Is Apple losing the plot?
APPLE IS KNOWN FOR A LOT OF THINGS, being overpriced, having nice design, attracting fanboys who religiously believe that Steve Jobs is a Messiah. But for years the build quality of the gear has never been questioned.
Now it seems that Apple has reverted to the days of the Apple II which used to catch fire even if you looked at it in a funny way or did something to place the electrics under pressure... such as turning it on.
Recently a laptop and an Ipod Touch have gone up in smoke, last year we were reporting about laptops that bent thanks to heat problems.
Apple does what it usually does and denies that it ever happens, deletes user complaints from its bulletin boards and sticks its fingers in its collective ears and goes 'la la la'.
When there are enough complaints, Apple admits it is a problem which effects only a 'small number of users'. If everything is so bad that it really has to do something about it, it will wheel out Steve Jobs to admit that the outfit has made a mistake. Needless to say, that does not happen very often.
So why is Apple, which used to make good expensive hardware, starting to turn into a company that sells expensive but shonky gear?
Recently the fire problems have been caused by faulty batteries. Fanboys will rush to tell the world plus dog, that the batteries are not made by Apple and so its hands are clean. However, if you open the back of Apple hardware you would be hard pressed to find something that is not made by one of Jobs' Mob's Asian partner chums. Apple has done this to keep the price of its products down.
This is all well and good if you were not paying over the odds for your gear. If you are paying for a Rolls Royce you don't expect a Datsun engine jacked under the bonnet.
Most Apple people don't think about the technology they have bought. They certainly don't want to worry about which bit of gear might have been made in an anonymous Chinese factory and might explode. Once the bonnet is shut, in their minds, they have bought an Apple.
The fact that Apple will not let them open the bonnet without voiding the warranty is cause for concern.
In the case of the battery, the buck stops at Apple. It needs to have more control over its manufacturing partners to make sure its standards are being met.
But what about the other things that are going wrong at Cupertino? The 3G Iphone which kept reverting to 2G, faulty mail programs, or distorted laptops. Why, when you pay so much for your Apple kit, does Jobs' Mob want to roll back the EU consumer protection laws so that they do not apply to its gear. Why did they design a laptop which requires you to take it to the shop when it needs a replacement?
The answer is that with the consumer department taking up all the senior members' attention, the quality is being lost. The Iphone is a good seller, replacing the Ipod as Apple's cash cow but, either way, the fruit dream factory is hitting a wall because people can't check the software and hardware in the way they used to. µ
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I'm intrigued about your reference to Apple wishing to roll back consumer rights.
If your iPod fails within warranty the Apple shop will replace it. If it crashes they will charge quite a lots to reinitialise it.
If it fails just outside the 12 month warranty period they may offer you a 10% discount on a new one.
That doesn't strike me as conforming with UK case law. Incidentally, you can forget the warranty because that has no standing in law.
Case law suggests that a product should last a reasonable period (perhaps 6 years for consumer durable). Within period you might look for a replacement or a refund equal to the purchase price minus a percentage reflecting the period of ownership.
A 10% discount is not an offer I would accept and I'm surprised that we haven't seen some Small Claims cases against the mighty A.
What do you expect. You are getting junk from Flextronics in China, made at the lowest possiable cost. It is not the same stuff as when they made it in CA. It makes no diff if it has the Apple name on it, it is still becomming junk, just in a pretty package.
While I agree the non user replaceable in the Macbook Pro is total BS, I will never get one to include iPhone, Ipod or any other Apple product that I can not change the battery in. The battery that caught fire you referred to is from one that was recalled and they probably never exchanged it if you looked into the truth. The aluminum Macbooks are still the best designed laptops in the world and I am buying one when Snow Leapard releases, damn the price. After using OS X for years I have to say it is the best OS I ever used.
Journalism? Nah. Trolling? Absolutely. I'm just sorry that the Inquirer now seems to rely so much on 'sensationalist' reporting to drive traffic. Sure, numbers is I suppose what it's about but having to read this sort of garbage is soul destroying for a technology fan, whether it's about Apple, Dell, MS or whoever. It's not adding anything, it's a typical troll post, lob in a grenade, run away and snigger at the fallout. Great fun if you're 14.
