I am wondering if the death of Steve Jobs will have any impact on the sale of Apple products.
There are several ways to look at it.
The death has created a vast amount of publicity for Apple, so a prospective gadget purchaser might take a look at their products to see what all the fuss is about.
On the other hand, much of the publicity claims Jobs was not a very nice man, so a buyer might think I'm not giving my money to a company run by such a nasty bloke.
I reckon both the above will happen, Apple will gather some sales they may not otherwise have got, but they may also lose a few due to the perceived character of Jobs.
The one more or less cancels out the other, so the overall impact on Apple sales will be minimal.
And most prospective buyers will not let the death influence their decision one way or the other.
What do you think?
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Won't make a scrap of difference to me, i still won't be worshipping at the altar.
The Princess style public grieving has just confirmed my previous what's all the fuss about view.
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I've never bought an Apple product in my life, apart from itunes tracks and you can download music from loads of other places now.
Last edited by: Robin Regal on Sat 8 Oct 11 at 11:49
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Short term sale will have no impact infect it may rise because of publicity.
Long term sale will fall unless Apple brings more revolutionary products. I read last week that Apple already slashed 25% iPad orders to suppliers.
Don't think consumers care whether Job was a good or bad man.
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I'm with GB. Don't suppose I'll ever buy any of the useless (to me) overpriced chinese tat. I've got better things to do than send a message to 'friends' that I'm taking a dump, or my opinion on Pal McCartny's wedding.
I've managed quite well over the last 47 years listening to the radio, and not knowing what the rough bird from big brother thinks about Jordans hair style.
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>> I am wondering if the death of Steve Jobs will have any impact on the
>> sale of Apple products.
>>
Oi!!!!!!!!
I Commented on that first!
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?t=8122&m=179685&v=e
Thu 6 Oct 11 06:06
Last edited by: swiss tony on Sat 8 Oct 11 at 15:08
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Difficult to say how much of Apple's following is now down to being cool. They have certainly been very good at milking the faithful.
The products are good, certainly, but there are substitutes and image is a big factor.
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That's quite true - witness Amazon's Kindle Fire - I reckon that will take a lot of Apple's iPad sales. I rather like my Apple stuff - all of which works and still supported !
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>> Difficult to say how much of Apple's following is now down to being cool. They
>> have certainly been very good at milking the faithful.
>>
>> The products are good, certainly, but there are substitutes and image is a big factor.
>>
The products aren't as good as Apple's marketing would have you believe.
The way so much is locked down, or physically difficult to replace (batteries etc) i-stuff just doesn't rattle my cage, when there is other alternatives out there that can do much the same as Apple's products, without having to jailbreak them to work the way you want.....
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I know what you mean about the lockdown thing Swiss, but that's a two sided coin. One reason people need much more support with Windows stuff is that they can mess it up. For people who just want things to work, Apple makes sense. Do you feel the need to take your television or washing machine to bits?
It surprises me nevertheless how many techie people also love Apple.
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>>Do you feel the need to take your television or washing machine to bits?
>>
No but I don't want my telly limited to the programmes/formats the mafr chooses. Same with the washing machine.
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I must confess to owning an iPod Nano which was a birthday pressie from Mrs. DP in September. This is the first piece of Apple technology I've ever owned. I had a MacBook Pro, but that was supplied by my then employer.
I don't believe you can be "into" gadgets and not appreciate the aesthetic beauty and the finish of Apple products. They look and feel cutting edge, and expensive. The UI has clearly been polished to a mirror shine, and every glitch, lag and bug eradicated. I like this a lot. Technology should work.
Unfortunately though, in the iPod's case, it means you are forced to use iTunes, which has recently usurped Lotus Notes as the most irritating, bloated and downright clunky piece of software I've ever used.
And that illustrates my biggest bugbear. I have (been) bought a personal music player. It is mine. Therefore, I should be able to put what I like on it, however I like. I shouldn't have to go through a convoluted procedure to move and deregister my device from my machine if I want to plug it into another machine. I shouldn't be railroaded into leaving my credit card details with its manufacturer in order to enable me to create an account, in order to be enable me to use the piece of junk software, which in turn enables me to use the device. Why can't I just plug it into any computer and drag-and-drop stuff on and off it as I see fit?
This is where Apple kit falls on its backside as an ownership experience, in my opinion. It never really feels like you own it. You must use it in the way they say, using the applications they authorise, and follow their very rigid guidelines at all times. This, to me, is a very big price to pay for the "it just works" experience which, let's face it, Apple don't have a monopoly on any more, and haven't for some time. Windows and Linux OS's self install and configure these days. A £20 mp3 player does everything an iPod does without the restrictions (but doesn't look as lovely), and Android in its latest guises is just as slick, intuitive and stable as iOS.
Which brings me to my final point. Without Apple, the competition either would not exist or would not be as good as it is. Their drive for ease of use, and their tremendous success has forced the competition to up its game. And for that, they deserve genuine credit, and can reasonably argue that they did change the world.
