“Apple screwed us!”
“Apple screwed early adopters!”
“Apple screwed recent switchers!”
“Sure prices drop, but this is far too much far too early”
The list goes on and on and on. Some of these comments were found on what I thought were reputable blogs, some by people I respect on IRC. One site even suggested writing the California department of consumer affairs.
Grow. Up. Now.
Apple released the iPhone on June 29. The iPhone was the most hyped product launch, ever. The 8gb model sold for $599. Today, Apple dropped the price an unprecedented $200.
Did people expect Apple to sell it on normal or thin margins? If they did, they are a fools.
Did people line up for hours like I did? If they are complaining, then maybe they did. Would they have paid $899 for the same phone? Probably.
We wanted an iPhone. Bad. We paid for it.
Now some feel burned. I have a theory as to why.
One person on IRC said “I don’t have a ton of cash to burn, I could have used that $200.” Well apparently he did have the cash to burn and burn it he did. He gave it to Apple. Willingly. They didn’t twist his arm. They asked a price, and he paid it.
But now the self esteem kicks in. He’s no longer joe cool on the block. In fact, any schmuck with $200 less can buy one and laugh at him.
That is why people are upset. Being laughed at, poked fun it. It was all good as long as they had the phone that others could not afford. Now more people can and those early adopters are less special.
As Ling would say, “Weee oh weee oh weee oh weee!”
I’m sorry that Billy gets an iPhone for less allowance than others paid, but really, my iPhone works just as well as it did at 9:59am PST today.
I see it in a different light. More people can now afford iPhones. More iPhones should sell. The more phones that sell, the more people we have complaining about the crappy speaker, so maybe it will get fixed in the next model. The more iPhone users, the more software Apple will make for it to drive more revenue. The more people I can call with my mobile to mobile minutes.
If people would leave their self esteems out of business decisions, they would not only be happier about their purchases, they might even smarter about them.
Enjoy your iPhone!
Sounds like you are simply one of the people who were initially jealous of the iPhone owners and who can now laugh at them. What Apple did may or may not be wrong, but they will pay for their treatment of their diehard fans.
Rock on dude
Hi Jay! Hey this post wasn’t much better than the one you left on apple discussions.
READ MY BLOG. I was in line for 12 hours to buy my iphone. 🙂
Anyone who is upset over the price decrease is a child. We all knew price drops would happen, and we got to spend an extra nine weeks with our iPhones for that $200. I know that having an iPhone made my life easier for the last two months.
Anyone who is no longer “Joe Cool” was never “Joe Cool” in the first place. They were “Joe Schmuck.”
What you fail to understand is that the iPhone was a margin purchase for some people. Personally, I had to make a little extra sacrifice from other budgetary categories to stretch for a device that I really wanted and have really enjoyed. There is a grey area that most commenters are ignoring – people that could afford the device, but had to stretch to get it. It was not a poor financial decision for me, but neither was it an easy one.
I could have definitely used that $200 on other things, but I’m not in the financial crapper from it either. I’m just feeling a bit burned by Apple’s decision to take advantage of its most enthusiastic customers. I’m going to keep enjoying my iPhone (because it really is terrific), but it’s going to take a while for the bitter taste I have for Apple to fade.
I don’t buy it. I’m an iPhone owner, and mine was a gift, so I’m out exactly zero dollars. I’m still frustrated that Apple chose to drop the price when they did (I blogged about it). But I’m also freakin’ excited that many of my friends (and family) can now afford to get one. I think many other iPhone owners (or, at least, Apple loyalists) probably feel the same as me. I actually want the rest of the world to have iPhones. It means less street-demos and that I can finally pull it out at a baseball game without fear of being bombarded with questions and drooling onlookers.
I agree you, jayhuck, with what you said about Apple’s diehard fans. I followed the announcements yesterday with excitement, never expecting a gut-punch from Steve. The problem with the price change is they didn’t just decide on Tuesday night to drop the price; they have known for quite some time, perhaps long before the iPhone launch. That’s not “technology”, Jobs. That’s rudeness to your most loyal customers. Thanks a lot.
Although I understand what you’re saying, I disagree–there’s a lot of information indicating that people consider the worth of a thing to be whatever the lowest cost is–eg, they’re more likely to forgo buying a regular-priced item when they previously saw it on sale.
