Friday, December 05, 2008

Objection!: Return To Sender


(Objection! is a (new!) recurring feature in which things were said, lines were drawn, and someone needs a good verbal beating. And I'm just the person to give it.)

Dear Jason:

I'm sorry to hear that you are unhappy with our free and multiple operating system compatible iTunes software. It really breaks my heart to hear that your WINDOWS pc is rejecting our (in your own words) "superior media developing device." I understand your frustrations with some of our hardware and I'm sorry that you disagree with our marketing practices, but I don't think the word "parasite" is appropriate (we prefer "opportunist"). I would like to offer you a free iTunes download of "Song you don't know" by Band That Sucks in hopes that you will continue to not pay us for things in the future.
-Steve "I have more money than God" Jobs

Ok, Steve Jobs probably is a dick, but face it, the guy and his company have come up with some amazing tech over the last 20 some years. Yeah, they charge an arm and a leg for it. Yeah sometimes it breaks. Too freaking bad. It's still better than Windows Media Player/Windows Vista/Zune. Also, if a guy is upset that their new 3G iPhone isn't exactly twice as fast as the old one and that the company "sold too many", does that really entitle him to sue Apple for probably 1000 times what he paid for it? Umm, no. You're gonna have to find free money somewhere else buddy.
http://homeschoolchildren.com/images/book-marketing-of-evil.jpg
Now, as for Apple making false or ambiguous advertising claims? Hello? McFly? That's what marketing IS. Stretching facts and making unprovable claims is the business of which, if you think Apple is the sole proprietor, then you must be living in a bubble. I don't like it any more than anyone else, but in our present business world, the fact is that the companies that try to stay within the existing bounds fall behind or get gobbled up by everybody else.

Besides, iTunes runs just fine on my MacBook. http://www.sonnywibisono.com/modules/gallery/images/mac-icon.gif

5 comments:

Medium said...

I feel it might be necessary at this time to point out (and I am actually neutral in this whole thing) that there is, in fact, an Apple on the cover of "The Marketing of Evil". Did you do this on purpose, Damman?

Howard! said...

I would like to note that I have a MacBook and iPod, and both my brother and my mom have iPhones, all of which have run without a problem. As far as I'm concerned, the problems Jason mentioned don't exist. My only problem with an Apple product might be that their iPods don't survive being water boarded Marine style. My first iPod lasted 5 years until I left it in my cup holder of my Wrangler with the top down during a rain storm. So after 5 years, I killed it. Whoops. I don't think it's fair to be mad at Apple for superior marketing and a fantastic product. If iPhones are such a bad idea, then how come every other company is making a phone to compete with it and making a far inferior product? The same can be said about the iPod. Jason made the comment to me (while venting about Macs) that the new MacBook is being advertised as "green," all while his PC is made without evil chemicals too. First of all, I'm fairly certain that most computer monitors do include mercury, so I would be surprised if what he says is true (if it is, good for him). Secondly, if PCs are "green" then shame on you for not advertising this fact. Again, don't get mad at Apple for good marketing. Instead get mad at yourself for bad marketing. But again, since PCs have about 5,000 companies making products (which adds a whole different problem about compatibility), its pretty hard to make a claim like "PCS are totally green" because its nearly impossible to monitor all of the products made by all of the companies.

Howard! said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jason said...

I love the discussions I had over this article, thanks for commenting.

First off, the problems do exist, or I wouldn't have been able to cite them and court documents where Apple has been sued over them. Go ahead and just google "apple being sued." You will see news on lawsuits ranging from failure to deliver on advertising promises, environmental issues (yes, Apple went green because of bad press, not because of good heart) and on pricing.

I never wrote this to say PC is better. I curse my PC out all the damn time. Outside of going Linux, I had two options. Mac or PC. I find the PC much more user friendly if you know how to use a computer. Not everyone does, and the Mac helps those people avoid computing issues.

As far as the green issue, yes many PCs including mine have toxins. But Mac is not the first. They could be the best one, I have not looked into it enough to call that title, but check out the Asus line of laptops, you'll see where Mac got inspiration.

Damman said...

Touche Medium