Comments on: Apple TV Not Ready for Primetime

By: tina

tina — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 09:53:30 +0000

learn a lot!

By: Levon

Levon — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:33:54 +0000

Apple by all quality assurance means is and will always be responsible for secondary components in their products that they deliver and sell on the marketplace. I will remind you that 1.8 Million Powerbooks is no small re-call by any standard. Yes, a very easily scratchable screen is something you don’t expect from something priced as it is.

By: Sean Howard

Sean Howard — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:33:25 +0000

I hereby concede to an inability to keep the focus on the issue as raised. May the pro apple / anti apple flame war gods be appeased.

By: patricia

patricia — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 21:07:55 +0000

the batteries weren’t made by Apple, and many other computer sellers issued the same battery recalls. What other recalls are we talking about? The nano (I think) having an easily scratched screen? That’s just cosmetic, not functional. still a worthy customer complaint & reason for recall, but not remotely close to being a “faulty” or “failing” device.
I’m not cultishly devoted to Apple, but I really think that’s an unfair and wildly inaccurate assessment of the company’s track record.

By: Levon

Levon — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:35:30 +0000

@Sidney:
My post has plenty of validity – I point to the millions of re-calls that Apple undergoes with many of its product launches and lines each year (from ipods to faulty batteries in the PowerBook to the very topic of this post).

By: Sean Howard

Sean Howard — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:22:27 +0000

@Jack Sparrow: Great handle, btw. I fully concur, for what it’s worth. Apple makes GREAT products. To give Apple their due, however, they haven’t always been so great on the support front. Compared to many computer companies, I’d say they are generally good on the support front. But they have had significant issues on the support front. Regardless of this, let me say that their phone support of the AppleTV has been actually impressive. Only when we cross the line to the iTunes store does it break down. The challenge being that almost any issue with the device will likely have to cross into the iTunes store. And it appears the model of support there is based on a different use/audience that is likely not a good fit with the Apple TV device from a customer experience POV.

By: Jack Sparrow

Jack Sparrow — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:21:44 +0000

sidney has a point. What major company doesn’t have some dissatisfied customers and in this era, express that dissatisfaction on a blog? But Apple would not be where they are now if they sold poor products with bad support.
Mr. Levon seems to have a faulty chip on his shoulder!!!

By: sidney howser

sidney howser — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:07:33 +0000

@Levon:
I did read your post and I quite firmly stand by my assessment that your post has no validity. Plus, I’d sort of expect you to understand sarcasm.
Where has Apple failed in selling 40 millions Macs, 150 iPods, sold 5 billion songs, rated yearly at the top of customer satisfaction and sold nearly 7 million phones in its first year
Branding doesn’t just happen and it alone will not build success…a worthy product must be at the center. Otherwise, Windows, Palm, Tivo and Netflix deserve no less of a scathing assessment.
It’s one thing to have an emotional opinion, but by no means expect it to be accepted as fact with no semblance of practical merit.

By: Levon

Levon — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:19:38 +0000

@Sidney
I would suggest you re-read my sentence as it has multiple points. In all fairness “…sort of” makes me question the validity of your response to my response.

By: Sean Howard

Sean Howard — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:18:37 +0000

@d9: I also love the device. And I am going to go look at the video podcasts. I’ve been amazed at how my device uses it to watch youtube when there’s a perfectly good computer sitting right next to the TV.
@Doug: Ahhhh. There she is! I was waiting for a reply like this. The issue, Doug, is that Apple is not prepared for the design context of supporting this device adequately. Something they will likely fix. This is a process issue, not a device issue. I will repeat myself in saying it’s not about the device, it’s about what is required to support a device like this.
@Levon: Great point. I believe I have just witnessed and felt said pressure, Levon.
@Mack: I feel dirty.
@Jeff: Hey Jeff. Great points. I love it when conversations get people to put 3 hats on: technical, process and marketing. It often leads to great thinking and innovation. I think of Dell and how horrible they were at customer service and of the amazing turnaround by focusing on service. Be wild to think of what would be possible at Apple if a similar service and process mindset were applied. Thanks for de-lurking, btw!
@Dawn: The funny part about me slamming Apple’s to-market-execution and support is that I love their products. The Newton was a crazy mistake but I read somewhere that the project has allowed them to leapfrog their technology of late in a bunch of directions (to bypass pen input on a mini-tablet like the iphone, for example.) I think Apple is a brilliant product design and branding company. They get way too well how to build products that market themselves. But I agree, they’ve got to apply the same thinking to their service delivery if they want to continue to play as they move from laptop to far more omnipresent elements in our homes and daily lives. (cell phones, tv, etc.)