Considering Apple’s market, I think this was a bad move on Steve Job’s part. He can hick his fan base where it hurts, but Apple’s eventually going to be ubiquitous and (this is where the cool part comes in) all the Apple geeks are going to move on to the next big thing.
I am one of the early adopters. I am also pretty upset about the price drop. But it’s not because I feel “less special” because people can now buy the same product I’ve owned for 2 months for $200 less. And I’m not demanding a refund, nor do I feel like I’m entitled to one. Overwhelmingly, I feel like a dolt who was duped by one of my favorite companies into overpaying for a device that they had no intention of selling for the price I paid. Yes, it sucks. Yes, it’s business (especially the cell phone business). But it disappoints me that Apple would so brazenly exploit their biggest fans for a cheap buck (or 200).
Oh, and one more thing — what’s with all the blogs and (especially) blog commenters resorting to name calling about the early adopters? I can’t read a single story about this without being called a “child” or a “crybaby.”
Any chance we can elevate the discourse? Oh wait, internet. Right.
Your rhetoric is flawed. I could care less what people think about my phone. I upgraded from a free nokia. Why? For the user experience. So Steve yesterday backhands a half million of the most loyal Apple customers. Did I expect a price drop? Absolutely… but 33%? NFW!
Guess what Steve? I ain’t replacing that aging g4 or that 20 gig ipod anytime soon. I can’t believe John Gruber actually linked to your BS. He just slipped a notch in my book too. Guess I won’t be going through his Amazon portal for my Apple goods in the future. If there is one with Apple.
Way out of line. I think anything that gets this great device into more hands is great, not demeaning. I understand that I agreed to a price of $600, I got the iPhone, and who cares what anyone else pays?
However, a $200 drop in 60 days certainly makes me feel like Apple is guilty of gouging the early adopters. The price of components can’t have come down that far, that fast. That is a legitimate complaint.
It’s like complaining about $3/gallon gas. Sure, you are complicit by making the purchase, but that doesn’t mean that the purchaser wasn’t taken advantage of.
Can’t say I ever felt more or less special due to my iPhone ownership.
I can say that I feel a bit embarrassed to be an early adopter, given it’s obvious to everyone what a financial blunder my lack of patience was 😉
That, and it really blows a hole in my “sure-fire” strategy of buying products right when they come out to avoid Apple buyers remorse.
Apple has a 90 day return policy with a $55 restocking fee, as I recall. If you still have the packaging for the iPhone, return it and buy another one. A $145 discount doesn’t sound too bad to me.
I agree. There was a charge for being one of the first people to walk around with an iPhone and have people’s heads snap: it was $200. Get over it.
I totally agree that it is a lot of money that I’d like to have in the bank also, REG, however the entire point of the argument is that if it was ok to pay $599 on Tuesday, you should be ok with that decision on Wednesday. That is where people need to mature in their purchase decisions, making sure they are ok with the product and price.
Sorry, but your theory is ridiculous. People didn’t spend $600 so they could have something that no one else had: they spent $600 so they could have the technology and ease of use of the best phone on the market. Now those same people are being told that they were charged a premium simply for buying it as soon as it was available. This isn’t a matter of Apple dropping the price because the components got cheaper and costs went down, which is what’s been the case in the past: this is Apple RAISING the initial price because they wanted to get as much money as possible from the people who were by and large their biggest supporters to begin with.
Companies want to be trusted by their customers: they want you to believe that they’ve set a fair price for their product, that you’re getting a good deal for your money. What Apple basically did was tell the early iPhone buyers that they DIDN’T get a good deal, that they overpaid, and were in fact unwise to buy their product so quickly and pay so much. They’ve broken that trust and set a lousy precedent for the future.
You might spend your money to bolster your self-esteem, but it’s a mistake to assume the same of everyone else.
This complaining about the iPhone price cut strikes me as being a little ridiculous. I don’t recall Apple putting a gun or any other threatening device to anyone’s head, demanding they stand in line for hours to purchase one. The price was clearly marked. You knew what it was before you purchased it. Why should this bother you so much? Is a company not entitled to sell their products for whatever they want? I too have purchased items (from Apple and other companies) only to have their price be reduced (or a new product released) within a short time of my purchase. Welcome to the world of technology.
