Tag: Compuing

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Is Apple starting to lose its ‘cool’?

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I just don’t know about this one.  Well, actually I do know about it, and I think Apple has gone off the deep end.

If you are unaware of what’s going on, here’s a quick recap:

Apple has decided to attempt to enforce patents that have allegedly been infringed upon by competitor HTC.  A little more in depth background available here:

Apple sues HTC over iPhone patents (cnet)

Unfortunately, what’s really going on here is that Apple is just trying to obliterate the competition by suing them out of the smartphone business.  Apple has always been an innovative company.  More accurately, Apple has been a company that knows how to perfect a maturing technology.  They take a few disparate technologies (cell phone, MP3 player, GPS, e-mail, mobile web browser, etc.), throw them in one sleek box (iPhone), seal it tightly so that no one can jeopardize their OOBE, and charge a huge amount of money for the whole experience.  But the upshot of all this is that Apple moves the consumer market forward,  They make everyone else play catch-up.

And others are starting to catch up.  Windows Mobile should have had this market wrapped up several years ago.  They’ve been pushing smartphones for years but have always been just short of mass appeal.  In fact, my last two phones were both Windows Mobile based phones, one of which was the HTC S620.  Again, as a perfect example, the “HTC S620” did a lot of things quite well, but “HTC S620” just doesn’t sound nearly as sexy as the “iPhone.”  No fun = no sales.

Anyway, one article (and there are several) that shares my opinion of the lawsuits is available here:

Why Apple’s Really Suing HTC (PC World)

One nice way to try and get a grasp of how Steve Jobs’ mind works is to listen to what he has said over the years.  After listening to this quote from an old YouTube video, it sounds as if Steve has had expertise in this area before, but maybe on the other side of the fence:

Computing

Why It Happens

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200px-Circuit_City_logo_svg Well, Circuit City looks like it’s going to be history soon.  I can’t say I’m all that surprised, given that they filed for bankruptcy in November of last year.  Being a frequent customer of Circuit City, I must say I am disappointed.

Granted, Circuit City has not always been considered the most customer-friendly store on the planet.  I know a few people who boycotted CC on their own for their own personal reasons.  But I, personally, had mostly positive dealings with them.  I think that lack of customer service ultimately helped lead to their downfall.  I think it was probably a combination of factors, certainly including the current economic downturn.  I know I haven’t been spending nearly as much on techno gadgets and entertainment as I have in the past.  And I think that’s true for most Americans.

Customer Service Trumps All

But I think the biggest lesson to learn from CC’s demise is: Customer Service Trumps All. 

I said “mostly” above because I did have one bad experience there.  It wasn’t directly with Circuit City, but it was with an Element brand television I bought there.  Element brand stuff could only be bought from Circuit City.  It was kind of an in-house brand.  Basically, the TV died right after the warranty expired.  And that was the last TV I bought there.  So if they have enough people having bad experiences, eventually their customer base will be gone.

And, as it turns out, price isn’t always all that important.  What good is it to pay half as much for a TV if you have to buy twice as many of them?

So as I say, I’m sorry to see Circuit City go.  It was a nice place to grab a game or a computer accessory, or sometimes just to have a look at the latest technology.  Unfortunately, it looks as if too many people were just browsing.