I never said I knew Steve Jobs personally. My comment was based on well told stories of his reaction to poor performance. If you are enamoured with Angela, so be it. It is clear many many many Apple customers are not feeling how this was mishandled.
No lines at stores also means less publicity and more hate from the anti-Apple media who will spin launch as a "failure".
uhh, no. lines aren't needed to seed a product launch as a success. that's something the tinfoil hatters have invented on sites like this one (that Apple forces long lines). ironic now that the lines have been thwarted these same hatters now spin it as a negative.
Apple is the most successful, demanded, profitable company in the human race. they don't need dumb parlor tricks to imply a success. their sheer numbers speak for themselves. grok that.
Not at all. None of this is a big deal. But it's also not best in class. People are confused about the difference between pre-order, order, launch date, view date etc. It's just a bit muddled.
I wonder how many really are confused, especially ones that don't hang out on rumor sites like this.
uhh, no. lines aren't needed to seed a product launch as a success. that's something the tinfoil hatters have invented on sites like this one (that Apple forces long lines). ironic now that the lines have been thwarted these same hatters now spin it as a negative.
Apple is the most successful, demanded, profitable company in the human race. they don't need dumb parlor tricks to imply a success. their sheer numbers speak for themselves. grok that.
Exactly. People made fun of the lines, heck Samsung ran a whole ad campaign around them, but now no lines is some sign of doom and failure on Apple's part.
Angela Ahrendts is an Edsel......big fanfare, awful performance. I wonder how long the egos will have Apple hang on to this disaster. Steve Jobs would have yelled at her while security was packing up her office.
oh look, under 25 posts and you're already telling us what Steve Jobs would have done...tooltastic!
If you're into the whole "here's a 7-figure salary to screw things up" mantra, be my guest to accept how she plans things out.
Why is Ahrendts getting the blame for everything? She doesn't control supply and I highly doubt she decided on the launch date either. In fact I'll bet there was very little she decided on her own without approval from the rest of the executive team.
Hmmm been stupid long? I never said I knew Steve Jobs personally. My comment was based on well told stories of his reaction to poor performance. If you are enamoured with Angela, so be it. It is clear many many many Apple customers are not feeling how this was mishandled.
no, you dimwitted amateur -- if you're going to claim what steve jobs would have done, you need to meet one of the following two conditions:
1) have been a close personal friend of the deceased
2) be able to channel the ethereal spirit of the deceased
...I'll assume you've never been in the same room as the man, and I know there's no such thing as ghost whispering. which leaves one conclusion -- you're a clueless dumbass. if it helps you feel better about yourself, you aren't alone -- lots of your kind on MacRumors, which is now a hater site.
Hmmm been stupid long? I never said I knew Steve Jobs personally. My comment was based on well told stories of his reaction to poor performance. If you are enamoured with Angela, so be it. It is clear many many many Apple customers are not feeling how this was mishandled.
I remember when heads rolled after the white iPhone was delayed. What? Never happened?
I wonder how many really are confused, especially ones that don't hang out on rumor sites like this.
My wife for one. She thinks she will be able to get one Friday.
But yes, it is not really that big a deal. Who cares, really? Apple has had bigger screw ups (iPads that can't play video, screens that display funny colours). It just happpens sometimes. Big companies are complex.
I agree with one of the above comments, the watches AND the MacBook should have been on display before launch day. But what is really bad is that the MacBooks are still not available to even check out at stores! That looks like a screw up right there!
Really? So you are a retail expert? Actually iphones are never in the store first, and there was more than enough info online for the watch, including photos and videos, to make a decision before they appeared in store. As to the new MacBook, they were also in Apple stores last week so I don't know what you are talking.
Angela Ahrendts is an Edsel......big fanfare, awful performance. I wonder how long the egos will have Apple hang on to this disaster. Steve Jobs would have yelled at her while security was packing up her office.
oh look, under 25 posts and you're already telling us what Steve Jobs would have done...tooltastic!
