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Steve Jobs Tells Germans to Blame Their Government for iPad Price Difference
- swombat 16y agoThe headline makes it sound like Steve Jobs is being rude to Apple customers, but actually from the article, it seems like he's just curtly informing them of why the iPad price is 15 euros higher in Germany than in other european countries.
- mbateman 16y agoSorry, I didn't mean to imply that he was being rude, I just paraphrased him. I liked that he's frank about redirecting any potential criticism from Apple to the German government, where it belongs. I don't know that I've ever seen a CEO do this, directly to customers, without pulling any punches.
- NathanKP 16y agoJobs is quoted as saying: Please educate yourself. That seems rude to me. He might be responding to an equally rude complaint that was sent to him, but it still seems like bad PR to me.
- borism 16y agobesides, meddling in politics of foreign state... not very smart thing to do for a CEO
- cmelbye 16y agoTelling people why a product is more expensive (or, seems more expensive) is not "meddling in politics". He either tells them the reason, or he ignores the email. I'd prefer the former, personally.
- borism 16y ago"Blame your government" - that's not meddling in foreign politics? Some Apple apologists need to get out of Reality Distortion Field.
- gaius 16y agoHow would you say it? If Apple equalized the price in Germany then they would actually be selling in Germany for less than the rest of the EU... They don't see a pfennig of that tax.
- jarek 16y agoYou mean they don't see a cent of that tax :)
- hugh3 16y agoNo, if he'd said "Blame the government and make sure you vote for the SDP in the next election" then that might be meddling in foreign politics.
- gms 16y agoI am loving his curt responses. Too many people on the internet are quick to complain without prior thought or research; nice to see them being put in their place.
- katovatzschyn 16y agoIt is the programmer still remains in him reminding people to "RTFM."
- defenestrator 16y agoIt's something I can get behind completely. People shouldn't be coddled like they're children, but if they act like one then being treated like one in return is the least one can do. =)
- NathanKP 16y agoI see your point, and understand that it can be irritating to have constant criticism from a bunch of bloggers who probably need to do more research, yet it still isn't good for public relations to have such curt, almost rude responses. It doesn't make Apple look any better.
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- gaius 16y agoEU governments sure do love their taxes.
- borism 16y agoUS states sure do love theirs! down to every damn municipality. I hope Volcker will prevail and US will get VAT finally.
- cmelbye 16y agoSales tax in my municipality is less than half of UK's VAT, and food and clothing are exempt from it. You're right, I sure do love it.
- ElliotH 16y agoFood and childrens clothing are also exempt from UK VAT.
- parenthesis 16y agoTo be pedantic, food (except for, roughly, `luxury' and catered foods), children's clothing, and books, amongst other things, are zero-rated, rather than exempt (a separate category which includes medical treatment and education).
- rmc 16y agoSome plain foods have zzero vat. More luxurous food is taxed. This is important when you think of jaffa cakes, are they a biscuit or a cake? If they are a buscuit, then they don't have vat, if cake, then the price goes up
- hugh3 16y agoIf I understand correctly this leads to some bizarre inconsistencies; for instance bras up to a certain size (34B?) are "children's clothing" and untaxed, a fact which must cause dubious rejoicing among the less-endowed women of Britain. Also I seem to recall that some foods are taxed differently depending on whether you intend to eat them in or take them away -- even for things where it makes no difference to how they package them. If you tell Pret A Manger that you're going to take your chocolate mousse away but wind up sitting down and eating it in the store, you're breaking the law. (Not sure whether that's the VAT or some other issue).
- MWinther 16y agoPeople in Europe usually have the VAT included in the advertised price, so I can see how people would be getting their hopes up when seeing the american prices.
- borism 16y agothis absolutely freaks us out in US - that we never see actual prices we're supposed to pay, only share of what seller is supposed to get (before paying her taxes).
- kgermino 16y agoAs annoying as it can be I actually think its a good thing that the amount you're paying in taxes is listed separately because then you are forced to see what you're paying in taxes. I live outside Chicago and in some areas around me the sales tax is >10% (10.25 in the city I believe). The fact that you see what your paying in taxes every time you buy something makes it harder for the politicians to raise it too high. Edit: Fixed Typo
- borism 16y agoof course, it's so easy to raise tax when everyone knows it's at 18% across the country, not when nobody has any friggin idea what your municipality's tax is!
- brazzy 16y agoVAT is always listed separately in Europe as well (on the receipt) - it just has to be included in the advertised price.
- kgermino 16y agoHow often do people actually read their receipt? It's good that they do have the charge listed but I still feel like most people are not aware how much of their bill went to the VAT whereas in general around here you can't possibly miss it.
- rmc 16y agoApple always charges more for EU customers, usually replacing the $ for a €. When €1 = $1.50, I don't believe it's the tax, and instead feel like I'm getting screwed.
- vetinari 16y agoWhy the downvotes? Rmc is right. Go to Apple store, take a look at any Apple product and see for yourself. For example, the 13" 2.4 GHz MBP is 1200 USD in US. In Europe, it is cca 1050 EUR _without_ VAT (cca 1250 EUR with VAT), which makes it around 1350 USD (and 1600 USD with VAT!). Nice 10% pre-tax price increase.