Wednesday, July 30, 2008

An Apple a Day Will Make You Bankrupt in Two Days

If it were just the products, on their merit alone, I might have considered buying an iPod or an iPhone - if had sufficient cash to throw away. I mean, it would have just meant substituting the DSLR camera I'd been eyeing for some time with the iPhone 3G. It's good looking and has all the jazz. But what riles me about Apple is what those products stand for; in particular, the following:

1. Snobbishness is cool - The first word that comes to my mind when I think about Apple is snobbish. Sorry to disappoint Apple fans, snobbishness is not cool. Being snobbish would be justified if Apple were Chopard or Bentley. But Apple is a company which aims to sell millions of their products worldwide and such an attitude is not very endearing. When I think of Apple, I can almost hear Mr. Jobs telling me to take it or leave it - 'you want to copy-paste text? Too bad, sucker! Now get the hell out.'

2. You can get away with just looking cool and trendy - By now everybody knows just about everything there is to know about what the iPhone can't do. Any half-decent company would be running helter-skelter to add those features - after all, most of your customers are demanding it - but Apple is one company which doesn't look like it's in a hurry to fix things. You are expected to ignore its drawbacks just because it (a) is stylish, (b) is what everybody is talking about now and (c) has made your wallet lighter by a few kilos. Don't even bother to wonder whether some Bluetooth capability in the iPod would have make things a little easier.

3. Apple is the only innovative company around and the others are just crap - Sorry to disappoint the deluded souls at Apple, but developing low-cost technologies and providing affordable solutions to customers calls for innovation too, maybe more than what Apple is doing. Steve Jobs picked Dell as an example of a innovation-less company which just survives on reducing cost. But I can't imagine how Jobs could ignore the fact that Dell uses some of the most innovative logistics and supply chain management strategies to cut cost. I think Jobs confuses innovation with what happens in a styling studio. A product is about something much more - choice of materials, product design, selection of features, manufacturing, supply chain management, each of which calls for innovation. Different companies choose to innovate in different areas.

Having mentioned these 3 points, let me also tell you that I have no problem in accepting the iPhone as a gift from generous friends. My birthday is still a few months away and if you all start saving up from now and pool in money...

[Forrest Gump referring to Apple Computer]
Dan got me invested in some kind of fruit company. So then I got a call from him, saying we don't have to worry about money no more. And I said, that's good! One less thing.

13 comments:

silverine said...

My ex CEO made a big noise and insisted on an Aple Computer for himself. Since I worked extensively with him for our Newsletter, I have seen him showing it off to all and sundry. Two months later it crashed. Hardware and Software failure! It is still to be repaired. CEO was back with a PC and lowly Windows. That was my first intro to the fruit! This was two years ago and I was a summer intern. So I have been pre branded with a healthy skepticism for Apple!

Loved this one. High time someone wrote about this here in India.

p.s me no like Stevie's attitude!

silverine said...

..and loved the title too! :)

mathew said...

hehehe..i love that line from Forrest GUmp..I remember laughing out loud when I heard it in the movie!!

Apple is a company that thrives on it snobbish attitude..But the fact that as a business they have thrived..it is unfortunate other lesser known companies which had similar or even better products couldnt do the same!

But there marketing strategy is really a pain..when the phone was introduced here, it was simply impossible to buy the phone without the telcom subscription..it costed somethin like 1000 euros stand alone!!

Sidharth said...

I am working part time as a low paid (highly over utilized )computer support person. Being bought up around the windows platform ,I had my fair share of cynicism for Apple products. Our office is filled with PCs and a few macs (the top management have the cool iMacs ).
One thing is clear to me , an Apple is a damn good product . I have never seen any of the Macs in my office crash in my 7 months. They might not be as tweakable as a PC but truth is ,its damn reliable.
I would say the PC is more like a Leyland truck - with all parts designed by some different company and finally assembled at Leyland.It might come cheaper , but it needn't be the most reliable thing. Apple is like a company which designs and makes most of its components , they just work like a symphony.

If you aint grown up around a PC you will appreciate that a Mac is the most easiest thing to work with .

Philip said...

silverine: Thanks :)
And even me no like Stevie's attitude, but I guess that's obvious from the post.

mathew: Yeah..the stand-alone iPhone is really expensive. And I agree with you that many companies with excellent products never took off...Apple had created a cult following with its Macs and owning an Apple had become a statement.

sidthekid: I'm not sure about the supplier thing...Apple's chips, screens and batteries come from external suppliers who develop these products. Apple's products may be more reliable, but that's because the reliability is built into the design and manufacturing. If other companies were to insist on strict standards on product quality, their products would be reliable too (and generally more expensive).

My objection to Apple is not based on the quality of their products, which I admit is pretty good. I just don't relate to the ideas that Apple stands for.

Amey said...

Love apple, hate apple, but the people I admire most are those who have conned their bosses into getting them iPhone as company phone ;)

Sidharth said...

Got the point !

Anonymous said...

Loved the Forrest Gump lines

Philip said...

amey: Agree with you on that one...i'm trying to con my friends into buying me one...not that it's ever going to happen.

sidthekid: That's why I like debates with you so much :)

ms. cris: :)

Molly said...

Great Blog!!Just blogrolled you..

Nikhil Narayanan said...

Neat one!
Hope u have chkd http://krishashok.wordpress.com/2008/07/27/kaka-kronicles-episode-8/

Someone else too thinking like you.

-Nikhil

mathew said...

chk out this..u ll love it..;-D
http://www.techtree.com/India/News/10_Reasons_Why_You_Should_Hate_the_iPhone/551-92001-615.html

Anupama said...

The title is way too cool...and the post brings me a new perspective...this is the first time I have heard anything negative about Apple, whether its the products (as seen in the comments) or what Apple stands for what with Robin Sharma coming up with an 'I Love Apple' post everytime he runs out of new material.

Interesting read...