hmm - I think the basis for action does matter - doing something out of compassion or because you feel its "right" or out of a sense of fairness is quite different from doing something as a result of being compelled to do so because of fear or some other catalyst.
Come on guys, I'm a first day buyer and Apple owed me nothing. This is a lot of money they are putting out there and they positively did not have to no matter what the whiners say. This is a good thing. Yes, it's very good marketing but it's mainly very good people. Props.
I'd like to point out the obvious inequality of this refund - - I didn't buy an iphone and now I don't get a $100 gift certificate even though I have been forced to read all these whiner forums that go on and on ad nauseum. Hey AI! can you give me a refund for my wasted time here?
Its funny watching these people. Everyone is all happy now but they don't understand no one is getting a check in the mail. It's not a real credit or rebate you have to spend more money to get your 100.00.
It's a PR move that looks great but in the end will end up costing Apple very little if anything. Sure they will give you 100.00 back when you buy a Macbook or Macbook Pro thats not a bad deal for Apple seeing they are already making 50% on their hardware. Or maybe that copy of Photoshop CS3 for 650.00 that they already discount to Teachers for 199.00.
I always find it funny when someone gets people to spend more money in order to get "money back". This was a great move it will get the whiners to spend even more money, they can't help it its like a sick addiction.
If Apple had to mail out checks to everyone then that would be a true give back of 100.00 to give it to you your next purchase will at best maybe cost Apple 25.00 a pop, maybe I doubt even that much.
Yes, that is all cynically true. This is a symbolic gesture with concrete value. We'd all spend the money at the Apple Store anyway.
...where's my other 100 hundred dollars? I believe I lost two hundred to this deal.
Boy I wish I could get Steve or ANY other company to do this EVERYTIME I bought a new Mac, only to have them come out with NEWWER / FASTER / Cheaper units 2 months later?
If a lawsuit comes out of this, I'd love to see a way to burn each F&^%&KING lawyer at the stake that gets involved.
Man, the last time I check, NOBODY made me purchase anything right when it came out, and then told me I could piss and moun or sue 2 months later when the price dropped!
Hey, if nothing comes out of this, but a lesson ? then learn it.
If YOU wnat to be the first on the bloack with the new toy, deal with what comes later.
I have purchased no less then 10 HIGH end Mac's (and monitors) only to have them up-dated 2 months later ? what kind of lawsuit do I have?
Get over it, and enjoy your $100.00 - that he / Apple DID NOT have to give you!
I'm sure you are pissed, but if this the worst thing that happens to you in life ? you are one lucky son of a bicth!
Look at the folks on page 3 (most newspapers Obituary page) of your local newspaper ? then tell me whos' go the biggest complaint!
I suppose most will either use it towards a new iPod nano or Mac OS X Leopard.
So what's the cost to Apple ... lets assume 800,000 early adopters at $100 per adopter that makes it a $80 million concession (at least on paper). We all know that the retail price of anything includes a markup so the real cost is something close to 60 - 70 million dollars.
A small price to pay considering the level of anger amongst iPhone owners. Oh yeah, let's not forget the positive PR. Overall it was a classy move.
It probably costs them less than half of the credit (given their margins) - also doubt there were 800k units sold 2 weeks prior to yesterday. Who knows what it does to their top line - they had to defer recognition of a chunk of the revenue on iphones because of the two year contract, they probably have to amortize the cost of the credits issued over the remaining life of the subject units - but they get to recognize the revenue when the credit is used - so this might upfront the revenue on products purchased with the credit (of course, the people with the credits may spend less actual $$ than they would have in the same period because they received the credit - which means no net change to what revenue would have otherwise been).
I'd like to point out the obvious inequality of this refund - - I didn't buy an iphone and now I don't get a $100 gift certificate even though I have been forced to read all these whiner forums that go on and on ad nauseum. Hey AI! can you give me a refund for my wasted time here?
I suppose someone will tell you to quit your whining and take the certificate. After all, no one broke your arm to read the forums. But let's forget about that. Even if the glass is half empty, it's also half full. You got more than any other company would have given you in the same circumstance.