Fortunately, after a quick Google, Mr Farrell has his good looks and charm to make up for sub standard 'reporting'.
"If you are paying for a Rolls Royce you don't expect a Datsun engine jacked under the bonnet."
If you're buying a Rolls Royce, the Datsun engine would probably be significantly more reliable...
This article read like every other article Nick writes about Apple... I'm confused why it is labeled "rant" as I though it was just assumed every, ummmm, "article" Nick writes is a rant. Why start labeling it now?
Everyone keeps saying battery fault. I'm starting to disagree.
In the attempt to pack high end components in smaller and smaller packaging, manufacturers keep reducing the size of the battery packs. Well that doesn't change the fact that the hardware still requires 'X' amount of current to run. Notebook computed makers order up smaller and smaller batteries, cram them in to a tiny case, then ask them to kick out a current load that is paramount to shorting them with a paper clip and they get HOT!.. repeat this a few times, and connections between the cells fail, something DOES short, and BOOM! scrap one notebook. Then it's blame the maker of the batteries instead of the computer maker that uses one too small to safely and effectively provide the necessary current to the device.
Don't believe me? Check the load on one of them fancy extra thin macbooks and compare THAT to the recommended load the supplier has for the battery..
Apple(whatever that is) should stick to
what it does best.
Making malware for PCs.
Nick = anti Apple
Charlie - anti Nvidia.
Whats the deal? If its not blowing up, failing, or something dramatic then its not news for the inquirer.
Its the tech version of the THE SUN newspaper without the tits.
I think the point is that if you do buy a Roles Royce and it breaks down you do atleast get pretty good customer service and your problem is dealt with quickly.
thats why i read inq. yes i think they could do with breasts. (not Charlie's.)
"If you're buying a Rolls Royce, the Datsun engine would probably be significantly more reliable..."
So why aren't they making engines for commercial airliners?
"Why, when you pay so much for your Apple kit, does Jobs' Mob want to roll back the EU consumer protection laws so that they do not apply to its gear."
Nick, you should check NASA sampson's presentation regarding leadfree before you put your foot in to your mouth. Find out WHY 1st before you start bashing... (an investigated reporter is better respected).
st
If you eliminate flame retardants from your batteries to appease some ecofanatics then don't be surprised those batteries catch fire.
Well Dick, you actually get a BMW engine under the bonnet of the Rolls Royce.
Yet another example of fanTARDism sensationalist droll by Dick Ferret flushing INQ further down the dunnie.
What a way to start the day ;(
NOOOOO !!
A problem has an effect, but it AFFECTS someone (or something).
Please do not encourage the illiterate texters into thinking that their massacre of the written language is actually okay.
Given the amount of eyeballs that read your words, you have a duty to write impeccably and without any mistake whatsoever.
Going to Hell in a handbasket and all that.
Mutter, mutter, mutter . . .
"If you are paying for a Rolls Royce you don't expect a Datsun engine jacked under the bonnet."
When did Nick mention a Rolls Royce engine under the bonnet under a Rolls? It could be a BMW engine. But would you rather see a BMW engine under the bonnet or a Datsun engine? The Datsun engine may be more reliable as some may suggest. XD
Once BMW replaces their crappy V10 under the bonnet of the M6 with a Datsun, I am picking one up ;)
I don't think all products coming out of Chinese factories are bad. Look at a Lenovo X300.
The point is Apple rips their customer, follows a closed model, does quite a few monopolistic practices that MS is accused off, and gets away with it. If you want to buy an Apple product, fine. Its your money and your choice.
Same goes for buying a Sony product, some has design and overpriced. You pay for the design - thats fine too.
What confuses me is how an Apple buyer defends their purchases. I have a colleague who says "I will never buy a Windows Mobile, I would go for IPhone instead". There can be a number of reasons for that decision. But a logical reason cannot be "Cause its from MS".
When pointed out, they say "Apple doesnt allow 3rd party developer sell IPhone software freely cause they want to make sure no Malware is present"
Guess what would they say if MS said the same? Windows mobile software only through MS Store?
--- M O N O P O L Y ---
How many bought non-mediaplayer version XP in EU?
