APPLE!©
Urgent
Need! - Help Save Apple!All submissions are; accepted as, described as, and considered to be; in the public domain (unless otherwise noted.) Some ideas that have mixed content may be duplicated on another page.
Send each idea as a separate submission in a single paragraph of 100 words or less:
Apple Customer Relations Suggestions (25)
(Jot down the numbers of your 3 favorite suggestions and VOTE! at the end of this page)
(Not necessarily listed in order of
importance)
Apple
needs better quality
control, so that the customer doesn't have to put up with hardware problems.
In the June, '97 issue of MacAddict magazine Steve Wozniak said; "I'll
typically buy 10 of any Apple product that comes out - or five, but never
just one. I would see the same problem in each of them and realize the
whole country's getting that problem, the whole world's getting it. You
don't hear about it in the press. Then you start to hear leaks, and then
Apple kind of fluffs it off at first and eventually acknowledges it's real
- and you know it's real when you've got the computer yourself. I've seen
that happen so many times, starting even with the PowerBook 100s. I was
one of the first with the floppy disk problem. They couldn't tell me, 'you
bought a bad one,' because I got five bad ones.
THANKS Apple. THANKS Steve...now that we have stronger quality control that supposedly isn't going to let out bad products, and I stand for not letting out any products that will have a high rate of failure, especially if the failure is a freeze. ...the program that crashes often isn't the one that was badly written. And we don't have protection [against that kind of thing]. We'll have it with Rhapsody." - Entered 7/97. #1 - Vote=1
Apple
needs to stop playing
catch-up- Take the creative and pricing lead by offering the customer a
product they can't refuse!
- Entered 7/97. #2 - Vote=1 - THANKS
Steve! - THANKS
Apple! Apple has made several rounds of price reductions, and sj has announced
a new low cost consumer machine due out in the fall of '98.- Entered 3/98.-
(Yes! - Ed.)
Apple
needs to ask their loyal
customers what they want, and then give it to them at an affordable price!-
Try it, it works!
- Entered 7/97. #3 - Vote=1 - THANKS
Steve! - THANKS
Apple! Apple has made several rounds of price reductions, and sj has announced
a new low cost consumer machine due out in the fall of '98.- Entered 3/98.
Apple
needs to offer a 3 to
5 year warranty on all new computers - to show and build customer confidence
in the product (What do they have to lose now?)
- Entered 7/97. #4 - Vote=1
Apple
needs to offer a machine
that has reasonable cost PC compatibility (not $1,000 for a plug
in card), to help allay potential customer's fears about diminishing choices
for Mac software, and third party add-on hardware, and an uncertain company
future. - Entered
7/97. #5 - Vote=1
Apple
needs to take better
care of its customers. You need every single one! In the June, '97 issue
of MacAddict magazine Steve Wozniak said; "...I had some Apple StyleWriters
that were from kids' homes... I had sent 15 of them to Apple for repairs,
and they came back eight months later repaired; and then I sent 11 in,
and they took 11 months to get repaired. Most people would say, 'This is
unbelievable. I can't believe any company would do that.' "
If Apple treats The Woz that way, how are they going to treat the "rest
of us?" Apple, please address these customer service/tech support
issues. - Entered
7/97. #6 - Vote=1
Apple
needs to stop releasing
new products if they can't fulfill the orders. If you sell it, make it!
Angering the few loyal customers you still have is no way to do business.
- Entered 7/97. #7 - Vote=1 - THANKS
Steve! - THANKS
Apple! Apple's new on-line store with its "make to order" capability
should take care of this problem.- Entered 3/98.
Apple
needs to work on ways
to make its lower-end models truly upgradable. This will attract and hold
customers. - Entered
7/97. #8 - Vote=1
Apple
needs to maintain existing
customer loyalty at all costs. Use incentives like free upgrades and stock
certificates. This will help create and maintain a bond, and a religious
following. - Entered
7/97. #9 - Vote=1
Apple
needs to stop ignoring
about half your loyal customers - the non-US contingent. All specials,
price reductions, software deals, etc. are directed at the US market yet
nearly 50% of your turnover comes from International sales. Please Apple,
remember us loyal, over-paying, under-served International customers.
- Entered 7/97. #10 - Vote=1
Apple
needs to go back to the
toll free tech support. Do you know how many of us MIS people are getting
pissed off at MS because they charge us to call and report bugs with their
software? - Entered
7/97. #11 - Vote=1
Apple
will be saved by its
loyal customers. As an end user of the Macintosh platform, I hear how the
critics say....the only thing apple has going for it are its loyal customers.