After personally reading hundreds of emails from disgruntled iPhone customers, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs appears to have had a change of heart and now plans to offer early iPhone adopters a $100 credit towards future Apple purchases.
If SONY comes out with a Blu-Ray recorder for $1500 in April, and then cuts the price to $1100 in October, who has any sympathy for the early adopters who paid the extra money earlier?
If the extra $200 is/was such an issue that someone gets so mad about it, then maybe they shouldn't have been so hot for a product they obviously cannot afford.
Coulda....Shoulda....Woulda
No sympathy for weenies...
Nikon sells its 6MP D50/18-55mm DSLR kit for $750+ in July of 2006, then comes out with the 10MP D40 kit for $700 a few months later. Somebody get a hanky for the hordes of people who have to suffer. YAWN!
[The $100 credit was] late in coming? Its been barely over 24 hours since the price drop announcement.
Yes. Which is still later than when Jobs should have done it, which is at the same time he announced the price drop.
That would've headed off all the 'whining' (or legitimate griping, depending on your point of view) off at the pass, and Apple would've looked like a beneficent company from minute one.
Still, I will agree that 24 hours is better than a week, and much better than never.
I think you're wrong - for reasons I've posted in other threads - i think the likihood of valid claims was high - i'm sure the class action attorneys are disappointed because at a minimum a likely settlment was just cut in half...
You may have posted it before, but that doesn't make it any less crazy. You can't be sued for setting the price of your good. What do you think this is, Russia? Do you have a contract that somehow you can prove Apple violated?
Call it whatever you like, but Apple ended up seeing it their way, not yours, apparently.
Oh, and... w00t! 1,000th post!
.
"My way" does not disagree with Apple's way - they threw their customers a bone to get more business in the future. I can't believe those whiners are placated by a discount off future purchases! Hilarious!
I'm loving this. Way to step up to the plate Apple!
I was fine that I paid $200 more than the current price. I chose to buy it and a future lower price wouldn't have stopped me from buying it at launch time.
It's a smart way to do it because it drives more sales. Also, given the margin on products, $100 in retail credit doesn't actually cost Apple $100. A win/win.
Since I can't justify buying a new iMac (the G5 iMac is plugging along fine), maybe I'll try out one of the new keyboards.
Agreed. In fact, this may be the case where Steve Jobs has actually made chicken salad out of chicken shit. Indeed, he probably had this planned out. Needed to cut the price to drive sales to meet expectations. He knew it would seriously piss of his "loyal" customers. Let the press eat up the screaming of these customers for a day. Then, comes out with his "open letter" offering an olive branch which apparently is enough to placate most. All the while, this olive branch will, as you point out, actually end up making Apple MORE money from these people, or at least not losing any.
I was really hoping his solution would be to raise the price back up by $100, which would have given all the babies exactly what they wanted. Now that would have been funny Oh well!
So people with credit card insurance who get their full $200 reimbursed will no doubt also be able to get $100 credit from Apple. (I doubt that there's any serious cross-checking between the companies.)
Think we'll see those who have been whining about 'price ethics' (whatever in the world that is) will be making much noise about the flip side?
Steve is a great CEO. This is not new news. What he did today was in the end, good for Apple.
I'm curious: How is buying a product at a fair agreed to value considered being loyal? Also, if you are really "loyal", then why are you so quick to throw Apple under the bus?
I'll use the $100 because I'm not stupid, but I'm not going to fool myself into believing I deserve it.
So people with credit card insurance who get their full $200 reimbursed will no doubt also be able to get $100 credit from Apple. (I doubt that there's any serious cross-checking between the companies.)
Think we'll see those who have been whining about 'price ethics' (whatever in the world that is) will be making much noise about the flip side?
Credit card companies (at least AMEX - which incidentally has gotten rid of it's price protection coverage) have (or had) a provision that required you to prove that you didn't have any other indemnity or source of recovery ...
Its funny watching these people. Everyone is all happy now but they don't understand no one is getting a check in the mail. It's not a real credit or rebate you have to spend more money to get your 100.00.
It's a PR move that looks great but in the end will end up costing Apple very little if anything. Sure they will give you 100.00 back when you buy a Macbook or Macbook Pro thats not a bad deal for Apple seeing they are already making 50% on their hardware. Or maybe that copy of Photoshop CS3 for 650.00 that they already discount to Teachers for 199.00.
