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Overhype

by Mike Masnick

Thu, Nov 4th 2004 2:31pm





Apple Afraid Of What You Might Say About Their Products

from the uh...-yes,-let's-not-listen-to-our-customers dept

This one is a bit bizarre, but it does seem to confirm Apple's reputation for being serious about designing cool products, but never listening to what their actual customers tell them (Apple knows best...). They've apparently added the ability to rate products in the Apple store but not if they're built by Apple. Those products automatically get a five star rating because Apple thinks they're great, and how dare you suggest they might not be perfect. In fact, they basically say that in the explanation. While I do think Apple products are often great, the company has a bit to learn about listening to customers.

4 Comments | Leave a Comment..


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  1.  

    No Subject Given

    identicon
    Tim, Nov 4th, 2004 @ 5:01pm

    Steve Jobs is a notorious control freak, and the attitude flows all the way down to the bottom.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  

    Apples vs. Oranges

    identicon
    Ed, Nov 5th, 2004 @ 4:03am

    It's a very sly thing that Apple's done here. Customer rating are up to 5 "stars", while their own products all have a 5 "apples" rating. So they can say that they're not being misleading since it's easy to tell a 5-apple rating from a real custom rating, once you understand the distinction. The slyness on their part is that even if you're aware of the distinction, at a subconscious level the 5-apple visual still gives the same positive impression as a 5-star rating.

    I'd look for this technique to be applied to politics someday.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  

    Shrug

    identicon
    Chris Reuter, Nov 5th, 2004 @ 8:31am

    This doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

    Suppose Apple had allowed users to rate their products on a website run by Apple. It would be a clear conflict of interest. Who would trust them to remain objective? These days, nobody trusts a corporation to provide accurate reviews of their product.

    I think this is their way of acknowledging the realities of the situation. The five apples mark is simply a cute way of saying, "We're not going to insult your intelligence by telling you to trust us."

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  

    Makes sense. Re: Shrug

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Nov 6th, 2004 @ 8:39am

    Really. When you stop and think about it, why sell a product that's not "top of the heap". The 5 apples is genius.

    And let's face it, online customer reviews are garbage, everyone knows it now. You see wild high ratings, glowing reviews and then 1 or 2 really, really negative reviews that are probably from competitors that cut the thing down... heck, I'm the first to admit I read those for the product's flaws before any of the other ones.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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