developments, new competitors, and of course the loss of Steve Jobs.
It's a reasonable debate to have, but for Apple stock owners, and Apple lovers, there's good news: Apple is doing things correctly. They're able to produce their impressive--first class and category defining products, that no other company can match in most cases; and they're able to do it making a margin that allows them to support those products in an amazing way, when the competitors can't even make a competing product while still making any profit or providing any support.
I'm still not an Apple fan, and I'm not going to take the plunge on buying Apple shares, but the heyday isn't over yet.
They have a niche with artistic programs, and as I'm not an artist, I cannot speak to those programs, or how the interface works for them. For computing--by which I mean data crunching--they are not ideal.
But today I had an interesting experience that I think is worth noting that reflects positively on Apple as a company, which is all the more interesting because Apple's stock has been rocked the past week, dropping 8% or so.
I've been told before that I need to post less more often, but that's not my nature. If I am going to post less, there are other venues for that kind of communication. I don't even have a Twitter account, because what can possibly be said in 140 characters. Long form, that's where it's at. So, here we go.
Last October (2010) I purchased an iPod touch. It was an extremely long time in coming. As I said, I'm not a fan of Apple, the company or their products. But my previous mp3 player (a Sansa) had gone missing--irony, it turned up about a week before the rest of this story commences. So I purchased the iPod as an upgrade and replacement for my missing device, and I decided to go the iPod route because I felt the Touch provided enough additional benefits, and that I'd be more mindful of the location of a more expensive device. Plus, the myriad experiences I'd had enough of shoddy products in this field. I still don't understand why Apple is the only company building a competent MP3 player. It's not like companies aren't trying. But every attempt fails, because they can't build a successful product that they can sell at a profit. Apple can.
And that profitability is where I'm going with this post--eventually. About a week and a half ago I noticed that my now year and a half-old iPod was experiencing some problems. The headphones would not fit into the jack properly, and when pushed in, the audio was washed out. If I pulled the phones out 90% of the way, the audio quality was restored, but the headphones would pop out at the slightest movement. This was a massive negative to my ability to use and enjoy the hardware. My first thought is what I eventually did, but it doesn't appear to be the first response for most people. Most people it seems get on Google and try to fix it themselves and end up voiding warranties and stuff. I checked out Google, but the responses were extremely unsatisfactory. I was not going try to crack open an iPod touch re-solder some pieces, and put it back together assuming it was good as new. I'll pay Apple a refurb fee, thank you. And so I came to the conclusion I needed to get to an Apple store, so they could look at it, determine the true problem, fix it, or at least get me on the path to fixing it. Exactly as I'd expected to do in the first place. But Apple stores are mildly inconvenient to get to, so I researched first.
Today was the day I finally got to the store. It was a mile and a half walk on the hottest day of the year, so I come in sweaty and breathing a little hard, but am immediately greeted by one of the sales personnel. I explain the problem to him, and he tests it himself, attempting to put his headphones into the jack, and realizes immediately that it needs to be bumped up. They call this the "Genius bar". Next appointment isn't for 40 minutes. That was a little disappointing, but he assures me that if I go check in I might get seen sooner, etc. So I go and browse for about 10 minutes--an impressive array of hardware add-ons for the i-Devices. Then one of the 'geniuses' approaches me and gets things started. I re-explain the problem and he takes the iPod and flashes a light into the jack. He sees lint, takes it to the back area and does the diagnostic and cleanup work. He comes back in about five minutes and indicates that he'd removed about a knuckle's worth of lint from the headphone jack, and asks me to test it now. I do, and it works perfectly. The audio quality is better than it had been in a long time, so clearly the lint had been a minor issue even before it got to be a major issue--I just hadn't known it. We shake hands, and that's it. All done. No fee, hardly any time spent. I spent more time walking back to work (another mile and a half in the heat--but now I'm listening to my audio-book, at least) than I did for the entire time in the Apple store. It was very good customer service, and definitely a credit to the Apple brand. I told Katie that this made me see why people could fall for them cultishly. I've seen similar reactions to other customer service giants, like Chick-Fil-A or Disney.
But why is Apple different? Culture is definitely one thing, but the other side of this is capacity. When I was in the store, I counted the 'blue shirts' that signaled the Apple employees. I counted 17 on the show floor, and I knew there were at least a few in the back room still. And this doesn't count the security personnel who was on the floor as well. A similar-sized retail store in a busy location will typically have 6-8 store employees on duty. Every single one of these people is being paid out of the margin Apple makes on their products--note that's a good thing. But what it does is really drive home how much that margin is.
Over the past few weeks Apple's stock has had some significant up and down days as investors debate their ability to maintain those margins, particularly on the iPhone, in the face of new developments, new competitors, and of course the loss of Steve Jobs.
It's a reasonable debate to have, but for Apple stock owners, and Apple lovers, there's good news: Apple is doing things correctly. They're able to produce their impressive--first class and category defining products, that no other company can match in most cases; and they're able to do it making a margin that allows them to support those products in an amazing way, when the competitors can't even make a competing product while still making any profit or providing any support.
I'm still not an Apple fan, and I'm not going to take the plunge on buying Apple shares, but the heyday isn't over yet.