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June 03, 2005
The Apple P.R. Machine Wins Again
Apple's ability to manipulate the emotions of the press and Ye Faithful Yet Few continues to amaze me.
About 6 months ago, a friend of mine went to the Apple Store, because their then-18-month-old iPod didn't work. No matter what you did, you just got the Apple logo... no combination of button-pushing would provide any useful results.
The Apple Genius (their term, not mine), said that they don't repair iPods, and he should throw it away and buy a new one. Erm... $299 - $499 is a lot to pay for non-durable technology! I mean, that's the tactic you take with cellular phones, but they cost more like $59 - $99 (unless you choose to pay the "no-contract" tax)
Needless to say, my friend didn't buy another iPod. He considered selling the broken one to Dell for a $49 discount on one of their MP3 players...
Well, today I saw this article on Yahoo! News. It would seem that Apple has decided that they will gladly take back broken iPods now, and at no extra charge recycle them for you. And if you decide you want to replace that device-that-shouldn't-have-died, they'll give you a 10% discount off retail price!
Could you imagine if, say, Fry's Electronics, decided that when your components failed long before their time, they'd throw 'em out for you, and even give you a tiny discount should you want a replacement part? The press would say more like Fry's Electronics Rips Off Consumers -- Won't Replace Defective Parts That Died Before Their Time"
OK, so perhaps the press wouldn't care what Fry's did -- but still, you wouldn't see members of the press heaping boundless praise upon them for such an act!
— The Shelanman
Posted by andrew at June 3, 2005 10:57 AM
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