I am missing it, but what does someone's posting vintage on AppleInsider have to do with whether they know Apple well or not? Are you saying there's a correlation between bloviating on blogs (like you and I do) and knowledge of SJ or Apple!?
I was one of those people who were seriously disappointed and frustrated with the launch of the new Retina Macbook. I actually set my alarm to wake up at 3am EST just to order it. It was supposed to be a surprise gift for my fiancee who had her 6 year old Macbook Unibody (the old white one) stolen a month ago.. and has been struggling trying to make it day-to-day without her computer. I woke up on time for the order, logged in and saw that the quoted ship times were 1-3 business days, meaning she wouldn't get the rMB until the next week. As you can imagine I wanted her to have the computer as soon as possible and figured why wait another 5 or so days for something.. when I could just get it from store immediately that day. So I didn't bother with the order and instead set a reminder to be at the Georgetown store in Washington, DC when they opened at 10am. After all.. isn't the purpose of building a brick & mortar store.. to sell immediately to customers who are ready to buy?
I've purchased my iPhone5 on launch day at the exact same store. And even then, I only waited about an hour. I was absolutely confident that they would have more than enough rMB's on hand to satisfy the rather small number of people who were willing to pay $1299-1599 for a Core-M processor notebook with a single port for charging & connectivity. Needless to say I was absolutely shocked when I told by a store employee that they had none in stock. It became even more ridiculous, when the brick & mortar store offered to assist me with ordering online for delivery. At this point I was no longer disappointed, but more irritated I had made the trip only to end up empty handed. Of course I still wanted the rMB so I did order right at the store around 10:20am.. only to find see that shipping times had now been pushed back by 3-4 weeks!! Great after the complete waste of time.. I now had to wait another month for delivery. I actually called my fiancee and ruined the surprise.. I asked her if she felt the wait was worth the time or if I should just get her a Macbook Air or Pro that actually in-stock at the B&M store.
Good news is that I did get the chance to actually play around with the new rMB and as expected pictures & blog reviews do not do it justice. Its a beautiful machine, thats unbelievably thin & light.. (and this is coming from someone who who has owned a Macbook Air for the past four years). I was also able to sample the watch on its "launch" day, which was a surprise as well. Up until that point I thought all smartwatches were gimmicks and didn't see the need to wear a watch, that was really only useful for duplicating notifications from my phone. But actually using the watch.. I'm sold. Just not sure about buying version 1.0.
Leaving the store there was still this odd, awkward & very un-Apple like bitterness about the entire experience. The launch of both of these products was extremely confusing and disappointing for so many Apple customers. I wasn't the only one at the store who expected to buy the rMB that day, quite a few people complaining that it was not available to the degree that a manager came over to explain why. I still cant help but wonder why Apple did not inform customers that new computer would NOT be available in stores on launch day. And more importantly whats the purpose of spending billions to build up the Apple store experience, only to push unsuspecting customers back to ordering from the website.
Now that I think about it.. it wasn't much of launch day at all.. because nothing was launched. No customer went home with an rMB or Apple watch. In reality, it was a "preorder" day. And if this is the method of operation going forward.. then Apple needs to do a better job communicating with customers that on what used to be "launch" day.. the store is only for trials & questions. As others have suggested. This backwards thinking never would have happened up Steve Job's watch. If there's anything that SJ nailed.. was getting the little things right and paying much attention to detail and the customer's experience from purchase to technical support.
For the compensation she received, this was botched. She is known for wanting to make online and offline seamless. But this launch did not work. Either you have a try on period offline and then you launch it online a few weeks later. Or you have a proper simultaneous launch where the watch is available online and offline at the same time.
Ordering online first and *afterwards* trying it on at a store (when it is essentially no longer available online) is the worse of both worlds. What were they thinking?
Oh bullshit! What successful company are you running? This is a production problem, plain and simple - there is a huge shortage and high demand. Grow up.
Why is Ahrendts getting the blame for everything? She doesn't control supply and I highly doubt she decided on the launch date either. In fact I'll bet there was very little she decided on her own without approval from the rest of the executive team.
