Text 61388, 87 rader
Skriven 2010-07-14 11:44:48 av Jean Parrot (1:123/789.0)
Ärende: The Gazette in Montreal.
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I am not dissing Apple at all but most of their clients, brand fidelity can
only go so far then it bites you, specially in cost. My opinion.

This text is in the local paper today. The part about their users is hilarious,
it stops short of calling then nerds, so do I. Quite the fix for low reception,
twist you neck ! The iPod made Apple.

Quote:
Possible product recall may delay product launch in Canada
Apple could be forced to recall its iPhone 4 even before Canadians can get
their hands on the iconic company's latest smartphone, crisis-management
experts say.
The California based company says the iPhone 4 launch in the United States has
been the most successful in its history, with sales topping 1.7 million units
in three days, but the product launch in Canada this month could be mired in
muck - or even delayed - after running into loads of trouble south of the
border.
"I have heard from some sources at Apple stores that this reception issue could
result in a delay," Vancouver based Gary Ng, who blogs about all things Apple
in Canada, said yesterday. "Because we haven't heard anything from any of our
carriers, there could be a delay, especially now that Consumer Reports has put
out this report saying that with their testing, there is an actual hardware
issue with the antenna, not just a software issue."
Complaints of reception problems began immediately after the U.S. launch on
June 24, and within a week, Apple - synonymous with innovation and design -
announced a free software update to fix a "surprising" problem with the way
Apple calculated signal strength.
Apple also suggested users hold the phone differently or purchase a case to
mitigate the problem.
But Apple's software fix and recommendations are being dissed by the
influential Consumer Reports publication, an independent organization that
tests consumer products at its own research centre.
Its iPhone 4 test results, released Monday with a note widely circulated online
saying it could not recommend the product, point to a more serious hardware
problem and "call into question the recent claim by Apple that the iPhone 4's
signal-strength issues were largely an optical illusion caused by faulty
software."
Consumer Reports updated its analysis yesterday, saying its tests - conducted
by experts in its laboratories using controlled signals - show the problems
"are anything but illusory" and " why Apple - and not its customers - should
fix the iPhone 4."
Some brand experts now say Apple has no other choice but to recall its latest
smartphone to protect its brand.
"I think that Apple lives and dies on its reputation of its products and
consumers pay a premium for Apple products, and we expect premium performance,"
said Matthew Seeger, a crisis communication expert at Wayne University in
Detroit. "Apple cannot afford to do anything that compromises the reputation of
its product, so it must protect its critical resource, which is its brand.
"As a public relations professional, I will tell you that the company cannot
afford to leave this particular issue unaddressed. Consumers expect a lot from
Apple."
Larry Barton, author of Crisis Leadership Now and president of The American
College, said Apple has to get its "head out of the sand" and choose one of two
routes to get out of its current predicament.
"Either come out and deny it or pledge to fix it right," Barton said. "But if
Apple's strategy is to wish it away by hoping that another news cycle will push
it off the headlines, that may be a miscalculation.
"Apple has a credibility issue, which is as profound as a product integrity
issue because you're dealing with an engineering powerhouse and you're dealing
with a marketing savvy company, and most importantly, you're dealing with rabid
consumers. Their fan base is as loyal and as enthusiastic as any brand in the
world, and arguably without peer."
"It's a wonderful thing to have brand loyalty ... but the flip side is you need
to brace for those same fans to feel betrayal if you have a product integrity
issue, and I think we're at that space right now," said Barton, citing the
third-party test results from Consumer Reports.
Montreal-based digital marketing expert Mitch Joel, president of Twist Image
and author of Six Pixels of Separation, sees things differently.
"There are always exceptions to the rule, and Apple is the exception," Joel
said. " If you were asking me strategically, forgetting the brand name, if a
brand came out with a product that got a poor Consumer Reports rating, how
quickly should they be in the market talking about what the issue is and the
resolution, the answer is, very, very fast. But there are exceptions and Apple
is one of those exceptions where they have a product that is so heartedly
lusted after by people that they're willing to hold the phone differently to
appease the god that is (Apple CEO) Steve Jobs and Apple."
Internet strategist Jesse Hirsh, head of Toronto based Metaviews Media
Management Ltd., chalks up the growing online dust-up over the Apple iPhone 4
as a "classic example of their arrogance getting the better of them. With that
said, I assume they're working on a fix, they just don't want to set any false
expectations before they do."
Apple did not respond to requests for comment.

	I am still holding my sides.... hooots !   lusted after !

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