What is it with the term "new reality" when it comes to "bugs" in complex products when companies release ineffective, works almost great, half ass products!?
The other day I was at a Ford dealership and the person in the parts dept. said that 1998 was a great year for Ford products like my SUV Explorer Sport. When I told her I was inconvenienced by 5 RECALLS, she implied that one recall every two years is satisfactory and nobody is perfect. I don't know if she appreciated my answer of my 1987 Toyota Pick-Up with it's NO RECALLS and no major mechanical defects other than wear and tear auto consumables.
However, it seems that todays products functioning as promoted and advertised is a thing of the past. I don't care if it is Apple's Mobile Me, RIM's Storm or Ford's 98 Explorer Sport. Gotta problem, hey 'bugs in complex products are the "new reality." '
Toyota has had plenty of recalls over that time period, if not for your model.
They are now in the middle of the worlds largest recall ever done.
As I've already replied, at least for last quarter, where we have the numbers for both companies (if someone knows this quarter's figures for Rim, please post them), the iPhone sold better than ALL of Rims phones around the world. Rim is all over the place, as Apple almost is.
That says something, doesn't it, about their other models as well?
RIMM's fiscal year is offset by one month from AAPL. So their comparable quarter will be Nov-Jan, and they will report in mid-Feb.
Personally, I only have an iPod touch because the iPhone took so long to arrive (in Switzerland) but it's a *spectacular* device and has nothing to do with being chic or not. For those who know me, fashion is the latest of my priorities (unless it's in the form of a gorgeous barely dressed blonde ;-) )
Even my quite good Google Dream Phone (dev G1) struggles in comparison with the iPhone and form all I've seen from the BB, the iPhone UI is still the best in all categories. *That* makes it the best, not "sheikness"^W"chicness".
Hehe I don't know what I was thinking. I'm allowed to make a "foe paw" every now and then.
One can argue that the Palm Pilot (and its successors Palm III, Palm V, and Palm VII, along with Handspring) effectively killed off any return of the Newton. (I say "argue" for I recognize that Jobs may have killed the Newton for other reasons as well.)
The interesting thing about that, as I remember from back then, was with the 2.1 version of the OS, that came out around that time, the Newton had just about solved its problems with handwriting recognition. I know some people who still use them.
In fact, sales were rising seriously for the device when Jobs killed it.
Engadget is reporting that Verizon subsequently said it sold 1M Storms between Nov 21 and the "end of January."
I know, it's not the end of January yet...
Then they are the only ones reporting that number. We'll have to wait and see if it's correct. I wonder if that includes the high percentage of returns, which, in the beginning were around 40%, and even now, with many software bugs fixed, is admitted to be about 10%, a very high number?
The other day I was at a Ford dealership and the person in the parts dept. said that 1998 was a great year for Ford products like my SUV Explorer Sport. When I told her I was inconvenienced by 5 RECALLS, she implied that one recall every two years is satisfactory and nobody is perfect. I don't know if she appreciated my answer of my 1987 Toyota Pick-Up with it's NO RECALLS and no major mechanical defects other than wear and tear auto consumables.
Consider that part of that, probably a large part, is higher sensitivity of the general public to dangerous failures that occur in only a tiny percentage of instances. So if a seat belt buckle fails in 1 out of 10,000 cars, maybe in the past it would never have been discovered. But today, the forensics looks that much closer at any accident and puts corporate feet to the fire, resulting in more recalls. What specifically were those 5 recalls for?
So, it seems that Apple isn't the only company to have rocky starts in the smart phone catagory.....\
What 'rocky start?' Have you owned one from Day 1? I have, and had few, if any issues with the iPhone. It did everything it said it would do, well. Period.
Then they are the only ones reporting that number. We'll have to wait and see if it's correct. I wonder if that includes the high percentage of returns, which, in the beginning were around 40%, and even now, with many software bugs fixed, is admitted to be about 10%, a very high number?
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
"Customers across the country lined up to purchase the new BlackBerry Storm," Verizon's release said.
...and then had to wait in yet another line to take them back.
One can argue that the Palm Pilot (and its successors Palm III, Palm V, and Palm VII, along with Handspring) effectively killed off any return of the Newton. (I say "argue" for I recognize that Jobs may have killed the Newton for other reasons as well.)