I always find it funny when someone gets people to spend more money in order to get "money back". This was a great move it will get the whiners to spend even more money, they can't help it its like a sick addiction.
If Apple had to mail out checks to everyone then that would be a true give back of 100.00 to give it to you your next purchase will at best maybe cost Apple 25.00 a pop, maybe I doubt even that much.
I think most people understand the nature of the credit already... its not cash, its store credit. And yes, I'm sure most ppl get that it doesn't cost Apple $100 to give them $100 worth of product.
Even so, its not chump change. Depending on whose figures you listen to, somewhere around 700k iPhones have been sold at the higher price. Multiply that by $100 a pop, and that's somewhere around $70 million that Apple's giving back in store credit. Not exactly chump change, no matter how you slice it.
And I don't really share your gripe over 'having to spend money to get money back' thing. First off, it isn't even true... if I got the $100 store credit, I could just walk into an Apple Store, buy a Shuffle, and call it a day... and Apple doesn't get any more money out of me.
Yes, I'm sure a few ppl who are 'on the fence' about an Apple purchase will be persuaded by the store credit to open their pocketbooks. What of it? They kinda wanted to buy whatever it is anyway, and now they're getting a better deal. Hard to cry about that. \
Yes, extremeskater, I do get that Apple is NOT doing this out of the goodness of their hearts. The iPhone is their brand spanking-new baby business that they hope to grow hugely in coming years, and they very much want to protect it any way they can. And this store credit thing is part of that.
But that said, I find it hard to moan about the glass being half-empty. In a lot of other situations, a company would've said 'tough' and no one would've gotten a thing.
So... I'm supposed to be mad at Apple for this... why? \
Comments
Does it matter?
hmm - I think the basis for action does matter - doing something out of compassion or because you feel its "right" or out of a sense of fairness is quite different from doing something as a result of being compelled to do so because of fear or some other catalyst.
Its funny watching these people. Everyone is all happy now but they don't understand no one is getting a check in the mail. It's not a real credit or rebate you have to spend more money to get your 100.00.
It's a PR move that looks great but in the end will end up costing Apple very little if anything. Sure they will give you 100.00 back when you buy a Macbook or Macbook Pro thats not a bad deal for Apple seeing they are already making 50% on their hardware. Or maybe that copy of Photoshop CS3 for 650.00 that they already discount to Teachers for 199.00.
I always find it funny when someone gets people to spend more money in order to get "money back". This was a great move it will get the whiners to spend even more money, they can't help it its like a sick addiction.
If Apple had to mail out checks to everyone then that would be a true give back of 100.00 to give it to you your next purchase will at best maybe cost Apple 25.00 a pop, maybe I doubt even that much.
Yes, that is all cynically true. This is a symbolic gesture with concrete value. We'd all spend the money at the Apple Store anyway.
...where's my other 100 hundred dollars? I believe I lost two hundred to this deal.
Boy I wish I could get Steve or ANY other company to do this EVERYTIME I bought a new Mac, only to have them come out with NEWWER / FASTER / Cheaper units 2 months later?
If a lawsuit comes out of this, I'd love to see a way to burn each F&^%&KING lawyer at the stake that gets involved.
Man, the last time I check, NOBODY made me purchase anything right when it came out, and then told me I could piss and moun or sue 2 months later when the price dropped!
Hey, if nothing comes out of this, but a lesson ? then learn it.
If YOU wnat to be the first on the bloack with the new toy, deal with what comes later.
I have purchased no less then 10 HIGH end Mac's (and monitors) only to have them up-dated 2 months later ? what kind of lawsuit do I have?
Get over it, and enjoy your $100.00 - that he / Apple DID NOT have to give you!
I'm sure you are pissed, but if this the worst thing that happens to you in life ? you are one lucky son of a bicth!
Look at the folks on page 3 (most newspapers Obituary page) of your local newspaper ? then tell me whos' go the biggest complaint!
Skip
I suppose most will either use it towards a new iPod nano or Mac OS X Leopard.