Last edited by: DP on Sat 8 Oct 11 at 16:08
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DP, I broadly agree with you.
The IOS system is superior to Android in my opinion. I have an iPad and a fast (2 core) Android phone. The original iPad is slicker, seems faster etc.
I think it is because the IOS code is closely written for the hardware whilst Android has to go through a hardware extraction layer, slowing it down. It is also just not as intuitive.
My biggest bug bear is that the Apple devices are just not expandable. I would love to use my iPad as a drag and drop device or on other computers with out having to install iTunes.
It sorely needs a USB / SD card slot so that I can swap photos and files easily.
Like you, I begrudge having to use a credit card for iTunes. This policy has actually lost a lot of money for Apple as my kids iPods are set up using my card but under strict instructions not to download anything from iTunes less my account gets debited. So, they always buy CDs and copy the music across. We have not brought iTunes cards because we don't know if they stop allowing purchases once the card just runs out.
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You don't have to use iTunes with the iPod though do you? When Spamette Major had a brief flirtation with iPod usage I transferred music to and from it using Winamp or MediaMonkey, with appropriate plug-ins. Still not true drag and drop I grant you, I assume that's due to Apple indexing the iPod content using a relational database rather than a lookup table or whatever. Track access should be faster Apple's way.
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Its pretty much drag and drop if you allow media monkey to index your music as well.
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I've downloaded songs from elsewhere as well. Amazon being one.
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>>Do you feel the need to take your television or washing machine to bits?
>>
When it fails to work properly, (blocked pipe etc) YES I do!
I really don't want the hassle of taking it back to the manufacturer, when I know its an easy fix.
When the battery in my phone/MP3 player/camera fails, then I want to be able to replace it, without having to lose said item for upwards of a week.
I want to buy the battery, remove the old one, insert the new one, and get on with my life.
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I'm with you - I've just replaced the rechargeable battery packs in my DECT phones, but I suspect many more people wouldn't even do that.
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what a lot of guff being spoken on here. Spoken by the guy who probably dislikes apple more than any of you combined.
Loose your iphone for a week? I can get the battery on my iphone changed in an hour over a cup off coffee, its just like getting a battery changed on an expensive watch.
If you need to that is.
Android? intuitive and stable as iOS? don't make me laugh, its far flakier, much less intuitive to use, far less pleasant to look at and the apps from the Android shop are a joke compared to those written for the Iphone and iPAD.
As for Android pads, no-one wants the damn things, they dont even offer a superior price break. HPs pad is a complete sales disaster,
If you are going to have a go at them, at least do it from the only honest and factual standpoint available,
price.
Last edited by: Zero on Sat 8 Oct 11 at 16:48
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>>>HPs pad is a complete sales disaster
For the sake of clarity, the HP Pad is a WebOS device not an Android device and therefore was bringing a fourth tablet operating system to the table (IOS, Android, Blackberry and WebOS).
When heavily discounted the HP tables sold in the tens of thousands.
Apple were not the first at tablets. They were first shown on the 1969 film 2001 and in 2002 an acquaintance of mine had a windows (laptop) tablet that worked very well.
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>> >>>HPs pad is a complete sales disaster
>>
>> For the sake of clarity, the HP Pad is a WebOS device not an Android
>> device and therefore was bringing a fourth tablet operating system to the table (IOS, Android,
>> Blackberry and WebOS).
>>
>> When heavily discounted the HP tables sold in the tens of thousands.
Not heavily discounted, but sold off in a fire sale - its different.
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>> Apple were not the first at tablets. They were first shown on the 1969 film
>> 2001
Think you'll find that was Science fiction, hate to tell you HAL never existed,
and in 2002 an acquaintance of mine had a windows (laptop) tablet that worked
>> very well.
No it didnt, it was crap, and I know because I was in the tablet support game then, had it not been crap it would have sold. It didnt
Last edited by: Zero on Sat 8 Oct 11 at 17:09
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And arguably first described by Arthur C Clarke - have to check out my SF collection now to find out which book it was...
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A defining factor in the Apple approach is confidence.
When you decide to create a new mass market for anything that creates or consumes content and uses applications, such as for tablets, you can either adopt an open system (open source or proprietary, like Windows), a semi-open one in cooperation with a group of competitors, or you can develop your own and keep it to yourself.
If you go the the last route it has to be a category killer, not a Betamax. Your products can't be number two in their segments and survive. The tablet market just now is iPads, to all intents and purposes.
The reincarnated Apple has been successful with this strategy so far. I can well understand why they hang on to so much cash. It reduces the risk that somebody else with deeper pockets will come along and invest enough to eclipse their range, which would put them in a very difficult place.
Just my take. Easy to be anti, but they have done a good job.
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>> what a lot of guff being spoken on here. Spoken by the guy who probably
>> dislikes apple more than any of you combined.
>>
I admit disliking Apple products.
Why?
Because I find it;
Over rated.
Over hyped.
Over restrictive.
Over complicated.
To replace the battery in my phone takes no tools, and around 5 seconds.
