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Loyal Apple customers flipped their shit yesterday at the news that the iPhone was dropping $200 in price a mere two months after its debut. Early adopters felt betrayed by the fact that they threw down a large amount of money to be part of the exclusive early adopter crowd, only to be undercut by a massive price cut -- and worse -- a thrifty version in the form of the iPod "Touch".
Steve Jobs responded today on the News section of the Apple website with an open letter to customers, stating that he is throwing together $100 in Apple store credit for those early adopters who shelled out $600 for the buggy generation iPhone. HA. Jobs further backhands complainers by saying:
"This is life in the technology lane. If you always wait for the next price cut or to buy the new improved model, you'll never buy any technology product because there is always something better and less expensive on the horizon."
Thanks Steve, we're not fucking idiots. Thank you for educating us on what a "product cycle" is -- we just didn't know that you decided to cut down your product cycle from a year to a measly two months. Apple is a business; businesses need to make money -- we get it. But us customers like to live in a fuzzy make-believe world where Apple actually gives a shit about its loyal customers. It's obvious that you have shareholders (what else explains your overenthusiastic keynote sploogefests?) but does it need to be so obvious that you're ramming it down our throats?! It feels like we're all victims of a Cupertino drive-by.
I'm trying to figure out the best way to make you understand, Steve. I think I've got it. Let's say your best friend Steve J. (or least you think he's your best friend) offers to sell you his stereo for $200. You buy it, but find out the next day that he sells the exact same model stereo to that asshole Danny Vogul from Accounting for $50. Then you go, "Hey Steve, I thought we were friends, I've always been loyal to you and then you go sell the same stereo for $150 less to that piece of shit Danny Vogul. WTF?!"
Then Steve goes "Sorry pal, that's life in the fast lane. Business is business. I came to you first cuz I know how loyal you are to me, and that you'd bend over at a higher price."
Then I go, "Fuck you Steve. You betrayed our friendship. Go fuck yourself with your single-button mouse. That thing was never practical anyway. I was just being nice."
Then Steve tries to get me to crawl back into bed with him by offering me $20 towards anything else from the back of his truck. And I'm so stupid I take the $20 and go back to being friends with him.
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exactly...you take the 20 bucks and crawl back into bed...so stop crying. All you wackos are so nuts for Apple that you will overpay for anything, and now you're whining because Apple realized that the product wasn't worth that much. Too bad sucker...you should have realized it was a dumb purchase from the beginning and then two months later it would still be a dumb purchase, but you'd have 200 extra bucks to blow on the 14 new kinds of iPods released yesterday.
And I'm so stupid I take the $20 and go back to being friends with him.
You said it.
Why they hell are you such a loser whiner crybaby? Get a life! Prices go down in the computer electronics world, and they can go down AT ANYTIME. You take your chances. Everyone knows this. Apple doesn't owe you jack shit so be grateful that you got any kind of after the fact compensation at ALL. You're the one who chose to run out and be an early adopter.
Once again, whining sniveling CRY-BABY!
Frigging unbelievable.
So you're shocked that a $600 phone was overpriced at launch? You apple-lovers sure do take this shit personally. That Steve guy, he's not your friend, you don't even know him. He's not loyal to you, rather you're loyal to his products for exactly as long as they seem cool to you. Why in the world would you feel personal allegiance to some jackass in a mock turtleneck sweater? Look at how thin it is!
Ugh...this post had elements of sarcasm Guest #3 & #4. I obviously don't believe that Steve Jobs is my personal friend.
Are you too thick to see that?
But if you were OK paying $200 for the stereo in the first place. He didn't force you to pay $200, you agreed and the deal was sealed. You got what you were willing to pay for.
Are you really whining about this? Because you, knowing full well the iPhone cost 600 dollars, decided to buy it anyways? And now the price is dropped, people like you bitch so much about paying 200 measly bucks extra, Apple decides to give you a rebate of a hundred bucks, leaving you at a total cost of 100 dollars to have an iPhone for 2 months before anyone else did. Honestly if $200 is that much to you, you shouldn't have spent it on a cellphone.
I'm under the impression that if you whine after Apple gives you 100 bucks you don't deserve, you're just pissed that "the commoners" will now be able to afford iPhones just like yours.
I agree, that IS life in the technology lane. Early adopters are in the minority for a reason.
I'm an apple nut but I always wait for the 2nd gen. But even if I WERE nutty enough to buy a 1st gen product, I wouldn't bitch and moan like this.
Take your $100 store credit and count yourself lucky.