So what's the cost to Apple ... lets assume 800,000 early adopters at $100 per adopter that makes it a $80 million concession (at least on paper). We all know that the retail price of anything includes a markup so the real cost is something close to 60 - 70 million dollars.
A small price to pay considering the level of anger amongst iPhone owners. Oh yeah, let's not forget the positive PR. Overall it was a classy move.
It probably costs them less than half of the credit (given their margins) - also doubt there were 800k units sold 2 weeks prior to yesterday. Who knows what it does to their top line - they had to defer recognition of a chunk of the revenue on iphones because of the two year contract, they probably have to amortize the cost of the credits issued over the remaining life of the subject units - but they get to recognize the revenue when the credit is used - so this might upfront the revenue on products purchased with the credit (of course, the people with the credits may spend less actual $$ than they would have in the same period because they received the credit - which means no net change to what revenue would have otherwise been).
I'd like to point out the obvious inequality of this refund - - I didn't buy an iphone and now I don't get a $100 gift certificate even though I have been forced to read all these whiner forums that go on and on ad nauseum. Hey AI! can you give me a refund for my wasted time here?
I suppose someone will tell you to quit your whining and take the certificate. After all, no one broke your arm to read the forums. But let's forget about that. Even if the glass is half empty, it's also half full. You got more than any other company would have given you in the same circumstance.
After personally reading hundreds of emails from disgruntled iPhone customers, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs appears to have had a change of heart and now plans to offer early iPhone adopters a $100 credit towards future Apple purchases.
If SONY comes out with a Blu-Ray recorder for $1500 in April, and then cuts the price to $1100 in October, who has any sympathy for the early adopters who paid the extra money earlier?
If the extra $200 is/was such an issue that someone gets so mad about it, then maybe they shouldn't have been so hot for a product they obviously cannot afford.
Coulda....Shoulda....Woulda
No sympathy for weenies...
Nikon sells its 6MP D50/18-55mm DSLR kit for $750+ in July of 2006, then comes out with the 10MP D40 kit for $700 a few months later. Somebody get a hanky for the hordes of people who have to suffer. YAWN!
[The $100 credit was] late in coming? Its been barely over 24 hours since the price drop announcement.
Yes. Which is still later than when Jobs should have done it, which is at the same time he announced the price drop.
That would've headed off all the 'whining' (or legitimate griping, depending on your point of view) off at the pass, and Apple would've looked like a beneficent company from minute one.
Still, I will agree that 24 hours is better than a week, and much better than never.
.
I think you're wrong - for reasons I've posted in other threads - i think the likihood of valid claims was high - i'm sure the class action attorneys are disappointed because at a minimum a likely settlment was just cut in half...
You may have posted it before, but that doesn't make it any less crazy. You can't be sued for setting the price of your good. What do you think this is, Russia? Do you have a contract that somehow you can prove Apple violated?
...where's my other 100 hundred dollars? I believe I lost two hundred to this deal.
You lost absolutely nothing. You paid what you agreed was a fair price at the time, and
that deal was completed. End of story.
If I sell you a car for $1000, and 9 weeks later I decide to sell one just like it for $500,
that's my business, and you haven't been screwed. You paid what you felt was a fair
price at the time. I could sell a third car just like it to my mother for $1 and that would
be none of your business, either.
I purposely didn't buy an iPhone the first week. I figured I'd wait until the price
dropped, and it did, and that's nice.
I swear, if I HAD bought one the first week, or even a month ago, and I was
offered the $100 credit now, I would not take it. It would not feel right.
I would be trying to go back on my original agreement to pay a fair price
for an awesome product.
Steve is a helluva nice guy to do this. It's goodwill, like other posters have
said, and to ensure customers that they won't see a huge price swing like
this in the future (most probably). Sure, it won't cost Apple much, since it's
a store credit, and it will make a lot of customers happy. If it were me, though,
I wouldn't touch it.
You make your bed, you should lie in it. You got exactly what you paid for,
and you have absolutely no reason to feel cheated.
Call it whatever you like, but Apple ended up seeing it their way, not yours, apparently.
Oh, and... w00t! 1,000th post!
.
"My way" does not disagree with Apple's way - they threw their customers a bone to get more business in the future. I can't believe those whiners are placated by a discount off future purchases! Hilarious!
