Replies

Hmmmm. Apple is at the top of both reliability and customer service satisfaction lists. I think you are merely attempting to spread FUD... and really don't know what you are talking about.

Computer Reliability

PC Magazine - "Last year (2005), Apple's score on units needing repair was an impressive 11 percent—well below that of any other company in the survey. But according to readers, the company has managed to cut repair rates even further over the past 12 months. This year (2006), Apple's score on units needing repair drops to 8 percent. Among first-year systems, it's only 5 percent. That's nothing less than astonishing." Source.
Rescue.com - "A new report out by computer repair and support company RESCUECOM suggests that Apple is maintaining its overall high reliability scores. In the report's rating system (where a larger number is better) Apple scored a 201, second only to IBM/Lenovo which scored 243. The next-best was HP/Compaq with a score of 12, and market leader Dell only had a score of 4. Negative scores were possible, as Gateway (-12) and other manufacturers (-16) demonstrated." Source.

Customer Satisfaction

OSNews - "Newly published data from the American Customer Satisfaction Index show that Apple leads other personal computer manufacturers, beating out Dell, HP and others. On a 100 point scale, Apple merited a score of 83, according to the ACSI, a 2.5 percent year-over-year increase and a 7.8 percent increase from 1995, the first year the ACSI measured the PC industry. The annual ACSI is sponsored by the American Society for Quality and University of Michigan's M. Ross School of Business. It's derived from phone interviews with customers contacted by using digital-dial telephone samples. More than 70000 consumers are identified and interviewed annually." Source.

Technical Support Rating

BusinessWeek - "Apple is ranked No. 18 (of ALL US BUSINESSES) on BusinessWeek's The Customer Service Elite, but led the PC industry in customer satisfaction in part to due to the service offered at the company's Genius Bars. "Despite frustration about iPod battery replacements, Apple's customer service phone support ranks tops among electronics providers. In particular, customers rate its automated phone system as easy to navigate and good at resolving questions," according to the report. The report also noted that "Apple's customer service shows its bruises--device problems frequently erupt just after warranties expire," but said that the support offered at the "Genius Bars" at its retail stores set it apart from its peers. . .
"No other PC vendors were among the top 25 . . ." Source
Laptop Magazine - Tech Support Showdown 2007 - Rating A "All computer vendors have become quite strict about providing tech support only to registered owners during the first year of service. Apple is decidedly different: Free tech support is available for just the first 90 days from the date of provable purchase. On our first call, answered within 30 seconds, Val in Ontario, Canada, told us that based on our serial number the system was manufactured in November 2006, so unless we had a receipt we could fax in, no support could be provided. But she answered our questions anyway as a courtesy, and delivered a perfect solution in a minute.

"Apple's Web support is excellent, and we found the answer to our second question on the site with a simple search. The site's search engine is one of the best PC support sites we've seen.
"Our second call was answered with an automated warning that the estimated wait time was eight minutes or less. Apple stands alone with this helpful phone support feature. John in Ontario picked up in 7.5 minutes and had us off the phone a minute later with the right answer. And like Val, he gave us a pass on the 90-day limit." Source.

Design

The Chicago Athenium - "The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design announces the Museum's annual GOOD DESIGN™ Awards for 2006 won by the world's most prestigious industrial design firms and manufacturers in over 25 countries." Of the 57 awards in Electronics, Apple Inc. won 10 of them. Source.

Care to retract your FUD, Flashbunny?

What FUD?

Or did the battery fiasco and their $100 replacement policy never happen? No class action lawsuits were settled with that, right?

Ipod Nanos never had a scratching problem? The solution to which was “Buy a case!” After they marketed it as the mp3 player you can just stick in your pocket and lock stylish doing it.

So, where did I post FUD? Actually I posted that I directed my parents to buy a mac mini because it was the best option for them.

For the rest, I’m talking about the early adopting apple fanatics who will wait in line for every new version of every product because they have an emotional attachment to apple. It’s beyond bizarre, but I can see how apple is effectively pushing this strategy. They get people to pay a premium for a product that is often surpassed by the marketplace in just a few months for much less.

I really don’t like product fanboys of any persuasion. They too often throw logic and facts out the window in their fanaticism for a stupid box of circuits or piece of software. Apple, MS, Linux, PS3, XBOX, Nintendo, you name it. They’re all just a little too into it. It’s just a piece of technology that, in it’s current form, will be obsolete in 5 years and worth about 1/10th or less that what you paid for it. Woohoo. Let’s get worked up about it!

Some people realllllly need to take a step or two back and look at the things they’re getting attached to.