This type of price drop is definitely not unprecedented, especially for smartphones. See http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/TechQ307/Entries/2007/9/6ApplesiPhonePriceCutUnleashesComplaints.html for a comparison.
If only more people would reason the way you do. I work for an Apple reseller in Sweden and though the iPhone isn’t on the market here yet, the iPod is.
Today a customer came in with a black nano that he bought exactly one week ago and asked if we could take it back so he could get one of the new nanos instead. Before I had a chance to reply he said the we should have told him that new models would come this week.
I explained to him that Apple doesn’t tell resellers in advance, so we were just as surprised as him (sure we do follow the rumors, but it’s not possible to guide customers based on that). And sure, we could take it back, but not with a full refund. And since Apple hasn’t given us any information on how much we are to charge for our remaining stock of 2G nanos I couldn’t even tell him how much he would get. In the end he left the store saying to his friend the he would never come back to our store.
This is very interesting, since he was perfectly happy with his nano just a week ago, but now he felt cheated. I just wonder what he thought we would do? Selling a used iPod isn’t easy, especially if it’s an old model. And we run a business, not charity. So does Apple.
Eric,
Of course I should have said “some people are upset.” I didn’t mean to imply everyone, because different people have their own reasons for being ticked off. I guess my wording came from reading comments and talking to upset people and when it came down to it, they just felt as if they paid to be cool and were no longer as such.
Sure, for some it may be about being “less special” but for many others it’s not about that at all.
I’m still pissed about that $500 I spent on my 2nd gen iPod. If I had known an iPhone was on the way, I would have waited!
Nick, if the iPhone was a “margin” purchase at $600 and you paid it, then you have your priorities screwed up – Apple didn’t screw them for you.
All this manufactured outrage is precisely because of the low self-esteem of the owners. They want to preserve the illusion of elitism so that the rest of the unwashed masses can look on theym and their exclusive iPhones with sad puppy dog eyes for a few months more. What difference does it make that it’s now $200 less today instead of $200 less in December?
What, Apple should wait until after all the stocking stuffers have been bought just to ease the outraged infantile minds of a small group of people who want to preserve the illusion of their elitist status for 6 months instead of 2 months? You mean Apple should not react to fast-moving market conditions and instead cater their $30 billion business to stroke the self-esteem of so-called “loyal” users?
You paid $599 for it and if you say you had to stretch to pay it then, the fact of the matter it, it was your choice to go out on a financial limb. Stop feeling burned because lesser minds are encouraging you to feel burned. The iPhone is getting BETTER with time – in a few weeks, we’ll have the ability to buy tunes on demand! And there’s more stuff coming. So enjoy the phone with the satisfaction of knowing that your life has been better for 2 months with the iPhone than 2 months without it.
BTW, what is this fiction that no one ever drops prices this fast? This happens ALL the freakin’ time in the cell phone business. Verizon will get exclusivity on a brand new LG phone for, like 1 month, then it’s available on all the other carriers for 50% off THE VERY NEXT MONTH. People need to grow up. If you buy a car and a month later, GM or Ford slashes prices by $3000 as a buyer incentive to move more cars, do you go back to the dealership and rant about how you were “taken?”
I think it’s more drama queen performance angst people are putting out just so they can justify their whining. If you feel burned over $200 on a electronic device you bought 2 months ago knowing full well it was being sold without any kind of discounts, that really IS a reflection of immaturity more than anything else.
As a 25-year apple user, I can say with great confidence that “overpaying” is consistently the norm. If they don’t drop the price by 30% they make a 30% better product, and they are constantly refreshing. The only thing you can do is buy what you need when you need it.
Apple will never slow down their rate of change to benefit old customers, everything is done to benefit new customers, and that is as it should be. Any company that tries to produce tech with “staying power” will simply be left behind.
For those who are upset about the price reduction Apple now offers a $100 refund. http://www.apple.com/hotnews/openiphoneletter/
I’m glad someone’s finally trying to show examples of such dramatic reductions. I never imagined a very popular cell phone with a supposed five year (not one month) carrier lock-in would drop that quickly in price. Please someone tell me there is any precedent for this type of drop, because I can’t think of any. This is not the way technology works.
