The Swing Of Things

There has been some waryness in the Mac community now for a while, about certain decisions from Apple. Rumble about Apple taking a less customer friendly approach to things. Specifically the ringtone spectacle, the lack of 3. party support in iPhone and other gadgets, the new iPod connector and then some.

One should of course always be skeptical to what a corporation is up to, and it is just sound to question their actions – companies do make mistakes also. Apple is of course no exception. However, to call out for a complete change in attitude is quite a long shot.

Remember that Apple is in fact the only large company that actively is pursuing a DRM free musicworld, putting every bit of weight they have on the issue. They are certainly on the customers side if it is true they denied NBC and the music companies wishes for higher prices for downloads, and even trying to reduce the prices. They sure are pushing prices on mobile devices. They are reimbursing early adopters of the iPhone. Remember also that Apple is a corporation – they are obliged to serve their shareholders both short-term, but even more so long-term. Screwing their customerbase totally is not a good way of doing the last.

Apple has always been doing debatable things. One I remember particularly well is when they decided to close all free benefits of .Mac. I still believe that was a huge mistake on Apple’s part, and .Mac never really recovered from it. But complaining about Apple changing interfaces from time to time, keeping their own sofware strictly proprietary and so on is just whining. It just happened that a lot of these things now appeared really concentrated. This summer/fall/winter is probably going to be one of the hottest release periods in Apples history. If the rumored MacBook refresh and the iPhone 3G happens within MacWorld we have seen an unprecedented product refresh in these 6 months; iPhone with a new OS X mobile platform, major iPod refresh also with new OS, Leopard release, major rollout and expansion of iPhone, completely redesigned laptops, redesigned iMac, revamped iLife and iWork… it is really insane when you think of it.

It is quite hilarious how people actually complain about a product getting a reduced pricepoint. If in doubt; this IS a good thing and nothing to complain about.

The interesting part in all this debacle though, is how Apple actually planned this all along. At least I believe they did. The initial pricepoint (in January) was set to gauge the market and give a bit of headroom just in case. Just high enough that it was plausible and low enough that it was still attractive.
There were rumors long before the June 29. launch of a reduced price. In addition, the Q3 conference call revealed an expectation for lower margins in the upcoming quarter. We know that this was not about the new iPods – or iMac.

Apple knew there would be a certain outcry about this and was well prepared. You can look at this either way you want, but it is very clever product management. IF they had sold the device for 100 or 200 dollars less from the start, the lines outside the shops would most certainly have been a lot longer – given the limited quantity available initally. Consequently the prices on e-bay would skyrocket. Individuals would specualate themselves to huge upsides, there would be a lot of press and noise about this, and of people getting screwed and all. Instead Apple themselves reduce the initial pressure on the product with the higher pricepoint. They reap the upside of initial demand themselves, and most importantly; when finally the first flurry about the iPhone introduction in the press is fading out, Apple slashes the price, and suddenly they are on everybodys lips again. Just to top it all off, they get an equal amount of free advertising for doing the honorable and highly unusual thing of reimbursing the early adopters with a 100 dollar store credit.

The real home-run though, is how they lure the competition into believing this would stay a rather exclusive product. I would really liked to see the faces of all the engineers and marketeers at Nokia and Samsung planning their iPhone response products with this in mind – ”hey, we make it almost as good, but 200 dollars less” – when Apple took away their only winning point, just like that. And mind you, just as they are about to release it to the rest of the world and having ample stock of the product.

When you think of this clever scheme in retrospect I can’t help but hand it to the marketing guys at Apple.

So the Kiel concert got a bit special - at least so it seemed from the webcast. I guess playing on a stage placed in the middle of the harbor in broad daylight with boats coming and going and like 50-100 meters away from the audience does something to the mood.
Same setlist as the former concerts, with the notable exception of Dark Is The Night as the closing act. Probably a bit early in the day for that particular song, so they left it at Sun Always Shine On TV.
Seems Morten had the same problem with his voice on Summer Moved On as well. But overall it sounded nice - and there certainly was a crowd there, looking to enjoy the day.

I’d like to know what they drink or eat at those record company meetings… whatever it is, I want it. Seriously. I need some wild ideas.

Paul Boutin of Slate has some tight deadlines and lots to do - or at least so he says:

But in my career as a writer, I need my phone to do work. I have tight deadlines, and I need to communicate with lots of people in a hurry. When I’m in a tight spot, my BlackBerry always helps me out. It also sends a subtle signal to my correspondents that I’m getting a lot done. An e-mail that says “Sent from my BlackBerry” gives the impression that you’re on the move but still chained to work, e-mailing from the elevator. An e-mail that says “Sent from my iPhone” conjures an image of a doofus who wants you to know he has an iPhone.

Good for him though, but in my humble opinion feeling the need to communicate that you are chained to work and getting things done (or giving the impression thereof) is sending the opposite message. Wouldn’t it be more impressive to let people know you have gotten things done, and even have some time for fun as well? Maybe even reassuring.

Some people still tend to believe that working all the time (or appearing to do so) is good for their career or something. Productivity does not come from working all the time. Productivity in our fast-paced world comes from the right balance between doing work and doing completely different things. Things you enjoy to the point that you forget work. That way I think iPhone is actually doing more to productivity than Boutin would think - maybe even more than his beloved BlackBerry, that it appears he is enjoying quite a bit.

Just got my new Nano (product)red today, and I must say, it is simply one amazingly exquisite little piece of technology. I mean, I was quite happy when I got my iPod mini in those days, but opening the package of the Nano was just pure delight.

Now, those who know me will say I would always fare well with Apple products, but this is beyond that. I have no idea how they managed to cram all the things inside that tiny thing - still with that batterylife, such a wonderful screen and a completely solid full metal jacket. What I know is that I am in love with the thing. Actually I must admit I just can’t keep myself from playing with it. And it’s just an mp3 player! But there’s something with the feeling of it, the color, the screen. Can’t put it down for more than some minutes. Yes, I know the back gets all soddy and scratchy from that. And that cover flow sort of lags. But I don’t care. I think she’s coming to bed with me tonight.

What I do not understand is why Apple are using those boring - no, hideous - images on their webpages to sell this little jewel. On the web, the poor thing looks like some plastic crap (I’m looking at you, Creative). In RL it looks nothing short of stunning. Surely Apple could do better.

Photos on Flicker.

Great anticipation for tomorrows gig in Kiel. Unfortunately unable to attend it - but apparently they expect about 200.000 will experience the spectacular show.

Good news for the rest of us though - MSN.no will be sending the concert live!

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