You fan-boys are buying a machine from a company for all the wrong reason. Demand/supply proved wrong... right there!
You have an 'amount' of sugar, flour, horseshit, anything you can't easily count, but a 'number' of eyeballs or exploding Li ion batteries. Always dangerous to criticise somebody's grammar and syntax, without checking your own post, first.
You cannot crack open the case on any computer without imperiling your warranty. The bottom of my mate's Asus Ferrari makes it quite clear that you can kiss your rights goodbye, if you happen to think that Kingston or Infeneon RAM is superior to the cheap crap Asus sees fit to put in it (Feng Kyong, apparently, whoever they are - since we decided they could stuff their useless warranty).
The sealed-in battery, is the point, here, isn't it? It's a typically Jobsian move - in all the ways which get writers, like Farrell's, juices flowing.
However, Apple's aren't the only exploding consumer electronics. Dell were amongst the first widely reported ones... and I'm using a Dell, right now! You can argue that you wouldn't want to pay as much as you have to, for one of Jobsy's prodcts, only for it to explode and burn your house down; but you could also argue that you wouldn't want to pay the the amount you pay for one of Michael Dell's computers, either, only for it to burn your house down. On the whole, you don't want your phone or laptop to explode and burn your house down. It's a kind of bare minimum, that you'd ask of a piece of consumer electronics, is it?
"Promise me you won't burn my house down, phone!"
"I'm sorry, I can't do that, right now, Dave."
The wider story, here, is that consumer electronics are being assembled using cheap - and, in some cases, downright dangerous - components. What are Apple actually saying, by sealing in the battery? "We don't think you're technially competent to replace your own battery." I'd actually say that was a fair and accurate description, in the case of a great many Apple users.
But, who is technically competent? I wouldn't be able to look at the outside of a battery, for this Dell, and say: "No, that definitely won't explode, if I fit it in my laptop." I also wouldn't be able to look at the outside of a replacement battery, that I'd bought on ebay, say, and declare: "No, that's definitely not a cheap, dodgey counterfiet".
In a world where 'manufacturers' like Apple, Dell or Acer, gleefully abandon entire component plants, in Asia, to their fates, the moment the economy catches a cold, the number of fave, and potentially dangerous and substandard components, in the wild, will surely rise? The arguments for buying a new computer - from anyone - in the belief that you're buying something better than what you've got, have never looked more tenuous.
Sounds like Nintendo... except their stuff is cheap and uses third world materials.
I've hated Apple for the true expensive products. iPods... $300 for a 30 GB (Please correct me if I am wrong, the iPod I have is a 5G iPod). You can walk into any super-store and find something of the similair size for only $60-$80.
Seriously Apple, $1000+ for just a desktop computer for your "casual" users. Please, I can get a maxed out computer for $600+. Please, I'll stick to Windows XP and my newly refurbished old 2004 computer. lolz
Only cost $50 (lolz On sale) just to up my RAM size to 2 GB. And cost $80 to get a 512 MB (Oh snapz on XP only) GeForce 8400 GS (Which I'm selling soon to get an ATi card). That's only about $120 to upgrade a computer that cost $600 and ran well since 2004.
Modding your computer makes it even better. Now all I need to get is a new motherboard, since this one isn't compatible with Intel Core Duo.
Just to clarify, UK consumer protection laws (which are actually pretty comprehensive, and a good recourse when something goes wrong) apply between the retailer and the consumer, so unless you buy directly from Apple, your claim is with the retailer, not the manufacturer.
Also, your rights aren't affected if you take it to bits either, although proving a manufacturing defect over user error would be significantly more difficult in this case.
I am not a lawyer.
"Incidentally, you can forget the warranty because that has no standing in law. "
Wrong, it is a binding contractual undertaking byt he manufacturer. See the Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002 (section 15).
"Case law suggests that a product should last a reasonable period (perhaps 6 years for consumer durable)."
Wrong on two counts. The 6 year rule arises pursuant to the Limitation Act and concerns the period of time a party can claim against another party in damages for breahc of contract. The law has never imposed a standard on how long a product lasts.
"A 10% discount is not an offer I would accept and I'm surprised that we haven't seen some Small Claims cases against the mighty A."