The much more sane, logical way for things to go would be to drop the price by ~$100 at MacWorld in January. That would be expected. That’s closer to the trend as I understand it.
Thanks for posting that, ohennig!
Guys, it’s not about the iPhone. It’s about the platform. Apple got phenomenal market response from the iPhone hype, not just reflected in iPhone sales, but in all their other devices. Laptop growth surged like it never has, and show no signs of slowing down (much better than the rest of the PC market). With yesterday’s announcements, iPod sales are about to go through the roof. New iMacs. Leopard is a few weeks away. With the price cut, more people buy iPhones, more are exposed to the rest of the product line, more consumers buy into the platform, not the specific device (a theory that the iPhone launch has already proven). It’s not about what Apple did two months ago, it’s about Christmas being 3 months away, just long enough to gear up the advertising and trounce the rest of the market on multiple fronts. It’s about building next year’s audience. Why? Because, finally, the bones of the iPhone, the iPod and the Macs are all OS X. Money spent on software and services can be capitalized on every device in the platform. They’ve gotta get that platform into people’s hands, and their timing is perfect. It’s not about this week’s sales. It’s about the next six quarters. I’ll bet money this price drop happened exactly when it’s been planned to happen for several years. It was the launch date that was behind schedule.
Hmm. The price reduction has nothing to do with me being an elitist. It’s more that I’d rather have spent that $200 on more Apple gear — like the new iPod Nano, for example.
The good news is that it appears Apple’s going to be issuing $100 store credit to iPhone purchasers. Makes me feel less sour about the whole thing.
You should also remember: most of the people complaining so loudly are those who bought their phones a couple weeks ago. I bought mine on launch day, which is about $100/month premium. Can you imagine paying $100/week “early adopter” fee?
Wow, evil Apple. They don’t care about their “early adopter diehard fans” at all.
Just kidding. I’m glad that Apple is doing something now to make piece with all the pissed off people.
I agree with you, man. I’m not laughing at people who bought before yesterday’s announcements, but I also have no sympathy. I posted on my blog ( http://www.sperari.com/archives/2007/06/30/waiting-yes-waiting-for-the-iphone/ ) when they first came out that I was waiting for a variety of reasons – among them, I suspected there would be a price drop before too long. That was a priority for me. It wasn’t for a lot of people who went out and bought it. I spent some quality time with one a few weeks ago, and enjoyed it enough to overcome my want to wait for a drop. Since then, I’ve been saving for one, and my savings target was $600. I was prepared to pay that, if necessary, on my own timeline.
The joke in my case is really on Apple, rather than the early adopters. They could have had $200 more of my money.
Plz stop whining, everyone. If you were willing to spend the money, you were willing. ’nuff said.
To keep those first buyers happy Apple should do something simple and cheap like give them a free, unique ringtone that ONLY 1st generation buyers get. Would at least make them feel a bit better about the sting of $200…
The blogger hyenas are circling and laughing but they’re blowing this out of proportion.
I don’t feel ripped off. I don’t need words put in my mouth. And I don’t need salt poured into non-existing wounds.
Dumbasses: Like you, I had the $600, and I wanted an iPhone.
BUT… I did not want an iPhone for $600, and it was obvious that the price would drop, just as it did with the RAZR and every other desirable tech item. ever. introduced. I set the price that I would pay, for the features I want: 16, or preferably 20 GB, and at least v. 1.2 of the software. That means that I’ll probably get my phone in about 6 months. That’s about 6 months sooner than I’d expected, and I’m cool with that.
You set a different price/value point for yourselves: $600 for an 8 GB, v. 1.0 iPhone. And that is precisely what Apple delivered. In fact, no other company could have delivered that product at that price on that date. They controlled the supply, you provided the demand on what can only be described as a discretionary luxury item. And now, after the fact, you have the temerity to whine about it? Get a life, dumbasses.
Basic concept of supply and demand. There was limited supply and high demand, therefore the price was high. Now that demand has diminished some and supply has increased, the prices drop. In order to maintain volume, Apple dropped the price. Apple is not the only company to do this, its quite common. Most people just don’t understand this basic economic concept. By the way, gas prices work the same way.
