"…they had to to be bailed out by Microsoft to the amount of around $600m if I remember correctly."
You don't remember correctly. Microsoft invested in Apple in a deal Steve Jobs made with them to avoid being sued for their Windows Media Player having incorporated code stolen from QuickTime for Windows.
I agree with Entropys. Although a huge Apple product fan for 30 years, I'm increasingly baffled by their corporate decisions, from a customer satisfaction standpoint. For example: Ever increasing premium prices (Ex. 2016 MacBooks) while usually tech decreases in price over a 5 yr period. Dropping of ports, and features (What?? My wife's iPhone 7 earbuds don't have a volume/mute control?? - to name a discovery last week. You've got to be kidding!) 1TB fusion drive downgrade to paltry 24GB flash. etc. etc. etc.); increasingly difficult to upgrade later or take apart. No Mac Pro upgrade in years. No low cost entry level machine upgrade in years (Mini). The list could go on and on, but most of you are well aware. One of the wealthiest corporations in the world, yet they continue go gouge the customer whenever they can (I know... keeping the investors happy, but ONLY them). How could satisfaction NOT go down?
What are you talking about? I went to the Apple site to confirm: the earbuds that come with the iPhone 7 still have the same controls/mic on the cable that they've had for years. Or are you talking about AirPods which are completely separate product (and aren't "iPhone 7 earbuds)?
Is customer satisfaction down? I doubt it, and this reputation survey doesn't shed any light on that.
Perhaps she got hers switched with an older Apple pair somewhere along the line. We were on vacation last week and that's when I noticed her new looking Apple earbuds don't have any in line volume control (she had it hooked up to the lightning adapter, and I tried mine with in line control to make sure it was an issue with lightning). Assuming I got that wrong, I guess the point I could make was that I wasn't too terribly surprised that Apple might get stingy on that too, just as they did with the amount of Flash on 1TB Fusion drives, cost of adapters, etc. It's been their pattern of late. Certainly reputation has some correlation with satisfaction.
Which customers are Apple "attacking in court"? I can't think of any such cases.
It was covered on AI in December. Apple lost after 3 years in the courts. They lost once, pushed harder, and lost again. This started in 2013 - the same year Apple lost a major battle against EU about warranties. These issues could have been closed. Instead they are hurting the reputation.
Defending yourself in court from law suits is NOT "attacking customers in court." Sorry, try again.
Maybe because Apple has become such a behemoth in the same way as Microsoft did 15+ years ago that they are incapable of radical innovation and have been caught and passed by it's competitors. Which in many way is not surprising as it is the way of natural selection. Are Apple likely to risk sales of the iPhone for a radical new design / device which might flop, of course not.
Given where they are these days they are never going to be that innovative company like when Steve Jobs returned who had to otherwise they would have gone bust. For those who don't know or remember they had to to be bailed out by Microsoft to the amount of around $600m if I remember correctly.
Apple are primarily a hardware company as that is where they make their money, but of course with some great software on top, otherwise I wouldn't have been using Macs for the past 20 years.
Google / Alphabet are primarily a software company but of course selling a limited amount of hardware.
Amazon are primarily a software services company fulfilling hardware delivery.
Hardware is easy to copy as has been proven with the many iPhone lookalikes, plus of course the "free" software thrown in.
For services there will always be alternative competition though not necessarily on the scale of Amazon.
For Google however they are pretty much unrivalled in the amount of information they are able to gather. So if the future is in AI which is after all based upon "information" then they are at the moment ultimately heads and shoulders above everyone else.
If you compare Siri, Alexa and Google, Siri is well behind. Time will tell, but I know who my money is on at the moment and it ain't Apple.
Or maybe that's nonsense.
If hardware were so easy to copy, how come PC trackpads still suck compared to a MacBook's?
I've been losing respect for Apple's output, products, and creativity for many years now, as noted in this forum. I tossed an Apple sticker in the trash the other day and wistfully recalled an earlier time when I proudly displayed that sticker on the rear window in my Mercedes Benz. Must admit I'm still long AAPL, for greedy reason, and I even bought a MBP yesterday, because it was heavily discounted, but I've lost a lot of respect -- and affection -- for Apple.
How strange. My Apple gear keeps getting better and better. I wonder what's wrong with yours?
I've been losing respect for Apple's output, products, and creativity for many years now, as noted in this forum.
Indeed. The design on laptops has been around since 2001, and macOS hasn't pushed core usability or productivity for a decade (some might say it was most coherent around System 7... but that is a long time).
What are you looking for, a round notebook?
I don't know what OSes you've been using, but macOS is far more productive than it was in 2007. I would never go back and I doubt you would either.
I think it has more to do with a perception of increasing prices for more resticted functionality. Doesn't have to be true, it doesn't have to be reasonable, but if your long term and otherwise most loyal customers are loudly and publically expressing unhappiness, there should be a developing problem with your reputation.
