Speaking of Apple, there was a guy who was fake blogging as Steve Jobs. A lot of people thought it really was Jobs. The guy is a journalist and gave a talk about it. Pretty damn funny. 
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Is Apple suffering because it has outgrown its Reality Distortion Field? (4 Viewers)
- Thread starter Martin
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So, I'm confused. The article is saying that Apple has distorted the perception of its customers reality? Maybe I read it too fast, but how exactly is it doing so? I guess to some extent the expectations of customers may have outgrown technological advances in hardware and software. Be that as it may, I'm still waiting on my hover board for Christmas! Michael J Fox you lied to me!
It's a cult. With everything they do they try to (and always have) make you feel like you're part of something special just for buying some of their products. Think of how many other companies do this. HP, Toshiba, Dell? No. But Apple does. And people are gullible and they buy into this. There is a perception that the ipod is better than any other mp3 player. Is it? Of course not. But it's so smartly advertised that it creates this false notion that it's the only player anyone talks about.
Then there's the price thing. Their products are always more expensive than the competition. Believe it or not, they do this on purpose. They're not trying to compete. They know there is a section of the public that is willing to overpay to "feel special". So they pay more and they get maybe a nicer looking laptop and this drives the perception that the hardware/software really is better. Which it isn't. It's just nicer packaging.
Then there's the price thing. Their products are always more expensive than the competition. Believe it or not, they do this on purpose. They're not trying to compete. They know there is a section of the public that is willing to overpay to "feel special". So they pay more and they get maybe a nicer looking laptop and this drives the perception that the hardware/software really is better. Which it isn't. It's just nicer packaging.
If this is the case, you've got to commend them for doing so. They've seemingly pulled off a stroke of marketing genius without compromising profit margins.
The way I see it though is that both the iPod and iPhone are easier to use then any of the competition. Its technology for dummies and there are a lot of dummies out there who don't want to spend 2 weeks figuring out how to use their purchases. There in lies the attractiveness of their products.
Apple also play to their strengths very well, they've kept their hands out of the gaming console pie, they've done little to try and emulate PCs as well.
The way I see it though is that both the iPod and iPhone are easier to use then any of the competition. Its technology for dummies and there are a lot of dummies out there who don't want to spend 2 weeks figuring out how to use their purchases. There in lies the attractiveness of their products.
Apple also play to their strengths very well, they've kept their hands out of the gaming console pie, they've done little to try and emulate PCs as well.
In business terms, yes. But it's the same gimmick as people who love Britney Spears because she's in the charts. Or buy Rolex watches or Oakley shades or what have you. Are you selling a product based on its qualities or is it just a bunch of lemmings lining up for a brand? And in the case of computers we're talking about the most complicated machine by far in your house, which I think is a really dumb place to shop by brand (or in cars for that matter).
But then I'm an engineer, in computing of all things.
Yeah, that's a point. Personally I think this is very overstated, they are better at usability than most competitors, but it's not like there's a huge gap there. It's more the legend and the cult driving this perception. Above all, they have succeeded in being "different". And when you're different, you don't really compete on the same terms with everyone else anymore.
Yeah, they rather stay out of a market than drop a dud, that's true.
But then I'm an engineer, in computing of all things.
Yeah, that's a point. Personally I think this is very overstated, they are better at usability than most competitors, but it's not like there's a huge gap there. It's more the legend and the cult driving this perception. Above all, they have succeeded in being "different". And when you're different, you don't really compete on the same terms with everyone else anymore.
Yeah, they rather stay out of a market than drop a dud, that's true.
A very techy friend of mine was telling about one of Mac's tactics is to release a product that doesn't have all the advanced functions per say because that allows to feed on the market more through "newer" versions. Like the first iphone didn't have bluetooth and some other basic functions and they were released in the version 2.
I don't like Mac generally, but i agree with Nenna it is very smart how they could use the public in such a way. They do have a very strong business sense and that deviates from the original values i guess. I also read somewhere that those values do not sit with Steve Jobs but were sitting with the other Steve that created Mac, as jobs has a more business perspective.
But Martin lets be fair here, their products are not shit but quite the contrary and especially in the MP3 space. So they have something to back it up rather than just bullshit.
I dont like them anyway
I don't like Mac generally, but i agree with Nenna it is very smart how they could use the public in such a way. They do have a very strong business sense and that deviates from the original values i guess. I also read somewhere that those values do not sit with Steve Jobs but were sitting with the other Steve that created Mac, as jobs has a more business perspective.
But Martin lets be fair here, their products are not shit but quite the contrary and especially in the MP3 space. So they have something to back it up rather than just bullshit.
I dont like them anyway
The earphones that come bundled with the ipods are the weakest shit ever... I own a ipod shuffle, I like it for its simplicity and compactness... And it was the cheapest one I could find , but I had to change the earphones coz the ones bundled with it was pathetic... With the newer shuffles you are forced to use the bundled earphones because of the controls being on the earphones... If you want a better earphone you have to buy the ones apple are selling because the other manufacturers don't have the rights to make them (don't know if this has changed now)
, but I had to change the earphones coz the ones bundled with it was pathetic... With the newer shuffles you are forced to use the bundled earphones because of the controls being on the earphones... If you want a better earphone you have to buy the ones apple are selling because the other manufacturers don't have the rights to make them (don't know if this has changed now)Indeed. Its called brand attachment, and its one of the most powerful tools in marketing. In fact, brands at times have relied heavily on 'word of mouth' rather then spending millions on campaigns to promote their product and if a company can somehow find themselves in such a position, they've hit the gold mine.