Quit your bitching, you paid the price that Apple was asking.
Steve Jobs is Egyptian (partially, by descent), and electronics goods are purchased in a new kind of souk.
Consumers haggle over price by using time and patience. If we don’t haggle with those tools, we’re either truly busy (and the value of our time merits the initial higher cost), or we’re treating ourselves to something sweet.
Some of us shouldn’t indulge in such treats.
On par with the fair comment that people who are upset shouldn’t be called names like “whiners” or “crybabies,” I think that we also have to tone down on the hyperbole like “screwed” and “backhanded” and “betrayed.” The worst you can say about Apple is that their decision to drop the price on the iPhone yesterday was inconsiderate to people who bought it for the higher price, leastwise to those who are ineligible for any kind of refund. But it was done without the intention of “screwing” anybody — it is done to sell more phones and to put its pricing on a similar level to the iPod Touch. It’s a business decision. You may or may not feel that this decision is fair to early adopters, but if this is all it takes to make a person “outraged,” then I might recommend a re-evaluation of priorities.
Whenever you buy new technology, you are put at risk that it will be replaced by something better in a couple of weeks or that the price will drop. Apple continually updates its hardware lines with machines that are often superior and, spec-for-spec, cheaper than that it immediately replaced, and it does so without warning. Are you “screwed” because you bought a iMac in July 2007 while the August 2007 iMac is actually cheaper for more bang? Nobody who bought an iPhone at its launch has lost anything. They made an investment for a superior product that they felt was well worth the asking price. They’re getting a better deal on data than just about anybody else gets.
I live in Canada, where there is no iPhone yet. The very day it is available, I am buying one. I have held off upgrading my aged 2003 iPod and my crummy cell phone for just that reason. I don’t know whether Rogers (the presumtive carrier of the iPhone when it comes) will offer anything like the deal on voice and wireless that AT&T does. Canadians pay through the nose for their wireless services. The final subscription cost may not be the $300.00 a month that some have calculated, but I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if I paid more for the same service than could be had in the USA. There’s also the fact that Apple products are generally more expensive in Canada even despite the current exchange rate. For comparison, an iPod touch in the USA is $299. The Canadian version is $329 even though the cost for a US iPod Touch in Canadian dollars is approximately $315.00. I’d be paying a premium and I will probably pay a larger premium for the iPhone when it comes.
But will I be anything but delighted with an amazing product that combines all my data needs into one superior phone? Will I say I got screwed? Nope. I will decide what it is worth to me and I will pay that amount if I feel that the price is worth the performance. I’ll also weigh in whether it’s worth it to me to have an iPhone right away at the asking price or wait for it to drop.
Heck, by the time I get to own my iPhone, it will probably be the second generation version, which like so many other products will probably offer more bang for less bucks than the first generation. I hope there will be no outrage over that.
I guess I don’t understand.
Demand was astronomically high at launch. So the price was, yes, artificially increased to compensate. So pretty much everybody that really wanted an iPhone was able to get one. No major shortages.
For an example of what happens when price isn’t adjusted to match demand, look at the Wii. They’re still extremely difficult to find without very careful planning. At least where I live.
What we’re most likely seeing are case studies of what happens when one company overestimates demand and then compensates, and when another company underestimates demand and doesn’t.
But seriously, is this not the most basic application of economic theory?
“This isn’t a matter of Apple dropping the price because the components got cheaper and costs went down, which is what’s been the case in the past: this is Apple RAISING the initial price because they wanted to get as much money as possible from the people who were by and large their biggest supporters to begin with.”
Or, uh, because they wanted to control demand.
Remember how the iPhone was pretty hard to get for the first month or so? Sure, it wasn’t impossible like the Wii still is, but you still had to check online and get to the store early. How much worse would that have been if it was $399 instead of $599?
Economic theory tells us that one of the main effects of increasing a product’s price is to reduce the quantity of the product demanded. By selling at an inflated price to begin with, Apple controlled demand so that it would stay at a reasonable level. Maybe if more products were sold this way, product launches wouldn’t be the uncontrolled frenzies they so often are today.