I’m sulking about the whole iphone thing but in my heart, I’ll never leave Apple. Never. And, f*ck the other posters The post was clever and funny and right on. I heart you Henry D
People aren't complaining because it eventually dropped in price. People are complaining because the drop in price was SO SOON after launch that it proves the price was jacked up to begin with. Meaning, they got hosed for no reason. Are we all such uber-capitalists that you can't see maybe, perhaps some people could be angry about that?
I've always waited for the 2nd gen products. Until those damn Black MacBooks came out. I got one day uno, and did the same for the iPhone. Of course they're going to be a bit buggy but thats the price to pay.
With that said I must say that i was disappointed at first when they announced the price cut because i felt like i paid $200 to beta test the iPhone for them. I'm all about my bragging rights but $3 dollars a day to talk some shit, that's just plain crazy.
The $100 Gift cards are a great way to shut all the whiners and also sell almost $100,000,000 worth of products through the apple store. There's TONS of people on the macrumors forums that are talking about paying for Leopard next month.
Great job once again Steve, Gotta love apple. Could you imagine motorola or LG doing the same thing? It just wouldn't work. ONLY APPLE BABY.
Side note: I hate the tech world has appropriated the word "adopt." You people haven't "adopted" anything. You bought some crap.
@Ben Bang
C'mon Ben, I have the right to bitch and moan because Danny Vogul annoys me. I don't really give a shit about the the iPhone.
This post is coming from an Apple lover, who understand sarcasm. Though I think guests 3 and 4 are a little excitable, I still think your post is rather naive. You, as well as everybody else who purchased the iPhone, were an early adopter of a very volatile product. In order to be the first to have the phone and enjoy all the "benefits" of being one of the few and proud, you put yourself at risk of price drops and tech improvements. There is no product of its kind, so your one-year benchmark for a product cycle (I don't know where you got this figure anyway) is irrelevant.
I want the iPhone. I want it bad. But I'm waiting until generation two or three. You wanted it bad, but couldn't wait even though the writing has been on the wall since the advent of the PC. Suck it up and take your $100 with a smile. Be happy, as you're not entitled to any of it.
I say thank the world for the first-buyers of the world who selflessly fling themselves upon a first-gen gadget's high price and then suffer the indignity of the future releases always being better/stronger/faster/cheaper. Without the Henry Davids bravely sacrificing themselves there might not be v2.0s and Pioneer in-dash CD players would still be $549.
The least we can do is let them bitch and moan, or recognize the sarcasm involved.
-Will Campbell
maybe Henry here can play off this post as sarcasm, but the sentiment is for real. These people that bought the iPhone feel screwed. And I say HAHA. LA Scumbag said it above:
"With that said I must say that i was disappointed at first when they announced the price cut because i felt like i paid $200 to beta test the iPhone for them. I'm all about my bragging rights but $3 dollars a day to talk some shit, that's just plain crazy."
He's all about bragging rights. But $3 a day is too much for bragging rights. So how much would you pay for bragging rights? I guess the iphone receipt should have read: $399 for iphone plus $200 for bragging rights. So silly. That's why these people buy these things right away, so they can show off the fact that they get all the new stuff right away, but mostly they just look like uninformed consumers who can get suckered into anything.
i love laist and visit it multiple times a day, however this is BS. steve is exactly right. people who want the latest and greatest, like myself, want the newest, hottest gadget available. this summer, it's the iphone. plunking down $600 for it was not easy. when it was announced that they are dropping the price $200, i was shocked, but not upset at all. this is the way technology is. you pay a ridiculous price, then shortly after, the price drops either because the technology is getting better or to boost sales. either way, this is standard procedure for ALL manufacturers. the fact that steve jobs caved to all the angry letters and is offering a $100 credit to those who bought the iphone in the first two months, is a HUGE change. i can't think of any, which doesn't mean there haven't been, other manufacturer that has offered any sort of credit like this. this shows you that apple is a quality company and wants to maintain brand loyalty. i'm not a apple fanboy. the iphone is the first apple product i ever bought. no ipods, no macs, nothing. so to all the complainers out there, get over it. we shouldn't even be getting this credit. we should be thanking steve for considering all his loyal apple consumers with this decision.
Of course Steve is right, but all of the iWhores out there are all snooty little babies who are no longer going to feel quite so special because now the guy working behind the counter at Pinkberry will be able to afford one. Admit it, it's true. But Apple got off easy on this one, not only did they scam their most loyal fans, but they completely sweet-talked them back into bed by offering a measly $100 credit for more Apple stuff. This probably only costs Apple about $25 and brought them in the difference of $175...One point for Apple, no points for Fanboy.