The iPod smear campaign is working
I just had a co-worker come up to me to warn me about my iPod and its battery. He's decided to buy a Dell DJ instead of an iPod, and warned me not to bother with Apple stuff. When I warned him that the Dell DJ has the same type of battery and has two of them, he insisted it was an Apple problem, not a battery problem. He's managed to scare off at least two other people in my group who have been considering an iPod.
I'd say the smear campaign by those guys in NY is working. Apple should take a more public stance against these guys and their claims if they want the iPod to conintue with its success.
I'd say the smear campaign by those guys in NY is working. Apple should take a more public stance against these guys and their claims if they want the iPod to conintue with its success.
Comments
Get used to it. They're everywhere.
All you can do is give them the facts, preferably from third party sources, (such as battery specs from Dell's and Apple's websites, point out that they're identical battery packs,) and preferably in public so that they are humiliated and embarrassed, and other people know not to listen to them.
Works wonders.
Until yesterday, when:
'It has been on the news that your iPod battery doesn't work'.
dumb ****ers.
Originally posted by Kickaha So basically your coworker is a loudmouthed ill-informed moron, eh?
Get used to it. They're everywhere.
How beautifully this ties into my comments in the "Apple marketshare is down" thread in General Discussion. In a nutshell, Apple's "problems" in this area is less about specs and features (despite the screaming of some of you) than it is about simple misinformation...or total lack of information, period.
All it takes is one loud-mouthed, ill-informed moron who saw a Quadra 610 in a neighbor's garage 7 years ago and instantly formed an opinion on Macs and all things Apple. And they'll offer up their know-nothing opinions and views on computers, knowing NOTHING about, oh, OS X, G4s, G5s, iApps, etc.
And these people, for some weird reasons, ALWAYS seem to be in positions of power and influence. Their dipshit friends take their dipshit buying advice from said dipshit. It's an ugly, sordid chain.
People don't know. I run into it all the time. Most non-Mac people think of Macs in one of two ways:
1. That little beige, square thing with the 9" screen they used in college that was expensive, had proprietary this and odd that, or...
2. The "Fisher-Price" era, of colored computers that "obviously can't be real computers, right? Real computers don't look like that!"
All the good stuff WE know about simply isn't out there, talked about, promoted, played up, advertised, marketed, etc.
To a good number of folks, a Mac is either a relic or an Etch-A-Sketch.
A shame...
It's a bummer, but it's true. fortunately, the main market that the 'dirty secret' ad is affecting is the PC nerd market.
The MTV pop teen market that apple is gunning for, is going to be totally unaffected by this.
It's the others he's poo-pooed the iPod in front of I'm worried about. One is a new-ish Mac owner, and she's had a great experience with her PowerBook (except she's frustrated with the Mac's financial software options). It will probably be easier toquell her fears. The other guy though, and probably anyone else this guy runs around to, are another problem. Problem is, he's hlafway competant in Photoshop, and I've taught him some 3D modeling, and while he's not an expert in either by my experience, he is considered tech savvy compared to a lot of others around here.
I think that sort of person is typical in a lot of people's lives, and that's why Apple should be worried. It's basically more of the same with regard to iPods instead of Macintoshes, but they don't want to lose traction there like they lost the PC market all those years ago.
And another time, I was hanging out with a friend and we were talking about my brother's new iPod and his dad overheard us. He is a pretty well informed guy when it comes to computers, but he was convinced that the battery would die after 18 months. I tried to set him straight, to no avail. He has been a mac user since the days of the Mac+.
I'm not convinced though, maybe those guys got a lemon, but you'll get stuff like that in every industry, cars, computers...ect. Sucks to be them. I really hope this isn't hurting sales. And I hope the next revision fixes any problems that might be there. If Apple is smart they won't let this hurt the iPod.
Personally, I think this is Apple's own fault. If they would have been proactive from day one with their iPod repair policy and iPod AppleCare none of this would ever had happened.
"We should take a field trip down to the Apple Store."
Most of these companies use the same or similar batteries, but their products are a year or 2 behind Apple so there isn't any quality history to compare. It seems the problem is a symptom of these types of devices rather than iPod specific.
Would people rather go through AA batteries like they did with there walkmans and discmans? Personally that drove me nuts and cost me a lot of money. With any new technology trend there are things that people will have to get used to and this is one of them.
Ultimately Apple should have come out with the warranty options earlier if they knew something, but I think their solution is pretty close to fair (with the typical Apple mark up on anything..)
It's like someone asking you to give up your Mac, and try Windows XP.
You could...but you won't.