I find it pretty insulting that so many people think that iPhone owners bought them because they wanted to be cool or exclusive. I bought it because I thought it would be a great device (and it is). But Apple has NEVER reduced the price of a new product so quickly or so greatly, and I think it’s natural to feel a little betrayed. It’s great that more people can afford to get iphones now, but I certainly didn’t realize I would be paying a $200 premium just to have the phone several weeks early.
That said, I’m very satisfied with the $100 credit that Apple is offering. It’s just too bad they didn’t say that from the start. It’s like they didn’t know what the reaction to the drop would be.
Note that according to Daring Fireball, Apple is now offering a $100.00 credit to those iPhone buyers not eligible for any other rebate. I hope people can now tone down on the outrage and give credit to Apple for taking the cost to make its customers and early adopters feel valued.
http://www.apple.com/hotnews/openiphoneletter/
No one is right no on is wrong. I honestly believe that a lot of people behave very childlishly about this, it’s been like this with majority of cool electronic gadgets releases. Remember when first Moto RAZR came out? This was by far one of the most expensive phones then. And there still are a lot of phones that costs lots of bucks. Now you can get them for less if not in some cases free with new activation. The rule of thumb is, when teh demand is met, the prices will go down, and in some case very fast. Be realistic, it’s not unfair, it’s how the market is driven. Yes I bough two of those phones. Am I bitter that the price is low now,. Hell no, of course $200 (in my case $400) would be a nice way to spend on other stuff, but lets face it, I was one of the first to enjoy it for months and that’s cool, am I glad it’s cheaper, hell YEAH, most of my friends who don’t make much now have a chance to get it and I want them to have it. No one made any of us and You buy that phone in the first place! If you felt it was too much, you should of done what some people who know how it works and were willing to do so WAIT until yesterday! It just angers me when people complain and bitch and will do whatever t o get their way. Be an adult and accept your own decisions. Who knows maybe in 2 montsh it will drop to $199! Will you be angry then too?
I would like to quote FRANK who posted at 12:26 (post 35) rank Says: September 6th, 2007 at 12:26 pm Basic concept of supply and demand. There was limited supply and high demand, therefore the price was high. Now that demand has diminished some and supply has increased, the prices drop. In order to maintain volume, Apple dropped the price. Apple is not the only company to do this, its quite common. Most people just don’t understand this basic economic concept. By the way, gas prices work the same way.
Quit your bitching, you paid the price that Apple was asking.
I think the backlash reflects what, to me, is an abnormal mindset of people who follow the computer industry. Nothing exemplifies this better than Dell. Dell, as a company, succeeded by repackaging and configuring stock computer parts at a very low cost. They essentially turned Wintel boxes into commodity products.
Thus, for the last ten years or so, PC analysts and followers have treated the industry the same as any commodity market. This mindset leaves them unable to understand Apple or its products. The iPhone in particular throws them for a loop — “how is it that Apple can charge $600 for an iPhone when its component parts cost only $248 (or whatever) according to iSuppli?” The obviousness of the answer — it’s the design, stupid, and it has value — not only does not occur to them, but they seem incapable of imagining that a device can be worth more than the sum of its parts.
It’s obvious to anyone that early adopters are the ones who have paid a premium for the design. A sad problem is that quite a few don’t recognize that, and now that the iPhone’s price is closer (but still much higher than) the sum of its parts, they complain about being ripped off.
For my part, the iPhone was worth more than $600 to me from the day it was released, which is why I bought one. Nothing in the last two months has made me think otherwise. So now I’m especially happy to get an unexpected hundred from Apple.
I waited 10 hours in line on June 29, got it the first day, and have never regretted it. How can you put a price on women coming up to you and starting conversations?
And the price drop? It’s awesome. Now all my poor friends can have one, too!
This makes me wonder how many users are relatively new to Apple. As if this were the end of the world, so betrayed, as it never happened before. You can please all of the people only some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but…
Frankly, compared to the G4 speed dump, this is nothing. Heck, I still remember the $3000 Mac IIvx coming out, and four months afterwards, the much better Centris 650 at the same price. No credits or gift cards then!