To replace the memory card also takes around 5 seconds.
My phone (Nokia 5800) came out when the i phone 3 was current.
It shipped with a 8Gig memory card,(i phone was 4Gig/8Gig as an option) the main (yes it has 2!) camera lens is a 3.2mp Carl Zeiss with flash (i phone 2mp NO flash)
screen 360 x 640 pixels, 3.2 inches ~229 ppi pixel density (i phone 320 × 480 (HVGA) at 163 ppi).
I will concede that the i phone was launched around a year before the 5800, but it took Apple till the i pnone 4 (2010) to use 2 cameras and up the screen to a resolution of 640 × 960 at 326 ppi.
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have you ever had an Iphone?
I dont need to change the battery,
It comes with 16 gig
You are making problems up that dont exist.
Last edited by: Zero on Sat 8 Oct 11 at 17:29
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>> have you ever had an Iphone?
>> I dont need to change the battery,
>> It comes with 16 gig
>> You are making problems up that dont exist.
>>
No i haven't. However, I know of many people with them, and understand how good they are in some ways. And also over rated in other ways.
I know of some that had to go back under warranty due to poor (even worse than the known low standby/talk time) battery life. (needed to be charged EVERY 6 hours!)
16Gig? they did as an option with the 3GS (8 as standard) the 3 was, as I said 4Gig with an option of 8Gig.
Im making up problems that don't exist? Carp!
Do 2 Google searches. one 'I phone battery problems', the other 'Nokia battery problems'
please tell us how many results each pull.
Please remember Nokias have been around a LOT longer that i phones, and Nokia have produced many more models.......
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I dont need to do a Google search, I have one, I am speaking from experience not second hand carp.
If you are going to diss something, do it from experience.
Don't tell me about nokias, I had one before you even knew where Finland was, I have been using mobile phones since 1985
Last edited by: Zero on Sat 8 Oct 11 at 17:45
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>> I dont need to do a Google search, I have one, I am speaking from
>> experience not second hand carp.
>>
>> If you are going to diss something, do it from experience.
>>
>> Don't tell me about nokias, I had one before you even knew where Finland was,
>> I have been using mobile phones since 1985
>>
You obviously love your i phone, as in my experience most owners do.
I am NOT dissing anything, just pointing out truths.
I know MANY people with i phones, and on the whole they all find them great - I personally love the 'pinch and resize' MUCH better than my slider bar.
there are many other features I wish I had, but I can live without them.
Anyway... the results of the searches are.... 5,650,000 Vs 141,000,000.
Nokia being 5,650,000
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If you search for "iphone best" or 'Nokia best' the result is an iphone win by a 1.4 billion majority.
I therefore declare iphone the winner.
p.s. how do you love a phone? Am I alone in not loving mine?
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They're phones - they make calls, take pictures, send texts and do e-mails. I don't dislike my iPhone, I do rather like it, may go back to Blackberry - e-mail handling is better, won't love that either.
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...I personally love the 'pinch and resize' MUCH better than my slider bar. ...
Now thats the thing that puts me off all this kit with a passion.
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>>>have you ever had an Iphone?
An iPad
>>>I dont need to change the battery,
The iPad battery lasts nowhere near what it did 18 months ago. I would like to change it but don't want to send it off! It should be a user replaceable part.
Imagine if cars had to go back to the manufacturer to replace the battery (electric cars excepted).
>>>It comes with 16 gig
You can never have enough storage.
I have both an IOS and Android device.
The software on the IOS device is second to none. The hardware on the Android device is excellent. The software is good, but it is no IOS device. But I can drop in any phone sim, any micro memory card, plug and play with my PC and carry a spare battery when I am away for the week.
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I have a BlackBerry, my boss has an I-Phone. I like mine better and he likes his better. It's a Ford v GM thing innit?
I see mine as a gentleman's communication device and his as a poseur's trinket. But each to their own of course...
:-)
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>> Please remember Nokias have been around a LOT longer that i phones, and Nokia have
>> produced many more models.......
Based on Nokia's current business model.... Nokia could be around for a bit longer. But not much.
Bolting on a touch interface to the underlying Symbian OS was very poor. The Nokia 5800 is a poor phone. Actually it is probably a better phone than an iPhone 4.... as in the phone part. Then iPhone is better for everything else.
If the user interface and operating system on the Nokia Symbian range was better (including the 5800) would they have ditched Symbian (which they paid billions for) and swap to Microsoft Windows Phone 7?
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Eh? Is this summat to do with monkeys or what?
:-)
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>> Eh? Is this summat to do with monkeys or what?
I think a monkey at Nokia made the decision to go to Microsoft :-)
Symbian of course was EPOC32 when it was still part of Psion. I have my old Psion 5 somewhere running EPOC32.
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If you actually want to make phone calls, buy Nokia or SE in my experience. The cameras and music player still tend to be better quality than most (certainly HTC) as well. The whole Nokia-MS thing just beggars belief.
In answer to the original question I don't think it will particularly.
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Impact of Jobs' death on Apple sales - -