That makes a lot of sense. One thing she is certainly in charge of is customer experience in the stores and online, and that has been fantastic IMO. I thought more significant changes were needed, but the current sales process and display fits very neatly within the Apple's typical experience and isn't lacking at all as far as I can tell. I think the way the Apple Watch is being sold shows significant restraint and clarity.
I also like the idea of boutique Apple stores for selling the watch (particularly Edition), as well as iPhone, and possibly the new Macbooks. It seems like a lot of the Edition try ons are happening in the conference rooms of typical Apple stores, which doesn't sound ideal. It'll be interesting to see if Apple expands on this concept.
FWIW, I finally went in to try out the watch (after preordering at midnight), not expecting to get too excited since I've been reading about it for so long. But, seeing and experiencing it in person blew me away. The Apple Watch is going to be a humongous success.
No the people who screwed up are the poster's not her. You are all being a bunch of whiners because there is no need to try out the watch at all. Just buy the damned thing if you don't like it you have a certain period of time to return it for another. What's so complicated about that jeez!
pah the "me me me" generation - losers
Totally agree, a bunch of ignorant whiners on this one.
Comments
If you're into the whole "here's a 7-figure salary to screw things up" mantra, be my guest to accept how she plans things out.
uhh, no. lines aren't needed to seed a product launch as a success. that's something the tinfoil hatters have invented on sites like this one (that Apple forces long lines). ironic now that the lines have been thwarted these same hatters now spin it as a negative.
Apple is the most successful, demanded, profitable company in the human race. they don't need dumb parlor tricks to imply a success. their sheer numbers speak for themselves. grok that.
I wonder how many really are confused, especially ones that don't hang out on rumor sites like this.
Exactly. People made fun of the lines, heck Samsung ran a whole ad campaign around them, but now no lines is some sign of doom and failure on Apple's part.
oh look, under 25 posts and you're already telling us what Steve Jobs would have done...tooltastic!
Why is Ahrendts getting the blame for everything? She doesn't control supply and I highly doubt she decided on the launch date either. In fact I'll bet there was very little she decided on her own without approval from the rest of the executive team.
no, you dimwitted amateur -- if you're going to claim what steve jobs would have done, you need to meet one of the following two conditions:
1) have been a close personal friend of the deceased
2) be able to channel the ethereal spirit of the deceased
...I'll assume you've never been in the same room as the man, and I know there's no such thing as ghost whispering. which leaves one conclusion -- you're a clueless dumbass. if it helps you feel better about yourself, you aren't alone -- lots of your kind on MacRumors, which is now a hater site.
I remember when heads rolled after the white iPhone was delayed. What? Never happened?
My wife for one. She thinks she will be able to get one Friday.
But yes, it is not really that big a deal. Who cares, really? Apple has had bigger screw ups (iPads that can't play video, screens that display funny colours). It just happpens sometimes. Big companies are complex.
please harvest some stem cells and cultivate a brain. until then, remain at MacRumors.
Really? So you are a retail expert? Actually iphones are never in the store first, and there was more than enough info online for the watch, including photos and videos, to make a decision before they appeared in store. As to the new MacBook, they were also in Apple stores last week so I don't know what you are talking.
I am missing it, but what does someone's posting vintage on AppleInsider have to do with whether they know Apple well or not? Are you saying there's a correlation between bloviating on blogs (like you and I do) and knowledge of SJ or Apple!?
I was one of those people who were seriously disappointed and frustrated with the launch of the new Retina Macbook. I actually set my alarm to wake up at 3am EST just to order it. It was supposed to be a surprise gift for my fiancee who had her 6 year old Macbook Unibody (the old white one) stolen a month ago.. and has been struggling trying to make it day-to-day without her computer. I woke up on time for the order, logged in and saw that the quoted ship times were 1-3 business days, meaning she wouldn't get the rMB until the next week. As you can imagine I wanted her to have the computer as soon as possible and figured why wait another 5 or so days for something.. when I could just get it from store immediately that day. So I didn't bother with the order and instead set a reminder to be at the Georgetown store in Washington, DC when they opened at 10am. After all.. isn't the purpose of building a brick & mortar store.. to sell immediately to customers who are ready to buy?