Which they are NOT. “Restricted functionality” is a troll buzzphrase. So is “overpriced.” This Reputation Institute is typical of irrelevant entities trying to get attention. Go negative on Apple and get noticed. And trolls such as yourself take the bait every time.
Overpriced - hmm. Tonight I saw two purchase orders on my boss's desk. One was for a MacBook Pro for $2799 and the other was for a Dell Latitude for...$1,100. Admittedly, I did not memorize all the specs, but both would have been configured as developer machines (solid state drives and 16 GB).
Looking at Apple's site, this would be a 15", I7, 16GB RAM, 512 GB SSD.
The latitude seems to top out at 14", so the differential is exaggerated. The closest pick seems to be an XPS 15 (15.6" screen, i7, 16GB RAM, 512GB PCIe drive). When upgraded to 4K, it's $2,100. One could use the spare $700 to buy an iPhone, or accessories for the SD slot.
Without knowing the specs of these mystery machines it's hard to say, but I use a MBP personally and then have a client-issued Dell notebook, both dev machines. The Dell sucks -- despite being SSD it ways a tone and the fans are constantly blowing even while idle.
The MBP is worth the price premium. That's old news.
I just wish they would listen to customers a bit more. They are letting good profitable product lines like the Mac Pro and Mac Mini wither. The Macbooks and iMacs have become increasingly un-upgradable and unserviceable. They have lagged with product innovations and been a follower instead of a leader. Still their eco-system and products are solid, so they will continue to do well.
Yeah not really. Hint: innovation isn't some Android widget. There's so much hardware innovation packed into each new Apple release it's not even funny. They don't fall off trees fully formed, folks.
Apple has overtly supported several controversial social issues that has likely not enamored them with a significant part of their user base. Personally, I would hope they focus more on their core business and stay out of political issues.
I think the same. Cook has been alienating fairly significant parts of Apple's customer base just so he can placate the small minority who support his SJW position; causing an overall net reduction in reputation. If he kept his mouth shut yes he wouldn't get a few brownie points from the left (re/pro)gressives, but he wouldn't piss off the much larger base of centerists. I think gay rights etc are important, but I do not like how Cook goes about proclaiming "we at Apple support <liberal agenda>". Not all his employees will support that position, so that's actually misrepresentation. If he said "I support <liberal agenda>" then fine, but he doesn't.
Pure nonsense. There are more social progressives who support things like, you know, civil rights, than crank old white guys who get mad about it. Apple will never cater to those crank snowflakes, and I applaud them for it.
I agree with Entropys. Although a huge Apple product fan for 30 years, I'm increasingly baffled by their corporate decisions, from a customer satisfaction standpoint. For example: Ever increasing premium prices (Ex. 2016 MacBooks) while usually tech decreases in price over a 5 yr period. Dropping of ports, and features (What?? My wife's iPhone 7 earbuds don't have a volume/mute control?? - to name a discovery last week. You've got to be kidding!) 1TB fusion drive downgrade to paltry 24GB flash. etc. etc. etc.); increasingly difficult to upgrade later or take apart. No Mac Pro upgrade in years. No low cost entry level machine upgrade in years (Mini). The list could go on and on, but most of you are well aware. One of the wealthiest corporations in the world, yet they continue go gouge the customer whenever they can (I know... keeping the investors happy, but ONLY them). How could satisfaction NOT go down?
What are you talking about? I went to the Apple site to confirm: the earbuds that come with the iPhone 7 still have the same controls/mic on the cable that they've had for years. Or are you talking about AirPods which are completely separate product (and aren't "iPhone 7 earbuds)?
Is customer satisfaction down? I doubt it, and this reputation survey doesn't shed any light on that.
Perhaps she got hers switched with an older Apple pair somewhere along the line. We were on vacation last week and that's when I noticed her new looking Apple earbuds don't have any in line volume control (she had it hooked up to the lightning adapter, and I tried mine with in line control to make sure it was an issue with lightning). Assuming I got that wrong, I guess the point I could make was that I wasn't too terribly surprised that Apple might get stingy on that too, just as they did with the amount of Flash on 1TB Fusion drives, cost of adapters, etc. It's been their pattern of late. Certainly reputation has some correlation with satisfaction.
No, you have that completely and utterly wrong, and it devalues your post's weight accordingly.
And I don't even agree with you on the rest -- Apple has lowered adapter prices lately. And their consumer satisfaction ratings are tops, so I don't know what you're thinking about.
Apple has overtly supported several controversial social issues that has likely not enamored them with a significant part of their user base. Personally, I would hope they focus more on their core business and stay out of political issues.
