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[isthisthingon]

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/030311-ipad-owners-rush-to-dump.html?source=NWWNLE_nlt_daily_am_2011-03-03

  

[perkiset]

Actually I think this is a somewhat important shift.

It used to be you purchased something and expected to have it for the MTBF or expected lifespan or better ... in which case you really got your money's worth. It's never been a secret that Apple refreshes products every year or so ... pretty much any company worth it's name does. And it was that customers lamented that they "just purchased something last month and now it's obsolete..." - the industry had trained people to wait because you'll get a great as price drops through the life of an item. Now, you don't get any deal, you pay the same with more/better features. People are incentivized to purchase something ASAP so that they maximize the ROI before they do it again next year.

I think it's also a pretty good indicator of the perceived public value of a device. Clearly, the secondary market for iPhones, iPods and iPads is extraordinarily healthy, meaning that people who DO want the lower-price solution simply wait to pick up their desired toy for a year or so. This is really an analogue of the above mentioned model, but instead of Apple having to lower the price (and inherently decreasing the perceived value) they get to move lots of new devices and the lower-price solution is handled by the used market. It will be interesting to see if Xoom gets the same bump. The talk traffic re. Xoom has really gone up and the Apple haters really have a platform now to call their own. Much like cars, I'll bet that the secondary market will begin to define the ultimate value perception of a device. I think we'll need a couple/few years to see if my assertions here are correct, but I'd bet a shiny new nickel on it...

I think people will look back, a couple decades from now and say, "WOW did Apple have a grasp on the (at that time) current development/marketing/delivery/refresh model." Honestly I can't think of another company today that can do it like them. We can argue OS, capabilities, handcuffs, you name it all day long: I don't think anyone can argue Apple's freakishly dominant control of buzz and gadgets-I-gotta-have.

[isthisthingon]

>I don't think anyone can argue Apple's freakishly dominant control of buzz and gadgets-I-gotta-have.

Absolutely.  Of course, I can laugh about how silly I think the whole Apple gotta-have game is

I'm all about "like to have" or even "love to have" but Apple causes their cult to make it a "gotta have" and forbids further deliberation. 

This is pure evil genius and extremely effective 

Imo there's blatant contempt for your customers when you frenzy them into a purchasing spree and a month later make them feel like total fools for not waiting for the next, better purchasing frenzy.  Sure, a year later or perhaps even six months.  But this is more like Jobs was determined to launch another before he kicks the bucket - for ego's sake 

Most amazingly, Apple fans feel nothing but a fresh new urge to buy the latest and recover what costs they can from their now antiquated tablet.  The least Apple could do is offer a very reasonable exchange for those unfortunates - like a friggin 15% restocking fee 

"If you're not mad, you're not paying attention."

[perkiset]

@ Gotta have: That's sort of my point. It's AMAZING how they manage to instill that attitude. I've already been called by several clients that want me to put one/many on hold for them. It's incredible.

I don't really see it as evil genius, because it's really just marketing taken to the logical extreme. And another part of the genius is that the *never* say you've gotta have... they create a reality distortion field that successfully makes (the macro "me") just Gotta Have It. I have huge admiration for their marketing prowess. Their like Journey in the 80s ... everything they touch ATM is solid gold. I'd bet, however, that there are lots of CEOs and marketing teams that'd give their nuts and first born to have what Apple has created. Lots of envy, I'm sure. All that said, if you consider capitalism evil then I get your point. They are pretty damn good at it.

No, I'd reserve the evil genius category for religion, where if you don't around and give cash you really feel bad. Really bad. AAPL is good, but religion is the best marketing campaign the world's ever seen.

[isthisthingon]

True points. 

But it does remind me of the following quote:

"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist" 

[nop_90]

Actually I think this is a somewhat important shift.

Yes it is, but not for the reasons you have said.
As usual you have been drinking your own kool aide. So you missed the point.
As for your arguments that intelligent people can not be brainwashed. I can cite experimental evidence that shows otherwise.
And there are real life examples.
James Jones is a small example.
Bigger examples are Hitler,Stalin and Mao Tse Tung.
In all 3 examples, it was the "intelligent" people that got these guys in power.
In Mao's case (to a lesser degree Hitler and Stalin) when his quack policies did not work.
Instead of admitting that there is something wrong with his policies, it has to be something wrong with the people.
Solution, well lets go and eliminate how many millions of people, that will fix the problem.
Pretty amazing.

We can argue OS, capabilities, handcuffs, you name it all day long: I don't think anyone can argue Apple's freakishly dominant control of buzz and gadgets-I-gotta-have.

This is the brilliance of apple marketing.
Apple has shifted marketing from "facts" like OS,capabilities,handcuffs to something you can not argue.
Very few organizations have been able to do this successfully, and on such a large scale.
The only one that comes to the top of my head is the catholic church.
Also interestingly, they are able to bridge across traditional boundries. For example you can have republican and democrate apple fanatics.

Honestly the more I use my android devices, the more i think Apple is a POS.
I wanted my son to be able to watch a cartoon on my old iphone.
But I can't copy it over, since it is not in one of the video formats that apple allows. So waste time looking on the net for a converter etc.
Finally just said fuk it, transferred it over to HTC and was good to go.
Finally I have an audio player, that does what I want it to do etc.
And the list goes on.

