This is a very obvious response to this blog post from an avid admirer of Apple Inc. and its products. I personally have been very disgusted by this post and the hatred it has caused towards Apple Inc. over the internet. I am trying to be as polite as possible :) ( The smiley is intended to re-emphasize politeness)
Dear Soumyadip
I totally agree with your frustration over the delay of the launch of the latest Apple products in India. But this has very valid reasons. Firstly, India is not the only country in the list. Secondly, It is NOT UNETHICAL for a company to launch products in markets which have good selling potential. Just because Apple doesn't find India's market lucrative enough, it is not immoral on Apple's part and Apple or SJ are certainly not against India. Do you think a company like Apple would miss a market like India's if it thought it was profitable to launch products there? The reason you give for not owning even a single Apple product is respect? It is not true that Apple does not sell any of its latest products in India. Apple did partner with companies like HCL to sell iPods in India, which was not very successful, which is why it chose to delay the launch of certain products.
Coming to the prices of iPhone in India. Companies like Apple and many more sell mobile phones with the concept of 'subsidy'. A contract-free iPhone costs around $599, the reason it is being sold for $199 in the US is because it is subsidized by telecom operators like AT&T and Verizon. The same applies to the Indian market. The service providers ( Airtel and Vodafone ) have to be blamed for the sky-high, unaffordable prices.
Mac is a PC, true. But for a common man, PC is a device which runs Windows OS and that is the point and basis for the Mac VS PC commercials. PC is a generic word now, more generic to the Windows domain. Like how Googling is synonymous to searching on the internet, PC is to a windows machine.
No one can deny the fact that several devices have adapted the design and UI concepts from many Apple devices, be it tablets or mobile phones. Samsung did come up with its second iteration of the Galaxy Tab. But Why? Because it realized that 10.1 inches is a better form-factor than 7 inches and that is because of the tremendous success of the iPad. Just because Samsung launched its second tablet first does not make it a pioneer. Let's not forget, Apple started selling thousands of iPad 2s even before a single Galaxy Tab 10.1 was shipped.
The MacBook. Could there be a better design for a laptop? Hell no! There's nothing wrong with flaunting a device like that. I won't deny that it is not affordable to most people but is definitely worth every penny you pay for it. When it comes to Macs, it is not the specs that matter. It is the hardware/software integration and overall experience that counts and no one does it better than Apple.
Also, your blog post is not clear whether you are criticizing the tech by Apple ( by praising openness of Android and Linux ) or just have a problem with the delay of sale of awesome Apple products. No doubt about the success of Android. Remember, there are a ton of companies in the Open Handset Alliance and hence so many Android devices. Kudos to Apple as it competes with so many companies with just three devices, viz. iPhone, iPod, iPad.
Again, I share everybody's opinion over Apple not launching its products in India along with other major markets. Let's hope this changes soon.
Wishing SJ good health!
Kartheek Pathuri
(An ardent Apple fan)
Choosing sides is utterly bullshit. I see a lot of Apple fans out there who know nothing about technology. Apple surely beats its competitors when it comes to design. But there are ton of other products out there. I personally feel that Apple products are too over-rated and over-priced.
ReplyDeleteThis excerpt from a comic says it all
"I give to the world our latest device - iPad. The device that lets you manage tasks that you never had before.." :D
i totally agree... in terms of the marketing.. there is no market (not as in the US, at least) for ipad in india.. why the heck should he introduce.. when it is selling crazily here..
ReplyDeleteMany of my friends who plan to buy an iphone in india think of the fact that the wifi penetration is not so dense as in the US. Not everyone can afford to use 3G, or might think twice about paying so much every month.
This makes more sense if you take devices like an ipad. You don't want to spend so much and still pay for 3G. Here, wifi devices sell like crazy, wifi is almost everywhere. But its not the case in India. So, its obvious that people wont go for it as much as in the US.
This is reason enough for Apple for what it is doing.
Mr/Ms Anonymous
ReplyDeleteThe post was written not to take sides. It was intended to place the scenario in perspective. There are a ton of other products out there, but ain't it true that Apple's products beat them at least in one or two product categories. The appreciable has to be appreciated. There are many things Apple can be criticized for and I am sure some fans would agree to that.
Also, the post was primarily to discuss Apple's market strategy and why it does not launch its products simultaneously in India.
Mr/Ms Anonymous.. Please let the readers know if you own at least one Apple product..
KP
@Devesh.. The WiFi point makes sense... Good one..
ReplyDeleteI am not lashing out against Apple. I feel that the firm is way too greedy. It's clearly evident from the changes made to every phased-out second version of a product. Sadly there are fan-boys who know nothing about technology and they go crazy over Apple devices just because of the brand name.
ReplyDeleteAs for SP's post: Dude get a room..
@Anonymous.. I personally don't have a problem with frequent product refreshes as far as they stick to the price point and reduce the price of the previous generation. In fact, Apple gave out $100 store credit to iPad 1st gen buyers who bought it just before the launch of the iPad 2. So, that is not greed, it's elegant market strategy and there is nothing wrong with that. The only problem I have is that Apple seems like it does stagnate technology sometimes for a product refresh which I discussed in "The Dark Apple". And about the 'blind' fan boys.. Can't blame them.. Apple has become a cult just for it's awesomeness ;)
ReplyDeleteWho's SP?
ReplyDeleteThis is something off-topic but still I cannot resist. An average human being in this decade has so much processing power. It's great to know that iPad has dedicated video processing capability. But all we do is use it to watch pointless videos all day when people are out there trying to figure out how to crunch numbers and how to squeeze in some more processing power into every inch of (ever decreasing size of) chips. Imagine how productive you can be with device of such power. The information you can generate. But if you imagine millions of these devices (each device represented by a shining orb that brightens up for a moment when it generates some content) on a flat plan (map the spherical earth onto this plane). Over time, on this plane, these millions of tiny little orbs move around generating content. Sadly 90% of this content makes no contribution to our advancement in any way. So owing to the uselessness of these devices I feel it's not worth wasting time signing paeans. Because even if the developers lend a careful ear to such reviews the improvements will only contribute to generation of junk contents.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous 2, I guess.. True. Good way to put it. I always thought the potential of such devices is much more than what most people actually use them for.
ReplyDeleteApple rocks.. I second this post..
ReplyDeleteEspecially I like the point which states android vs iOS. it is literally only apple devises with rest of the world. How do ppl compare that. Android n rest may be good but iOS and apple are tooo good.
ReplyDelete