Count me in. In order to save apple, apple needs to start listening to
the people who put it where it is.....its loyal base of end users who believe
in a product that can and will be great again. Long live apple, may it
never lose sight of who is important.....its loyal followers.
- Entered 7/97. #12 - Vote=1
Apple
needs to recognize that
there is nothing more important than the customer. As stated by several
supporters already, present a product and demand will be created. I own
2 Performas and work with all types of Macs and clones daily as well as
NT servers. The bottom line is, since the company has quit innovating and
started trying to emulate, it has lost ground. If a customer has a problem,
that should be addressed with care and concern. Repairs should be immediate
if not sooner. Personally, I experienced a major problem with one of the
Performas and Apple SOS was there, walked my computer- phobic wife through
the complete process and even got the internet connection set-up established
before they let her go. She will never depend on a Wintel box and probably
won't use one if forced to. You want loyalty, you've got it with that kind
of response. Yes, if I have the option, they will never pry my Macs from
even my dead frozen fingers. Mac is the best and will always be, now just
support, innovate and keep up with what you're good at.
- Entered 7/97. #13 - Vote=1
Apple
should listen to the
customers. Empower them and they will turn the tide 'cuz WE BELIEVE!
- Entered 7/97. #14 - Vote=1
Apple
needs to understand that
if they present it correctly, a certain kind of participant "call
to arms" will be answered by their loyal customers.
- Entered 7/97. #15 - Vote=1
Apple
must embrace the customers
and give them a rock-solid operating System at a fair price. If OS8 meets
the hype it my be the system. No more promises Action, Action, Action.
Make an OS that will do all of the things that no Wintel would dare. Make
it seem that the OS is never there, never needs adjusting, no tweaking
files to get the next thing to work no messing with registry files or unexplained
errors. If Windows is everywhere then MACOS should never seem to
be there; a quiet strength that can be relied on. Apple should hold commando
raids into the offices of every PC and Windows magazine and take the MACS
Back. Lets see what the magazines look like when they have to use PCs for
the graphics. - Entered
7/97. #16 - Vote=1
Apple
MUST support their Japanese
consumer base better. A good start would be debugging and improving the
speed of KanjiTalk and the Japanese Language Kit. This one should be a
no-brainer seeing Apple has a larger market share in Japan than they do
in the US. Remember folks, Japan may only be the size of California in
land mass, but it also has half the population of the US. Apple: okite
kudasai! - Entered
7/97. #17 - Vote=1
Apple
still has a strong educational
market, keep the students with Apple when they leave school by offering
"Graduation" discounts when they leave high school and college.
When they enter the business world they have an Apple at home rather than
letting the Wintel oriented IS departments tell them to buy Wintel to be
compatible with what is at work.
- Entered 7/97. #18 - Vote=1 - THANKS
Steve! THANKS Apple! For the new "Power of 10" education promotion
whereby people who purchase new Macs can designate a school to receive
a credit of 10 percent of the purchase price toward new Apple hardware,
software, or staff development programs. - Entered 3/98. (Apple's
on the right track, and the above suggestion is another great educational
idea. I hope they are listening. - Ed.)
Apple
needs to focus on ALL
customers regardless of borders. It's damn frustrating to be treated differently
by a global company like Apple because I live (literally) just across the
border in Canada.
- Entered 7/97. #19 - Vote=1
Apple
should get some people
in there that are more customer focused.
- Entered 7/97. #20 - Vote=1
Apple
should build on its customers
loyalty and enhance this by better service of its own and those who are
selling Apple computers. As Mac users we know that Macs are an excellent
and intelligent product that is easy and fun to use. Apple should enhance
the flair of its products as non-anonymus machines. "Every Mac has
a friend" should be the slogan. (Picture: Mac with a kid, Mac with
a family, Mac at work, and Mac with an elderly person.)
- Entered 7/97. #21 - Vote=1
Apple:
This is the tailpiece from the Editorial "Apple's Gil Pared"
at:
http://www.netppl.fi/~findians/briefings.html#GilLeaves
What must Apple do to survive? This question has been asked and answered
by the numerous analysts and experts with all sorts of polls being conducted
as to who should be the next CEO. I am afraid not one of the reviews and
analytical documents that I have read addresses the real issue - how to
make use of the absolutely solid customer base that Apple already has in
every corner around the globe. This is Apple's greatest strength, not those
half-baked dealers who do nothing but milk the customers, make quick profits
and kill the goose that lays the golden egg, as they know they can get
rid of this burden and quickly shift to the opposition camp at the drop
of a hat. The closest Gil ever got to coming up with a viable strategy
was when it was announced that Apple was going to get into the cafe business
- and that would have been a far better strategy than what Gil actually
followed!! Improving staff morale, stabilizing and rewarding customer loyalty
and a real dedication (not lip-service) to the wonderful bunch of small
developers around the world (not Microsoft and similar minions) who have
kept Apple and its operating system so far ahead of its competition was
what was and is now called for. -
Entered 7/97. #22 - Vote=1
Apple
users: Ask us what we
want, then do it! Microsoft TELLS people what they want. Why don't you
give us what we want. And sorry, the home market is buying tons of machines
and we need more Macs in that market. Don't ignore them.