Where do I get my $100 credit for the Toshiba store?
Does anyone knows the email address of Toshiba's CEO?
I'm loving this. Way to step up to the plate Apple!
I was fine that I paid $200 more than the current price. I chose to buy it and a future lower price wouldn't have stopped me from buying it at launch time.
It's a smart way to do it because it drives more sales. Also, given the margin on products, $100 in retail credit doesn't actually cost Apple $100. A win/win.
Since I can't justify buying a new iMac (the G5 iMac is plugging along fine), maybe I'll try out one of the new keyboards.
My feelings exactly.
Agreed. In fact, this may be the case where Steve Jobs has actually made chicken salad out of chicken shit. Indeed, he probably had this planned out. Needed to cut the price to drive sales to meet expectations. He knew it would seriously piss of his "loyal" customers. Let the press eat up the screaming of these customers for a day. Then, comes out with his "open letter" offering an olive branch which apparently is enough to placate most. All the while, this olive branch will, as you point out, actually end up making Apple MORE money from these people, or at least not losing any.
I was really hoping his solution would be to raise the price back up by $100, which would have given all the babies exactly what they wanted. Now that would have been funny
Think we'll see those who have been whining about 'price ethics' (whatever in the world that is) will be making much noise about the flip side?
I'm curious: How is buying a product at a fair agreed to value considered being loyal? Also, if you are really "loyal", then why are you so quick to throw Apple under the bus?
I'll use the $100 because I'm not stupid, but I'm not going to fool myself into believing I deserve it.
So people with credit card insurance who get their full $200 reimbursed will no doubt also be able to get $100 credit from Apple. (I doubt that there's any serious cross-checking between the companies.)
Think we'll see those who have been whining about 'price ethics' (whatever in the world that is) will be making much noise about the flip side?
Credit card companies (at least AMEX - which incidentally has gotten rid of it's price protection coverage) have (or had) a provision that required you to prove that you didn't have any other indemnity or source of recovery ...
Its funny watching these people. Everyone is all happy now but they don't understand no one is getting a check in the mail. It's not a real credit or rebate you have to spend more money to get your 100.00.
It's a PR move that looks great but in the end will end up costing Apple very little if anything. Sure they will give you 100.00 back when you buy a Macbook or Macbook Pro thats not a bad deal for Apple seeing they are already making 50% on their hardware. Or maybe that copy of Photoshop CS3 for 650.00 that they already discount to Teachers for 199.00.
I always find it funny when someone gets people to spend more money in order to get "money back". This was a great move it will get the whiners to spend even more money, they can't help it its like a sick addiction.
If Apple had to mail out checks to everyone then that would be a true give back of 100.00 to give it to you your next purchase will at best maybe cost Apple 25.00 a pop, maybe I doubt even that much.
I think most people understand the nature of the credit already... its not cash, its store credit. And yes, I'm sure most ppl get that it doesn't cost Apple $100 to give them $100 worth of product.
Even so, its not chump change. Depending on whose figures you listen to, somewhere around 700k iPhones have been sold at the higher price. Multiply that by $100 a pop, and that's somewhere around $70 million that Apple's giving back in store credit. Not exactly chump change, no matter how you slice it.
And I don't really share your gripe over 'having to spend money to get money back' thing. First off, it isn't even true... if I got the $100 store credit, I could just walk into an Apple Store, buy a Shuffle, and call it a day... and Apple doesn't get any more money out of me.
Yes, I'm sure a few ppl who are 'on the fence' about an Apple purchase will be persuaded by the store credit to open their pocketbooks. What of it? They kinda wanted to buy whatever it is anyway, and now they're getting a better deal. Hard to cry about that.
Yes, extremeskater, I do get that Apple is NOT doing this out of the goodness of their hearts. The iPhone is their brand spanking-new baby business that they hope to grow hugely in coming years, and they very much want to protect it any way they can. And this store credit thing is part of that.
But that said, I find it hard to moan about the glass being half-empty. In a lot of other situations, a company would've said 'tough' and no one would've gotten a thing.
So... I'm supposed to be mad at Apple for this... why?
.