I Will Never Early Adopt From Apple Again [updated 3x]

Flipping Cripes - Look what Apple has done:



Not sure? They dropped $200 off the price of the upper-end iPhone. What?! So all of us early adopters are screwed? Thanks a lot, you arrogant jackasses. They probably think the early adopters are too Apple Cultish to complain, and most of them are, but that's a lot of money that, while I didn't mind spending ($400 + 8.%), still could have used elsewhere. They've never done this kind of pricing manipulation before, it's pretty shocking, and they need to give some kind of reparation to their most loyal users. I know I, for one, will probably never early adopt from Apple again, lest we get screwed out of a lot of money.

Don't get me wrong, I still love my iPhone. The new generation iPods announced today are nothing particularly special. The iPod touch is basically the iPhone without a phone, and looks kind of silly, while the iPod Nano looks like Aunt Matilda sat on it, and the Classic is boring. So yes, I'm still an iPhone guy, and the businessman in me understands this pricing strategy will allow for faster market penetration for Apple - which is a good thing - but it still sucks for the us little guys.

Updates:

• So if you bought the iPhone within 14 days ago, you are able to get the difference in price back. It's not good enough. Here's why:
  
• According to NY Times, "Apple executives insisted that the move had been planned long ago and that the pricing strategy was conceived in part to keep the iPhone’s pricing in line with its new iPod Touch." ... in other words, they planned a long time ago to screw over their most loyal customers.

Next Day Updates:

• Some rumors have been flying about regarding store credits for early adopters. I spent an hour on hold last night before deciding whoever I talked to would probably be tired of answering the same question over and over again, or possibly upset him/herself because of rude, irate customers. This morning I finally got through to customer service and the (very nice) guy said to go to the Apple retail store, since that's where I bought it and he couldn't do much for me from the online store side (a common story in the last 18 hours). Since I have to exchange a different product anyway tonight, that's what I shall do.
  
  
  Thing is, I know I just have the worst timing ever with this. Economics are economics. But between that blurb in the Times, the timing, some dismissive comments from Jobs, the sudden departure from long-held Apple pricing policies, and other factors, the whole thing still has a pungent odor. Something is off kilter in Cupertino, and Wall Street senses it too. Will I be upset if I don't get my store credit or whatever, not especially. But it does mean I can't trust Apple products in the first several months - just like the non-Apple computer makers - whether its these new iPods this month or Leopard next month.

Final Updates:

• Something that was drilled into us in business school was that economics are cold and hard. There's supply, there's demand, and then there's price. Whether on a global scale or micro scale, the economic decision is what it is. Economics has no place for corporate social responsibility or return policies, and yet our society expects these "moral" behaviors from our businesses. The economist in me understands all this. Likewise, the technologist in me knows that tech prices fall - usually as production increases and features are added. But the consumer who just overpaid $400 in me has been bloody well pissed off.
  
  Apple has finally gotten around to commenting on how the price drop has turned a lot of their early adopters against them. To Steve Jobs, it's just how technology works. "If you always wait for the next price cut or to buy the new improved model," he says in an open letter this afternoon, "you'll never buy any technology product because there is always something better and less expensive on the horizon." While that is true, generally, this particular case does not fit that mold. There are no new features and the price cut was so dramatic and so much faster than average, expected, and at a breakneck speed compared to standard Apple policy. The result was too great a shock to their most loyal base, placing a lot of future loyalty and sales at risk. They screwed up: in their original pricing (should have started at $399 - make a bigger splash in sales), in their policy toward early adopters, and in their understanding of basic human emotion and modern consumer anger.
  But at least they're going to do something about it. $100 in store credit for anyone who bought a high-priced phone. It will appease some and not others. The act of acting will be enough for many, others want full reparations (which, honestly, was never going to happen). But in the long run Stevo may be right in that everyone will benefit from continued rapid market penetration of the phone. It really is a good device, even if Jobs is shady. But no, I still don't think I'll be early adopting from Apple again in the near future.