Palm's realization that a PDA must fit into a shirt pocket, killed the Newton. A PDA (smartphone) has to easily fit into a pocket. Palm knew this, Sculley didn't. Bye-bye Newton.
In Rims defence it has to be pointed out that the storm is only one of their phones, as a company they sold one hell of a lot more than 500,000 handsets.
In Apple's defense it has to be pointed out that the iPhone is only one of their products; as a company they sold one hell of a lot more than 1,900,000 units.
It is really funny that this article is comparing to just the Storm as if RIM only makes one handset. Our company only buys curves and that 2 gens back. What about the Pearl and Bold eh? Suddenly it is no longer 4:1.
Everyone knows that RIM makes many handsets. This article is comparing iPhone to only the Storm because the Storm was trumpeted by Verizon and RIM as the iPhone-killer. Other Blackberries were not considered as iPhone killers because they are not touch-screen phones.
By the way, I believe, in the previous quarter, Apple sold as many iPhones as all the RIM phones sold combined. Given that it was iPhone 3G's launch quarter, this will likely not happen again until the next iPhone model launch.
In a way, the Storm is doing its job even at 400k unit sales. I'm sure one of the objectives for Verizon was to slow ATT defections for the iPhone, and since it sold a non-trivial number, it did part of its job. Some high percentage of that 400k were Verizon diehards and RIM fans, but I'm sure it convince some to stay rather then switch to ATT.
It could have meant the different between Apple selling 4.6m iPhones instead of 4.4m iPhones. Same thing with the T-Mobile G1 and the Sprint/Samsung Instinct.
Palm's realization that a PDA must fit into a shirt pocket, killed the Newton. A PDA (smartphone) has to easily fit into a pocket. Palm knew this, Sculley didn't. Bye-bye Newton.
That's not really true.
The Newton was much more than was the Palm Pilot.
The Newton was a full fledged computer. Apple was one of the original developers, and owners of the ARM technology, which was developed dorectly for the urpose of powering it.
That Newton, as a full fledged computer, was much larger, and heavier than the Palm, but it could do so much more.
It was also twice as expensive. In those days, a $1,000 device was EXPENSIVE! The pilot was half the cost. Simplicity has its benefits.
Lastly, until near to the end when jobs killed it, the handwriting recognition was with its own problems. Apple was doing so much more with the idea than Palm did with it on the Palm, that it took until 2.1 to get it really right.
ALL of these things killed it. Possibly the biggest thing though, was the fact that as Scully's pet project, it would be one of the first things killed by Jobs when he came back.
But when you now look at the newest, hottest category of computer, you see it is the NetBook.
New technology has made this cheap, but to a certain extent, it validates the size category of machine that the Newton first represented.
In a way, the Storm is doing its job even at 400k unit sales. I'm sure one of the objectives for Verizon was to slow ATT defections for the iPhone, and since it sold a non-trivial number, it did part of its job. Some high percentage of that 400k were Verizon diehards and RIM fans, but I'm sure it convince some to stay rather then switch to ATT.
It could have meant the different between Apple selling 4.6m iPhones instead of 4.4m iPhones. Same thing with the T-Mobile G1 and the Sprint/Samsung Instinct.
Of course, except that the Instinct isn't a smartphone at all, and Sprint is really hurting.
Here is where it gets even better for Apple and AT&T. The 1.9 million units only represents the number of phones they sold and activated. It does not cover all the Apple iPhone 3G gift cards that anyone purchased but did not redeem before 12/31/08. I strongly suspect that Apple sold a large number of phone gift cards that were not redeemed and hence the phones activated until after January 1st.
My child rushed down to the Apple store on 12/26/08, but I suspect a large number of folks did not redeem their gift card for a phone until their holidays were over.
A iPhone 3G gift card could be purchased in any denomination and did not have to be used to actually purchase a phone, but I suspect a high percentage of those cards were used for just that purpose by the redeemers.
Does anyone think the number of gift cards sold could have pushed the ratio of iPhones to Storms sold to 6:1 or higher?
Comments
Where did you come up with more than 1 million sales for the Storm? Numbers I'm seeing are from 400,000 to 500,000.