Games: Hey, it's what A LOT of people buy Windoze for. Don't pretend it
isn't important on the Mac.
That's my say for now. Thanks for listening. (Thanks
for speaking up. - Ed.) - Entered
7/97. #23 - Vote=1
Apple,
Customers and Advocates:
I've heard many "How Apple can save itself" ideas. Almost to
the point of complete boredom. But in all my reading, I've never heard
someone accurately convey my thoughts. Thoughts, which to me, seemed so
obvious. Maybe it's just me. Maybe my opinion and ideas about this topic
is rather radical. Too radical for anyone to say. But I figure that if
anyone should say it, it can be me. If you're a hard core Apple person,
you've probably either heard these general feelings before, or thought
about it many times previously. But read on anyway ...there are things
in here that are guaranteed to be original (whether big or small).
To Apple Computer: Just because Apple has the technology to do the impossible
(overtake the Microsoft giant), doesn't mean it'll happen. It would be
an understatement to say that project Rhapsody is great idea. It's "insanely
great." It's technology is far superior to anything the Wintel world
can offer. (Memphis--what a joke!!) The same can be said for IBM's PowerPC
and the unrecognized-till-recently Newton (too bad they let that go--I
hope the new company will do just a great a job as did Apple). But that
doesn't mean it'll fly. We evangelista of the Apple Macintosh way can babble
all we want about how the PowerPC can overtake all of the world's microprocessors
without a whim. And we can brag about how Windoze 95 simply equals Macintosh
89. In the first seven of the eight year life span of my first Mac (an
LC II), it never crashed. On the other hand, every other time I sit at
a Windoze machine (I'm usually forced to--a programmer should be familiar
to all OSs, good or bad) to do some serious work, the thing crashes. And
if it doesn't crash, I'm still constantly reminded of the little inconveniences
that Apple panned out nearly a decade ago on it's machines. The list goes
on and on about how the advantages of Apple technology far outweighs those
of the Windoze world (with or without the burden of Intel). For every Windoze
advantage, I could name two of Macintosh. But if we don't make that horrifically
public, and keep it within our Mac-using intelligentsia, it'll be just
words that won't have much of an effect in the real world. The reason why
people were buying Windoze 95, complete with all it's bugs, crash problems,
and security holes, was because it was the only thing they knew. Macintosh?...
Macintosh What? Win 95 was superior to the public because Microsoft and
the Wintel world said it was. Apple didn't recant--People believed. (Two
years after Saddam Hussein lost the Gulf War, he began telling his followers
that he won. People believed. So, in their little ignorant world, Saddam
actually won the war. It still doesn't mean it actually happened.) And,
"what people believe is truth." No wonder people are actually
buy Windoze CE PDAs. Windoze is all they know. But we, who know how great
the born-from-Apple Newton has become since it's not-at-all-sucessful birth,
know that the Netwon is the ONLY palm top from which anyone can actually
do solid work. Contrary to popular belief, great products do NOT sell themselves.
Many big companies make this mistake. Beta, a superior format of video
capture to the now-used-by-every-consumer VHS, now lays in home-use rigor
mortis. The same thing is now happening to the DVD. It's superior by far,
and costs less to make. But the companies refuse to make the discs because
they want to see customer response first. How, in the world, can they respond
to a technology they don't have? How can they get it if they don't know
about it? It seems to lay within the marketing. The plain fact is that
most people buying computers nowadays are computer illiterati. They look
for those "Intel Inside" stickers because that's all they've
come to know. They don't know that AMD's K6 or Cyrix's 6x86 is faster,
more efficient, and yet cheaper. And they certainly don't know that the
PowerPC and Macintosh OS is the fastest combination people could get with
out buying a four-processor Unix server. So what's this say? Run an ad
campaign that says, "Our technology is far more superior, so stop
playing with your Windoze toy and start doing some real computing."
