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Friday, September 14, 2007
I received a new iPod for my birthday. What a great product! I'm hooked on it. The benefits of ownership of this Apple product are legion. For one thing, I save money on lunch. I have quit going out so much, and instead will stay at work and eat in the breakroom. Before, I couldn't stand to eat in the breakroom. That meant I had to spend an hour listening to the same bunch of dysfunctional, disengaged morons that I was already spending eight hours a day working around. But now, with iPod, I can sit there and drown them out, and they all sit around looking at the iPod and thinking about how cool I am. But that's not what I came to talk about. Last week, Steve Jobs had a big product announcement. He said that Apple was dropping the price of the new iPhone by $200. The masses erupted in feverish enthusiasm and love for Mr. Jobs. However, the people who had already purchased an iPhone were steamed. Their question was why couldn't the price have been dropped initially? Why did they have to pay a premium for being a first adopter? So Apple, ever the image-conscious company, came up with a plan to appease that demographic. They announced that there will be a $100 credit to the Apple store for all users of the iPhone who had previously purchased one. Further, they would refund $200 to anyone who had purchased an iPhone in the last 14 days. At the same big product announcement above, Mr. Jobs also unveiled the new line of iPods. The iPod touch screen is now available, essentially the iPhone without the Phone. It's off the chart on cool factor. They also announced some changes to the iPod product line. The Nano now has a video screen (which is great if you can watch a movie on a matchbook). The Shuffle gets a new set of colors. The iPod classic, as it is now known, will now be available with either an 80GB hard drive or a 160GB hard drive. The 80GB model sells for $249, and the 160GB model sells for $349. Now, when my wife went shopping for my iPod, the available models were the 30GB and the 80GB. The prices were $249 for the 30GB, and $399 for the 80GB. I have the 30GB, because she decided not to spend the extra money for the bigger model. However, had she waited, or had my birthday been about three weeks later, my wife would have been able to purchase the 80GB model for the exact same amount of money that she spent for the one with the smaller hard drive. Does this situation sound familiar to you? To me, this sounds exactly like a situation that Apple, ever the image-conscious company, would have a plan designed to appease this demographic. So, I composed an email to Apple, stating what I have listed above. I set about trying to find what avenue to sent it through, by going to apple.com. Way down in the corner of the site, you'll find the contact us link. You will find a page that will tell you how to find an Apple store, or support for your product, or how to give feedback on the site or on the products, but you will not find a link to customer service. NONE. There is no link to simply state your opinions and concerns to Apple. My guess is that Apple thinks that you, the customer, are going to feel so I cool with their products that even if you have a concern, it'll be washed away in good feelings for such cool products. Well, not me, bucko. I ain't taking this. I printed my email, and mailed it. There is a corporate phone number listed on the site, and I'm calling it later today. If I don't at least get a response soon, there's always the media, and worse, the Internet. I don't expect Apple to give me an 80GB iPod. I would like for them to include me in the we're-sorry-here-go-shopping program. I'll keep you posted. If you see me out, be sure to ask me how it's going, but be aware that you'll have to wave your hand in front of my face first to get my attention.
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