By: Dawn

Dawn — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:15:11 +0000

Apple, at least to me, has of late become a like a shiny new car. It’s sleek and beautiful on the outside with every conceivable bell and whistle, but open the hood and the damned thing has no engine!!
I’ve heard too many horror stories about the iPod, the iPhone, their Airbook and lest we not forget the ill-fated Newton to give Apple more than a mere second of my time. I simply sit back, wait for the engineers of Apples competitors to come up with the “same” product only at half the price, better quality and better support (i.e. the new crop of iPhones clones from Samsung and LG).
Now I’ve read they’re going after Blackberry users (primarily an older, business oriented, demographic). “Is that an iceberg I see?” said the captain of the Titanic. This has got catastrophe written all over it. GenXers and GenYers might have the patience to put up with Apple’s BS, but as a 40-something business owner, I don’t have time. When I need to make a call or I’m waiting for an important email, I don’t want to deal with BS.
I give Steve Jobs a ton of credit. He pulled Apple out of near extinction. But Apple needs to polish up its act if it wants to continue to keeps its disciples loyal.

By: Jeff Boles

Jeff Boles — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 02:35:43 +0000

Hi Sean,
As an IT guy who regularly lurks around the blogs here, you’ve finally sucked me into commenting. It’s easy to miss the fundamentals here because of the Apple focus, but absolutely, you’re spot on. I agree the process/responsibility/domain/expertise/etc. tradition is a tremendous challenge for those seeking to be innovative and agile. It hits both product development as well as product delivery. Apple is a fascinating example, because from my view, they’ve conquered the silos on the development side with some uber customer experience focus, but they totally can’t execute on the customer support side (the delivery side). But in some ways, that’s a bit of an Apple tradition that goes pretty far back.
For the rest of us, interesting lesson to be thinking about. With a marketing hat on, I think this is my responsibility to cross the silos in the customer’s eyes, because you have one killer example of how that customer experience is a key marketing opportunity. HBR quality material here. Great stuff.

By: sidney howser

sidney howser — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:56:58 +0000

@Levon:
Yeah, most peculiar…sort of makes you question whether your assumption has any validity to it!

By: mack collier

mack collier — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:30:09 +0000

Doug so what you’re saying is, the Apple product is golden, and if it fails, it’s the customer’s fault?
Gotta love those Apple evangelists

By: Levon Guiragossian

Levon Guiragossian — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:30:12 +0000

Apple pretty much has made one failing device after another but because of strong branding they are able to ride off into the sunset with un-happy users hard earned money year after year.
It is most peculiar how an Apple user’s dissatisfaction is reset through massive pressure created by the cultish like brand community that it has become.

By: Doug Petrosky

Doug Petrosky — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:30:55 +0000

Much to do about nothing! Ok, if iTunes had a 99% success rate, you might have a real issue (and Apple probably would have already addressed it). But the truth is that the iTunes music store works 99.99999% of the time (ok I don’t know that for sure but work with me here). What you experienced was unusual in the extreme from what I can tell and you should have just sent the email about the failed download, asked for a credit back and re-downloaded immediately! Problem solved.
Compare this to the alternatives like netflix. You get the email about your movie being shipped, you verify that it made it to your house and you put it in only to find a scratch that makes it not work! The difference here is that this happens 5% of the time and you might have checked the disk before hand.
I’ve had my AppleTV for over a year now and have purchased/rented over a hundred titles, watched multiple hundreds of video pod casts. I don’t think I have a more reliable video delivery system in my house (DirecTV included). So sorry you had a corrupted download (it’s going to happen to me too someday), but it is far from enough of an issue to say AppleTV is not ready for prime time. IMHO.

By: D9

D9 — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:05:44 +0000

I empathize with your situation, especially w/ friends looking on!
That stated, I’ve had a rather problem-free experience w/ my Apple TV, rentals and all. The only problem I’ve encountered has been network-based; much I think is to be blamed on my cable ISP (I get flickering TV reception, too).
Besides the waiting for new movies to become available on iTunes, my only gripe has been 24-hr viewing window.
But I must state that the “diamond in the rough” I’ve discovered is video podcasts. With growing variety and quality, these nuggets are starting to consume over 50% of my Apple TV usage. It’s been a pleasant surprise.
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