Exactly, Apple are different. Even if other brands have caught up, they were the first to make advances in mobile phones and MP3 players and that in itself has to be attractive to buyers who will, on that basis assume that Apple are still ahead of the game. I find it pretty hard to even compare Macs to PCs though, they serve completely different purposes. Macs are aimed at industry (film, music, photography) while PCs are the more practical and therefore are attractive to the business man or student not to mention they are about 100 times more user friendly to any gamer.
The gap is bridging closer. Nokia and Sony Ericsson have no choice. 8 years ago, Apple weren't even a competitor in their field, now they're beating them at their own game. Its not like back in the day when it was Apple vs. Microsoft. This war between phone makers and Apple will last a long time unless one is able to buy out all its competitors.
But I've still got to ask you. Although Apple have achieved to 'distort its customers reality', in what way is it detrimental to them and how are they suffering? They seem to be coming on in leaps and bounds. I don't really see how they've outgrown it.
P.S Seeing as you're a computer engineer, Martin. Do you have any idea what this virus is: 'Troj/Rustok-N'. Ad-Aware is useless and won't detect it. Spankwire.com of all sites alerted me to it. Thank god I'm such a pervert or I wouldn't have ever known about it.
Exactly, Apple are different. Even if other brands have caught up, they were the first to make advances in mobile phones and MP3 players and that in itself has to be attractive to buyers who will, on that basis assume that Apple are still ahead of the game. I find it pretty hard to even compare Macs to PCs though, they serve completely different purposes. Macs are aimed at industry (film, music, photography) while PCs are the more practical and therefore are attractive to the business man or student not to mention they are about 100 times more user friendly to any gamer.
The gap is bridging closer. Nokia and Sony Ericsson have no choice. 8 years ago, Apple weren't even a competitor in their field, now they're beating them at their own game. Its not like back in the day when it was Apple vs. Microsoft. This war between phone makers and Apple will last a long time unless one is able to buy out all its competitors.
But I've still got to ask you. Although Apple have achieved to 'distort its customers reality', in what way is it detrimental to them and how are they suffering? They seem to be coming on in leaps and bounds. I don't really see how they've outgrown it.
P.S Seeing as you're a computer engineer, Martin. Do you have any idea what this virus is: 'Troj/Rustok-N'
. Ad-Aware is useless and won't detect it. Spankwire.com of all sites alerted me to it. Thank god I'm such a pervert or I wouldn't have ever known about it.
icεmαή;2106298 said:
The earphones that come bundled with the ipods are the weakest shit ever... I own a ipod shuffle, I like it for its simplicity and compactness... And it was the cheapest one I could find , but I had to change the earphones coz the ones bundled with it was pathetic... With the newer shuffles you are forced to use the bundled earphones because of the controls being on the earphones... If you want a better earphone you have to buy the ones apple are selling because the other manufacturers don't have the rights to make them (don't know if this has changed now)
, but I had to change the earphones coz the ones bundled with it was pathetic... With the newer shuffles you are forced to use the bundled earphones because of the controls being on the earphones... If you want a better earphone you have to buy the ones apple are selling because the other manufacturers don't have the rights to make them (don't know if this has changed now)
This is a different topic, but basically the reality of cell phones is the most pathetic set of products ever made. Compare a computer from 2000 to a phone from 2000 and it's like an electronic device next to a rock. Phones are garbage, I've never seen a phone I'd actually like to own yet. Apple did a great thing in the sense of driving progress, but of course they do their very best to prevent their customers from enjoying the device with all the crippling rules they put on it. So now you pay good money to have a phone that can run software you can write yourself, but can you actually write it? Not unless you get Apple's special approval.
This is what they specialize in, holding you hostage to your own possessions.
I don't either, for the moment. They are getting some bad press here and there, but it's still not very much.
I don't go near Windows
This is what they specialize in, holding you hostage to your own possessions.
I don't either, for the moment. They are getting some bad press here and there, but it's still not very much.
P.S Seeing as you're a computer engineer, Martin. Do you have any idea what this virus is: 'Troj/Rustok-N' . Ad-Aware is useless and won't detect it. Spankwire.com of all sites alerted me to it. Thank god I'm such a pervert or I wouldn't have ever known about it.
. Ad-Aware is useless and won't detect it. Spankwire.com of all sites alerted me to it. Thank god I'm such a pervert or I wouldn't have ever known about it.
I don't go near Windows
. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say you're a linux man. My sisters boyfriend is a web designer and he lives and dies by it. On the matter of phones. They were never meant to even be compared to computers. Their sole purpose was communication. It was probably the mobile phone companies who sewed their own poison in the end, trying to enable mobiles with qualities of a PC. Little did they know that Apple would come in and blow them out of the water completely with their own idea.
Well then I'm screwed . I'm gonna take a wild guess and say you're a linux man. My sisters boyfriend is a web designer and he lives and dies by it.
. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say you're a linux man. My sisters boyfriend is a web designer and he lives and dies by it.
Oh, I'm not talking about their capabilities. It's actually very impressive how much you can do with a phone these days. What's not impressive is how badly designed and awful to use they are. And how expensive.
And no it's not like Apple invented the smartphone (or whatever you call the goddamn thing). Long before Apple phones took pictures, stored appointments, ran web browsers and did every single thing that iphone had. I think you might be caught in the distortion field.
Or how do you explain this: http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=iphone (don't mind the classless writing)
Slip Steve Jobs a roofie with H1N1. Get him sick, and AAPL will lose 50% of it's value.
Serious. I chucked that crap for my Ultimate Ears in a heartbeat.
Worse: go to an Apple store, and they price their replacement headphones like they're made of gold or something.
Apple still wants everyone to believe they invented the mp3 player when they were years late out of the gate.