And do it now! (Okay, maybe you shouldn't say it that offensively) But
only then would the general public have any idea of what Apple technology
truly signifies. But don't do it like Microsoft and Intel. Don't make your
commercials into shrines of hype. I'm not saying hype won't work for Apple.
Hype works for everybody. Microsoft and Intel knows this. That's how they
sell their inferior products--by feeding off of the stupidity of the majority.
Apple shouldn't do that. It shouldn't treat their prospective buyers as
idiotic as when they bought Windows 95 (and regretted it when the thing
crashed on them). Apple buyers aren't stupid. If they were, they would
just keep using, or convert to use, Windoze. So don't make the statements
in your commercials that of hype. Don't say that you can create fluid multimedia,
like Intel, when all modern computers can do that. Don't say you can go
on the internet, like Microsoft, when practically ALL computers, from old
Mac classics to 386s to new 9600s, have that ability. Instead, say that
your computers run stand-alone Java applications and applets like ordinary
desktop programs--not needing to drag-and-drop your html or class documents
onto the applet viewer or Java runner. Instead, state your coolness by
showing that your Rhapsody programs run on more than three operating systems.
It will be the "I have the next generation capabilities and they don't"
statement that will gain the attentions of those right buyers ...not hype.
I know it must be hard for marketing execs to understand this. Those in
the marketing department for these companies must be dolts when it comes
to technology. Or at least that's what it seems like when I watch their
commercials. I must admit they ARE cool commercials, but they talk nothing
of original ability. And it is exactly that, original and superior ability,
which fuels the loyalty of high-end computer users to the Macintosh platform.
Apple should exploit that. Intel can show the world all the neon-colored,
dancing chip technicians all they want, and Microsoft can show thousands
of clips of their Windoze systems running Apple's Quicktime technology
along with cool music in the background. But when Apple goes public on
what's real, all that won't mean $h!t. Make people know that Microsoft
merely copies a product from another company and sells their own version--just
look at Internet Explorer (merely Netscape Navigator revamped). Make people
realize that if they want the best chip in the market, you don't look for
Pentiums, you look for those PowerPC indications. Think of a good song.
(I've thought of a perfect one--"Return of the Mack" by Mark
Morrisson. It epitomizes everything that's been happening to Apple along
with its hopes from here. ...and the pun is just too good to pass up!)
Buy it for what would seem like pocket change to big company executives.
Then, while not copying Microsoft commercials, thrash each and every Wintel
weakness by making the true magnitude of Apple technology public. I can
think of only two reasons why Apple hasn't done this already. Either their
marketing executives haven't thought of it yet (which seems highly unlikely,
since the world has shouting the idea for so long now) ...or they actually
did think of it, but the proposal was thrown out by higher ranking suits.
Which ever case it is, too bad.
To we Macintosh advocates, Until and while this happens, we Mac advocates
should do a few things on our own part to help Apple in our own little
way. If Apple tanks, the world will be forced to use second-rate technology.
Ughh! Unless you've been asked to state your opinion on Apple Computer,
Microsoft, and the situation of personal computing today, stop complaining
about the unjust rule of Wintel. People don't drool over Ferraris because
Ferrari drivers bash Fords. Ferrari drivers don't even bother. They know
that, although sales aren't exactly parallel to Ford's, their machine is
among the best there is. When people ask me about Wintels and Macintosh,
I say, "Well... In their own quaint little way, Wintels do work. But
I love using my Macintosh." Don't talk down upon Wintel ways, either.
Just as we Macintosh fans hate Mac-bashing, they hate Windows-bashing.
Though Wintels don't work as well as Apple technology, they do work nonetheless.
Windoze users acknowledge that (the working part). You can only convince
Windowze users by enticing them with Apple virtues, not by irritating them
with reports of Wintel vices. They take Windows-Degradation as desperate
pleas of a dying race. Have a no-care attitude about biased and unfair
media. We all know how unfair the press can be when it comes to situations
like these. We're constantly annoyed by those stories that say Apple will
soon die. But those who have half a brain, whether Apple lovers or not,
know it won't die. Not soon anyway. Apple is still the premier name in
so many industries, such as the movie making industry, that it can't possibly
loose it's foot hold so quickly. It's just that the media doesn't seem
to figure this out because it has it's head stuck in business and market
shares. Just because the headline says "Newton Message Pad 2000 too
late for too much," it doesn't mean we have to believe it. One of
my Computer Science teachers told me this riddle once: If you called the
tail of a dog a leg, how many legs does it have? The answer is four--just
because you call the tail a leg, it doesn't make it one. Same goes with
the media stories. Just because the media calls Gil's resignation a sign
of Apple's road to oblivion, it doesn't make it one. Most of these stories
seem to have the basis of Apple's falling market price, anyway--something
that has nothing to do with the failure of a company (not unless it goes
bankrupt). Price-per-shares have nothing to do with the company's product.