I've purchased my iPhone5 on launch day at the exact same store. And even then, I only waited about an hour. I was absolutely confident that they would have more than enough rMB's on hand to satisfy the rather small number of people who were willing to pay $1299-1599 for a Core-M processor notebook with a single port for charging & connectivity. Needless to say I was absolutely shocked when I told by a store employee that they had none in stock. It became even more ridiculous, when the brick & mortar store offered to assist me with ordering online for delivery. At this point I was no longer disappointed, but more irritated I had made the trip only to end up empty handed. Of course I still wanted the rMB so I did order right at the store around 10:20am.. only to find see that shipping times had now been pushed back by 3-4 weeks!! Great after the complete waste of time.. I now had to wait another month for delivery. I actually called my fiancee and ruined the surprise.. I asked her if she felt the wait was worth the time or if I should just get her a Macbook Air or Pro that actually in-stock at the B&M store.
Good news is that I did get the chance to actually play around with the new rMB and as expected pictures & blog reviews do not do it justice. Its a beautiful machine, thats unbelievably thin & light.. (and this is coming from someone who who has owned a Macbook Air for the past four years). I was also able to sample the watch on its "launch" day, which was a surprise as well. Up until that point I thought all smartwatches were gimmicks and didn't see the need to wear a watch, that was really only useful for duplicating notifications from my phone. But actually using the watch.. I'm sold. Just not sure about buying version 1.0.
Leaving the store there was still this odd, awkward & very un-Apple like bitterness about the entire experience. The launch of both of these products was extremely confusing and disappointing for so many Apple customers. I wasn't the only one at the store who expected to buy the rMB that day, quite a few people complaining that it was not available to the degree that a manager came over to explain why. I still cant help but wonder why Apple did not inform customers that new computer would NOT be available in stores on launch day. And more importantly whats the purpose of spending billions to build up the Apple store experience, only to push unsuspecting customers back to ordering from the website.
Now that I think about it.. it wasn't much of launch day at all.. because nothing was launched. No customer went home with an rMB or Apple watch. In reality, it was a "preorder" day. And if this is the method of operation going forward.. then Apple needs to do a better job communicating with customers that on what used to be "launch" day.. the store is only for trials & questions. As others have suggested. This backwards thinking never would have happened up Steve Job's watch. If there's anything that SJ nailed.. was getting the little things right and paying much attention to detail and the customer's experience from purchase to technical support.
Oh bullshit! What successful company are you running? This is a production problem, plain and simple - there is a huge shortage and high demand. Grow up.
Why is Ahrendts getting the blame for everything? She doesn't control supply and I highly doubt she decided on the launch date either. In fact I'll bet there was very little she decided on her own without approval from the rest of the executive team.
That makes a lot of sense. One thing she is certainly in charge of is customer experience in the stores and online, and that has been fantastic IMO. I thought more significant changes were needed, but the current sales process and display fits very neatly within the Apple's typical experience and isn't lacking at all as far as I can tell. I think the way the Apple Watch is being sold shows significant restraint and clarity.
I also like the idea of boutique Apple stores for selling the watch (particularly Edition), as well as iPhone, and possibly the new Macbooks. It seems like a lot of the Edition try ons are happening in the conference rooms of typical Apple stores, which doesn't sound ideal. It'll be interesting to see if Apple expands on this concept.
FWIW, I finally went in to try out the watch (after preordering at midnight), not expecting to get too excited since I've been reading about it for so long. But, seeing and experiencing it in person blew me away. The Apple Watch is going to be a humongous success.
Apple made everything so simple. That's why they succeeded.
Then they threw it away and complicated things.
Hopefully this was a reminder to not "fix" (as in neuter) what works.
And it wasn't a good idea. Ever.
So can we go back to normalcy please?
Totally agree, a bunch of ignorant whiners on this one.