Your choice. Your alternative is to set out to prove that the defect in the product was due to faulty design or manufacture by Apple but good luck, the law reverses the burden of proof after the firstt 6 months of ownership. I'd take the 10% because fighting a corporate (any corporate) for a £150 product is a complete wadste of time unless you're a Daily Mail reader.
It is all about quality, do not mix China or any other country into the mix.
And the RR was a bit silly.
Quality can be built in almost any country like no-quality too.
Apple is moving on thin ice bye not having a decent quality control, apparently.
And, yes, we and the INQ have all the rights to question and criticize even Apple.
Bye the way, I had an Apple II+, very nice at the time, did not burn but would occasionally tilt if you slammed the door.
Well, I'm glad you know enough about UK law to spread such gloom.
My comments are based on consulting the local trading standards office and winning a case in Small Claims.
In fact, the virtue of fighting a big corp in Small Claims is that they may not warrant cost of defending, so you win by default. If you lose costs are minimal.
In the case I mention, the small trader defended and lost (though the issue was different, the judge's comments about durability seemed relevant). This was confirmed later by trading standards re two large national chains -- who complied with a demand for replacement outside warranty.
A warranty only has bearing while it runs, it is any case (effectively) an arrangement between manufacturer and retailer that the former will cover the latter in event of failure within (generally) 12 months.
"You cannot crack open the case on any computer without imperiling your warranty."
Really? The last time I saw a warranty seal on a desktop computer was my old Amiga 4000 (and that didn't last long - the seal, not the Amiga ;-), I've yet to see one on a prebuilt PC from the usual boxshifters, and naturally if you build your own box then there's no warranty to imperil in the first place...
As for laptops, neither of the two at home (Fujitsu-Siemens and Acer) had their warranty voided when I upgraded their memory - both manufacturers provide clear instructions for how to do this in the user documentation - and many other laptops are similarly able to be upgraded by the user without having to put their warranties at risk.
"My comments are based on consulting the local trading standards office and winning a case in Small Claims." Not taking anything way from you, I'm delighted you got one over a trader in the SCC. My point is that the law is complicated and often mis-interpreted (especially by trading standards - who are not lawyers).
"A warranty [... ]is any case (effectively) an arrangement between manufacturer and retailer that the former will cover the latter in event of failure within (generally) 12 months."
A warranty applies between the manufacturer and the end user. The end user has the choice to claim against the point of sale (i.e. the retailer) where he can waive a few bits of the SOGA or he can go to the manufacturer directly, although he will be subject to the terms of the warranty (which are contractual, less regulated and may be more restrictive) but that's fair - manufacturers are NOT obliged at law to offer one, regardless of what anyone thinks they may know.
"When there are enough complaints, Apple admits it is a problem which effects only a 'small number of users'."
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That would be "affects", not "effects". I know those two similar-sounding words confuse people. But "affects" is the verb and "effects" (most of the time) is a noun.
I think Apple products are ugly. They are plain and without color. Minimal bang for max bucks. Apple is slow on fixing bugs, their products are way over priced. Look at the pricing schemes for the Ipods. Look at the over priced laptops. I say get a high end HP, Toshiba or one of the gaming boutique laptops and just throw the Mac Os on it. You will get a bigger screen, bigger hard drive, more memory etc. All this for less.
What a putrid pile of unsubstantiated crap this article is. I'm reasonably sure that the author doesn't own any Apple gear and is no more than a Windows Fanboy resentful of the fact that Apple has been kicking Microsoft's A__ on a regular basis.
Apple pushes the envelope and this benefits even non-Apple users.
China wants it's money back. We are broke. They get to dictate the rules now. You have and will see product quality drop across the board on Chinese exports. It's not an excuse - it's reality period.
Apple customers are loyal, involved & vocal. Your average Dell customer fits a slightly different demographic.
Real journalism is on it's deathbed. If you are supplanting that then perhaps you could make an effort to flesh out your articles rather than just disguising a rant.
Since when were Apple II's unreliable? I've got a working IIgs sitting on my desk that's 23 years old, and my Apple IIe is still going strong 27 years in. They're both WAY more reliable than my Powerbook 5300 was, and they beat the snot out of every windows machine prior to XP that I've ever owned.