[nop_90]

No, I'd reserve the evil genius category for religion, where if you don't around and give cash you really feel bad. Really bad. AAPL is good, but religion is the best marketing campaign the world's ever seen.

Look inside an apple store.
What is it comparable to ?

[perkiset]

Nop, Apple is not a cult man. And I'm in the store often, something which is probably pretty difficult for you, living in that part of the world. It's a well laid out example of extremely well planned and executed capitalism. It does not shrink from any of the details that make a retail experience ... in fact, I think Apple has thrown everything that is known about that sort of thing at the stores and their marketing. Apple is not the 4th Reich or Steveo == Hitler FFS  But, as usual, I find your writing tremendously amusing.

Apple has not shifted from the facts, it has focused on different facts. Now before you say I'm delirious and drinking my own koolaid, hear me out. Apple has quite successfully changed the argument from MHz, Gbs, MBs, seek time, port quantity etc to user experience. It is a pretty undeniable fact that Apple's interface is more usable and attractive than anything else the world sees yet. You can argue that all you want, but the numbers simply do not lie. You'll next say that this is all marketing and virtually the entire world is brainwashed. You are wrong. I deal with a *lot* of *very smart* people that are enormously critical, critical thinkers, jaded by tech, cynical about anything that resembles the reality distortion field that Steveo barfs out and cheap to boot.

They LOVE the iPad.

Why? It does *exactly* what they want, easily, reliably and at a cost that is extremely reasonable vis-a-vis bang for buck. It does not do everything, to a man/woman they acknowledge this. But it does what it does, better than anything else out there. THAT's why Apple has had such success.

You might want to get that paranoid complex looked at my friend, it's getting a little pervasive 

[perkiset]

"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist" 

STEVE JOBS IS KEYSER SÖZE?!?!?! 

[isthisthingon]

No, I'd reserve the evil genius category for religion, where if you don't around and give cash you really feel bad. Really bad. AAPL is good, but religion is the best marketing campaign the world's ever seen.

Look inside an apple store.
What is it comparable to ?

Guest night at Scientology 

[isthisthingon]

"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist" 

STEVE JOBS IS KEYSER SÖZE?!?!?! 

[perkiset]

Guest night at Scientology 

[nop_90]

You'll next say that this is all marketing and virtually the entire world is brainwashed. You are wrong. I deal with a *lot* of *very smart* people that are enormously critical, critical thinkers, jaded by tech, cynical about anything that resembles the reality distortion field that Steveo barfs out and cheap to boot.

You deal with a lot of "educated" people. Education does not have anything to do with critical thinking.
Brainwashing per say does not exist. It is knowing how the human mind exists.
What separates me from most people is I have the balls to admit it. I myself am prone to influence.
Cult,Brainwashing etc are terms thrown around be people who stick labels on things. To avoid critical thinking.

You throw around a lot of rhetoric, but you failed to address key points.
My scientific evidence, etc.
Optical illusions are a prime example of how the human brain can be fooled.
Inside the brain we create a "map" of how we perceive the world should exist.
For us to create a true map, our information storage would have to be the same size as the world.
As a result the human brain takes shortcuts or does "compression".
Once you understand how this compression works .....

You might want to get that paranoid complex looked at my friend, it's getting a little pervasive 

Typical response when the arguments are striking too close to home.
Attack the individual and say he is paranoid.

Also I never stated that "cults" are "evil". You stuck those words in my mouth
You stated that.
The crusade against slavery, which was initiated by puritans in Britain, and later brought to the USA was done by "cult" tactics and "rhetoric".
Martian Luther King used rhetoric to bring about civil rights in the USA, and indirectly other places in the world. It was done by "rhetoric".
And there are more modern examples.
An open minded individual would have cited these examples.

[perkiset]

You deal with a lot of "educated" people. Education does not have anything to do with critical thinking.

Um, actually you really have no idea of whom I deal with. Sorry mate, but you're way off base on this one. Lots of educated people as well. Even some smart AND educated people.

What separates me from most people is I have the balls to admit it. I myself am prone to influence.

EVEN THE ALMIGHTY OZ? SAY IT ISN'T SO MENG! 

You throw around a lot of rhetoric, but you failed to address key points.
My scientific evidence, etc.
Optical illusions are a prime example of how the human brain can be fooled.
Inside the brain we create a "map" of how we perceive the world should exist.
For us to create a true map, our information storage would have to be the same size as the world.
As a result the human brain takes shortcuts or does "compression".
Once you understand how this compression works .....

Um, I think we have a vastly different idea about the scientific nature of your comments my friend. I'll not contradict you in the least that Apple has American society wrapped around it's little finger. But you're so far outside on this it's getting rather laughable.

Typical response when the arguments are striking too close to home.
Attack the individual and say he is paranoid.

Also I never stated that "cults" are "evil". You stuck those words in my mouth
You stated that.

Actually that was in response to ITTO's "evil genius" line.

An open minded individual would have cited these examples.

And here I thought I was a reasonably opened minded individual. Imagine my disappointment.

[perkiset]

BTW Nop I have a present for you - it's time for your own smiley.