Engadget is reporting that Verizon subsequently said it sold 1M Storms between Nov 21 and the "end of January."
I know, it's not the end of January yet...
What is it with the term "new reality" when it comes to "bugs" in complex products when companies release ineffective, works almost great, half ass products!?
The other day I was at a Ford dealership and the person in the parts dept. said that 1998 was a great year for Ford products like my SUV Explorer Sport. When I told her I was inconvenienced by 5 RECALLS, she implied that one recall every two years is satisfactory and nobody is perfect. I don't know if she appreciated my answer of my 1987 Toyota Pick-Up with it's NO RECALLS and no major mechanical defects other than wear and tear auto consumables.
However, it seems that todays products functioning as promoted and advertised is a thing of the past. I don't care if it is Apple's Mobile Me, RIM's Storm or Ford's 98 Explorer Sport. Gotta problem, hey 'bugs in complex products are the "new reality." '
Toyota has had plenty of recalls over that time period, if not for your model.
They are now in the middle of the worlds largest recall ever done.
As I've already replied, at least for last quarter, where we have the numbers for both companies (if someone knows this quarter's figures for Rim, please post them), the iPhone sold better than ALL of Rims phones around the world. Rim is all over the place, as Apple almost is.
That says something, doesn't it, about their other models as well?
RIMM's fiscal year is offset by one month from AAPL. So their comparable quarter will be Nov-Jan, and they will report in mid-Feb.
EERRNONSENSE
I'm not sure the iPhone is an Arabian prince: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheikh
Maybe you meant "chic": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chic_(style) ?
Personally, I only have an iPod touch because the iPhone took so long to arrive (in Switzerland) but it's a *spectacular* device and has nothing to do with being chic or not. For those who know me, fashion is the latest of my priorities (unless it's in the form of a gorgeous barely dressed blonde ;-) )
Even my quite good Google Dream Phone (dev G1) struggles in comparison with the iPhone and form all I've seen from the BB, the iPhone UI is still the best in all categories. *That* makes it the best, not "sheikness"^W"chicness".
Hehe I don't know what I was thinking. I'm allowed to make a "foe paw" every now and then.
One can argue that the Palm Pilot (and its successors Palm III, Palm V, and Palm VII, along with Handspring) effectively killed off any return of the Newton. (I say "argue" for I recognize that Jobs may have killed the Newton for other reasons as well.)
The interesting thing about that, as I remember from back then, was with the 2.1 version of the OS, that came out around that time, the Newton had just about solved its problems with handwriting recognition. I know some people who still use them.
In fact, sales were rising seriously for the device when Jobs killed it.
Engadget is reporting that Verizon subsequently said it sold 1M Storms between Nov 21 and the "end of January."
I know, it's not the end of January yet...
Then they are the only ones reporting that number. We'll have to wait and see if it's correct. I wonder if that includes the high percentage of returns, which, in the beginning were around 40%, and even now, with many software bugs fixed, is admitted to be about 10%, a very high number?
RIMM's fiscal year is offset by one month from AAPL. So their comparable quarter will be Nov-Jan, and they will report in mid-Feb.
Good to know. I don't really follow them.
The other day I was at a Ford dealership and the person in the parts dept. said that 1998 was a great year for Ford products like my SUV Explorer Sport. When I told her I was inconvenienced by 5 RECALLS, she implied that one recall every two years is satisfactory and nobody is perfect. I don't know if she appreciated my answer of my 1987 Toyota Pick-Up with it's NO RECALLS and no major mechanical defects other than wear and tear auto consumables.
Consider that part of that, probably a large part, is higher sensitivity of the general public to dangerous failures that occur in only a tiny percentage of instances. So if a seat belt buckle fails in 1 out of 10,000 cars, maybe in the past it would never have been discovered. But today, the forensics looks that much closer at any accident and puts corporate feet to the fire, resulting in more recalls. What specifically were those 5 recalls for?
So, it seems that Apple isn't the only company to have rocky starts in the smart phone catagory.....
What 'rocky start?' Have you owned one from Day 1? I have, and had few, if any issues with the iPhone. It did everything it said it would do, well. Period.