We know that--they don't. For example, Rolls Royce--great product, but
their stock price must suck. Freely advertise MacOS 8, Project Rhapsody,
the power of AIM's PowerPC, or anything that can be done with a Mac that
Windoze can't do yet. Tell them they make, and will make Memphis feel like
a typewriter. Project Rhapsody is of something every Apple-fanatic can
(and should) be especially fond. So, be so. Tell your friends how cool
true cross-platform technology is. Make them think twice by telling them
there will be a non-Mac-programs-execuable Intel version with Macintosh
look and feel. And brag about our PowerPC systems, and show it off anytime
you can. (I don't have one. So, I can't do this) Show them the [real] tests
that show that PowerPC kicks even Sun UltraSPARCs. I haven't heard of a
"control panel" or "extension" for Windoze that lets
you change the interface like Kaleidoscope, Aaron, BeView, or Church Windows.
Tell dedicated Wintel users of this. Tell them that the Macintosh has been
multi-monitor capable for almost ten years now, whereas Microsoft will
bring it out on their greatly delayed Memphis. Remind Wintel users of the
little inconveniences that they've grown accustomed to. We know that you
can still get productivity out of a ten year old Mac (you can make those
things into web servers, fer cryin' out loud) while you can't do crap with
a 286. Sometimes productivity out of a Windoze 95 machine is hard. But
the people who use it don't realize that. Do you think people in the 1800's
were complaining that they had to walk to work? Ask them why they have
to constantly rebuild their whole hard drive. Ask them why they always
have to toy with .ini files and .sys files. Ask them why there are multiple
"MS Word" or "Netscape Navigator" programs currently
running when you only need one. Make "I'm-disgusted" faces after
you hear the answers. You don't hear it often, but sometimes die-hard Wintel
users try to tell you that their position can be vindicated. These people
are hopeless. You don't have a chance to make them see what's actually
going on. They love second rate technology by clinging on to Big-Company
names. (sounds like share traders and market analysts, huh?) So, don't
even try to debate against them, for it won't do any good. The only way
they'll find out is if they find out for themselves. But if there are others
around to hear what you have to say, defeat all attempts by Wintelians
to justify their throne. This might help their situation. I haven't yet
met a brag that I haven't successfully defeated by showing the superiority
of the innovative Apple counterparts. (I have yet to be confronted with
the Microsoft/Intel Marketing vs Apple Marketing argument... I would have
to give that one up) For example, if they throw some reason that they need
to run Windows specific programs (perhaps for projects they take home from
work), simply say, "Fine. You can do that on Macintosh. Find Virutal
PC, SoftWindows, or a DOS card. That way, you can run both Macintosh and
Windows Programs on one computer. You could do that on a Windows computer,
but you'll have to run NT (complete with it's OWN problems and incredibly
expensive price)." -
Entered 7/97. #24 - Vote=1
Apple
needs to utilize its
best asset - their (steadily eroding) loyal customer base! Remember the
advice from "The Graduate" movie? The three words for success;
"plastics, plastics, plastics?" Well, "organize, organize,
organize!" Make your customers an arm of the company. Some type of
Web based CO-OP arrangement, an exclusive (free) club where they can obtain
networking with Apple and other Mac users, might work. Make them feel like
"insiders". Find a way to boost them, and they will surely boost
you. Treat them as though they were part of the company, and include them
so that they ARE part of the company. One little share of stock with each
new computer sold will come back 100 fold in loyalty. Come on Apple, find
these and other ways to give them (us) a "piece of the pie,"
even if it is just a little piece. (Remember the "rest of us?"
- the peons who "made" the company in the first place? - It's
the little people - not just big business, stupid! - The little people.
Remember?) - Entered
7/97. #25 - Vote=1 - THANKS
Steve! - THANKS
Apple! sj has recently said that the individual consumer is
the legacy of Apple (Seybold Conference in New York,
March '98), and he has announced a new low cost consumer machine due out
in the fall of '98. - Entered 3/98. (Sounds
like he's on the right track. Let's hope for some of the above ideas also.
In the Jan. '98 issue of MacAddict magazine David Reynolds says; "Steve
Jobs, with his uncanny ability to focus and then move quickly, is just
what Apple needs right now." - Yep. - Ed.)
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