I’m an early iPhone adopter and I admit to feeling a pang of regret when I heard about the price drop but all of this whinging is ridiculous. I agree totally that this is mostly about loss of status and not about broken piggy banks. Paraphrasing Gore Vidal, “It is not enough to succeed [in owning an iPhone.] Others must fail [to get an iPhone.]”
I love how you ‘special’ people assume the worst about the initial price of the iPhone. Apple was not trying to gouge you. The price was higher simply to reduce demand. They did not want an imbalance of demand far outstripping supply. Simple to understand when you are not ‘special’.
I don’t know if I agree strongly with either the “we were screwed” folks or the “get over it” folks. I can see how both sides would feel that way. But I find it fascinating that the people who are angry about Apple’s greed in charging them $600 would be happier today if Apple had been greedier and reduced the price at a later date or by a smaller amount.
If Apple sent a message to its customers with the steep price drop — “Don’t be an early adopter” — look at the message we’re sending them: “Don’t reduce prices too quickly or we will be angry!”
Personally, I am glad to have the $100 rebate, but wouldn’t have lost any sleep if I didn’t get it. I had already determined that the iPhone would pay for its own hardware cost in reduced monthly payments over two years. Also, a one-third price drop for a cell phone is not quite enough to get me upset. If they started giving the phones away, I would certainly be asking, WTF?
I’d be very interested in seeing similar precedents for this kind of price drop in the cell phone industry. Ken@18, the link you gave doesn’t work — can you fix it?
I’ve always felt that much of the negative hyperbole surrounding Apple involved the fact so many people seem to believe they have some sort of personal relationship with Apple and Steve Jobs. Well Steve Jobs is not your “bud.” Steve Jobs is a businessman and a marketer, and Apple is a stock company. Why do we always hold Apple to some ridiculously different standard than other technology companies? When the Razr went from $300 to free with a contract did people take to the streets? Just about every new upscale cell phone is locked to a carrier, but there was no national outrage, no congressional hearings, until Apple was involved.
Anyone who hasn’t been asleep for the past two decades knows that the price of technology tends to drop like a stone. Early adoptors ALWAYS foot the bill for research and development, while the folks who can wait get the benefit of economies of scale. Apple is now enjoying those economies (from using the same iPhone technology to produce the iPod Touch) and passing them on to the customer. Not an evil plot – basic economics. Now Apple is in a position to really stick it to its competitors for the holidays – what are they going to say now that they can’t argue price?
I ran out and bought the first Intel iMac. Three months later Apple upgraded the processor and added stuff I had paid extra for, and left the price the same! This was effectively a price increase for me. Was I pissed off? Only a little disappointed that I didn’t wait. But I realize had I waited, I’d have been disappointed again six months later when they did the same thing over again. To quote Mr. Jobs, “this is life in the technology lane.” Every person who bought an iPhone that first month could easily have said, “I’ll wait for the price to come down,” with every expectation and confidence that the price WOULD soon come down. But you chose to dip into the kid’s college fund, and this is what you got. That $200 dollars was not any more useful to you on September 5th than it was on June 29th. I belive those folks who say this doesn’t have something to do with a perceived loss of exclusivity are lying to themselves. I also believe that rational adults should give themselves a little more credit. Instead of acting like the world is tossing you about like a rag doll, acknowledge that you made a decision to purchase a piece of technology at first release and live with that decision and all its attendant consequences.
So to remain loyal to its “loyal customers,” Apple should stop this business of making better products for less money? Hmm.
WTF does loyalty have to do with any of this? To all you “loyal customers”: If you were truly loyal, you’d toss Apple the extra $200. So cut the loyalty crap. You buy what you decide to buy. Apple sells what it decides to sell.
Loyalty does NOT mean buying products that you think are worth the price, even if you buy many products from the same manufacturer. That’s not loyalty, that’s preference. Loyalty means buying for irrational reasons, like, say, an item is priced about $200 above where it should be and the price will soon come down.
So … the very people who are complaining about being “mistreated loyal customers” are actually not loyal (not that loyalty should have anything to do with this in the first place).
If being burned occasionally is the price you’re willing to pay for instant gratification, fine. We’ve all made mistakes. But if you whine about it and pretend it’s someone else’s fault, you are a whiny crybaby.