Then they are the only ones reporting that number. We'll have to wait and see if it's correct. I wonder if that includes the high percentage of returns, which, in the beginning were around 40%, and even now, with many software bugs fixed, is admitted to be about 10%, a very high number?
"Customers across the country lined up to purchase the new BlackBerry Storm," Verizon's release said.
...and then had to wait in yet another line to take them back.
One can argue that the Palm Pilot (and its successors Palm III, Palm V, and Palm VII, along with Handspring) effectively killed off any return of the Newton. (I say "argue" for I recognize that Jobs may have killed the Newton for other reasons as well.)
Palm's realization that a PDA must fit into a shirt pocket, killed the Newton. A PDA (smartphone) has to easily fit into a pocket. Palm knew this, Sculley didn't. Bye-bye Newton.
In Rims defence it has to be pointed out that the storm is only one of their phones, as a company they sold one hell of a lot more than 500,000 handsets.
In Apple's defense it has to be pointed out that the iPhone is only one of their products; as a company they sold one hell of a lot more than 1,900,000 units.
And they lined up en masse to return them, too.
"Customers across the country lined up to purchase the new BlackBerry Storm"
And they lined up en masse to return them, too.
Arteckx beat you to the punch.
It is really funny that this article is comparing to just the Storm as if RIM only makes one handset. Our company only buys curves and that 2 gens back. What about the Pearl and Bold eh? Suddenly it is no longer 4:1.
Everyone knows that RIM makes many handsets. This article is comparing iPhone to only the Storm because the Storm was trumpeted by Verizon and RIM as the iPhone-killer. Other Blackberries were not considered as iPhone killers because they are not touch-screen phones.
By the way, I believe, in the previous quarter, Apple sold as many iPhones as all the RIM phones sold combined. Given that it was iPhone 3G's launch quarter, this will likely not happen again until the next iPhone model launch.
It could have meant the different between Apple selling 4.6m iPhones instead of 4.4m iPhones. Same thing with the T-Mobile G1 and the Sprint/Samsung Instinct.
Palm's realization that a PDA must fit into a shirt pocket, killed the Newton. A PDA (smartphone) has to easily fit into a pocket. Palm knew this, Sculley didn't. Bye-bye Newton.
That's not really true.
The Newton was much more than was the Palm Pilot.
The Newton was a full fledged computer. Apple was one of the original developers, and owners of the ARM technology, which was developed dorectly for the urpose of powering it.
That Newton, as a full fledged computer, was much larger, and heavier than the Palm, but it could do so much more.
It was also twice as expensive. In those days, a $1,000 device was EXPENSIVE! The pilot was half the cost. Simplicity has its benefits.
Lastly, until near to the end when jobs killed it, the handwriting recognition was with its own problems. Apple was doing so much more with the idea than Palm did with it on the Palm, that it took until 2.1 to get it really right.
ALL of these things killed it. Possibly the biggest thing though, was the fact that as Scully's pet project, it would be one of the first things killed by Jobs when he came back.
But when you now look at the newest, hottest category of computer, you see it is the NetBook.
New technology has made this cheap, but to a certain extent, it validates the size category of machine that the Newton first represented.
In a way, the Storm is doing its job even at 400k unit sales. I'm sure one of the objectives for Verizon was to slow ATT defections for the iPhone, and since it sold a non-trivial number, it did part of its job. Some high percentage of that 400k were Verizon diehards and RIM fans, but I'm sure it convince some to stay rather then switch to ATT.
It could have meant the different between Apple selling 4.6m iPhones instead of 4.4m iPhones. Same thing with the T-Mobile G1 and the Sprint/Samsung Instinct.
Of course, except that the Instinct isn't a smartphone at all, and Sprint is really hurting.
My child rushed down to the Apple store on 12/26/08, but I suspect a large number of folks did not redeem their gift card for a phone until their holidays were over.
A iPhone 3G gift card could be purchased in any denomination and did not have to be used to actually purchase a phone, but I suspect a high percentage of those cards were used for just that purpose by the redeemers.
Does anyone think the number of gift cards sold could have pushed the ratio of iPhones to Storms sold to 6:1 or higher?
Just a thought!
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/28/a...epth-analysis/