I think the same. Cook has been alienating fairly significant parts of Apple's customer base just so he can placate the small minority who support his SJW position; causing an overall net reduction in reputation. If he kept his mouth shut yes he wouldn't get a few brownie points from the left (re/pro)gressives, but he wouldn't piss off the much larger base of centerists. I think gay rights etc are important, but I do not like how Cook goes about proclaiming "we at Apple support <liberal agenda>". Not all his employees will support that position, so that's actually misrepresentation. If he said "I support <liberal agenda>" then fine, but he doesn't.
Pure nonsense. There are more social progressives who support things like, you know, civil rights, than crank old white guys who get mad about it. Apple will never cater to those crank snowflakes, and I applaud them for it.
How about religious black guys who don't support it? Racism is actually a thing against whites too you know. When Cook releases a statement against things such as the recent ban by Trump on allowing boys into girls toilets and vice versa - a policy by Obama that was none too popular - it reduces Apple's reputation because again, he uses Apple as his platform for his SJW issues.
I'm really upset Apple seems to be dropping the Edition Watch.
I thought the Apple v1 gold Edition Watch was pretty silly. All electronics are basically for 3-5 years use, until technology makes them obsolete... Then what? Melt it down?
Presumably there are people who want you to think they have money to burn. I just think of gold Apple Watch wearers as not-getting-it.
As for Apple's drop in Global RepTrak 100's list... It's obvious... 'Apple is doomed.'
Indeed. The design on laptops has been around since 2001, and macOS hasn't pushed core usability or productivity for a decade (some might say it was most coherent around System 7... but that is a long time).
What are you looking for, a round notebook?
I don't know what OSes you've been using, but macOS is far more productive than it was in 2007. I would never go back and I doubt you would either.
Surely the design language of Apple and the features can change in more directions than "thin" and "rose gold". Yes, I'm tired after 15 years of iterations on the TiBook. Do I need the curves of the Pismo or the dalmatian dotted layered design of iMac? Well... I do need more than a thin glued glass-alu sandwich with rounded corners. Sorry.
About macOS - is it really so much better? Forget the apps and think about System + Finder - and think about major changes to the system. Not like "new font" or "new obscure API".
Indeed. The design on laptops has been around since 2001, and macOS hasn't pushed core usability or productivity for a decade (some might say it was most coherent around System 7... but that is a long time).
What are you looking for, a round notebook?
I don't know what OSes you've been using, but macOS is far more productive than it was in 2007. I would never go back and I doubt you would either.
Surely the design language of Apple and the features can change in more directions than "thin" and "rose gold". Yes, I'm tired after 15 years of iterations on the TiBook. Do I need the curves of the Pismo or the dalmatian dotted layered design of iMac? Well... I do need more than a thin glued glass-alu sandwich with rounded corners. Sorry.
About macOS - is it really so much better? Forget the apps and think about System + Finder - and think about major changes to the system. Not like "new font" or "new obscure API".
First off, why should anyone expect radical improvements in the Finder? I don't expect Honda to introduce a radical new steering wheel for them to be considered innovative. Having said that, Spotlight is radically better than anything we had 5 or 10 years ago. I use that to access files--very quickly and intuitively and accurately--regularly so I use the traditional Finder less and less.
I think people forget that most smartphone or tablet users are not concerned at all about the things that are argued about on sites like this, they decide what to use based on software and the overall experience. Probably a Galaxy Note or an iPhone is the equivalent quality to them and it's simply that iOS is just so much more human to use, and this is because human interface 'innovation', is in Apple's DNA.
Comments
Defending yourself in court from law suits is NOT "attacking customers in court." Sorry, try again.
If hardware were so easy to copy, how come PC trackpads still suck compared to a MacBook's?
What are you looking for, a round notebook?
I don't know what OSes you've been using, but macOS is far more productive than it was in 2007. I would never go back and I doubt you would either.
Without knowing the specs of these mystery machines it's hard to say, but I use a MBP personally and then have a client-issued Dell notebook, both dev machines. The Dell sucks -- despite being SSD it ways a tone and the fans are constantly blowing even while idle.
The MBP is worth the price premium. That's old news.
Pure nonsense. There are more social progressives who support things like, you know, civil rights, than crank old white guys who get mad about it. Apple will never cater to those crank snowflakes, and I applaud them for it.
And I don't even agree with you on the rest -- Apple has lowered adapter prices lately. And their consumer satisfaction ratings are tops, so I don't know what you're thinking about.
About macOS - is it really so much better? Forget the apps and think about System + Finder - and think about major changes to the system. Not like "new font" or "new obscure API".
First off, why should anyone expect radical improvements in the Finder? I don't expect Honda to introduce a radical new steering wheel for them to be considered innovative. Having said that, Spotlight is radically better than anything we had 5 or 10 years ago. I use that to access files--very quickly and intuitively and accurately--regularly so I use the traditional Finder less and less.