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So what is the point of paying the Apple premium if they are just the same as everybody else ? I think the fact that it is possible, it should not be the norm.

So what is the point of paying the Apple premium if they are just the same as everybody else ? I think the fact that it is possible, it should not be the norm. As you can see in the article, the problem is not that he got a defective Monitor, is the fact that Apple is trying to avoid replacing it. If I buy the best, I expect the best. When I buy an Apple product, just like the author, I expect to get the best. If it is defective, I expect Apple to exchange it. We, humans, are not perfect. I think we all get that. But we do expect to get problems fixed and right away. Apple is the top dog right now in hardware, if not even them respond to problems in a timely fashion and in the right way, then yes, Apple is the same as the rest. I don't think that Apple is just like the rest. In fact I expect a lo more from them.

gknoy 14y ago
In the Retina macbook's case, the premium seems worth paying because no one else has a laptop with comparable hardware. It seems like the Nexus line has similar dpi as the retina iPads, though, so hopefully this is simply a case of Apple having it first, and everyone else will have it in the next year or so.
- aespinoza 14y ago
  I understand, but if the monitor fails, it ends up being worse than the rest don't you think? I get the author's feelings. He spent the money on a new laptop, that is sold with the idea that just works and that if it doesn't it will made to. Also, there is a premium above the premium with a retina display. You get the same laptop than an basic MBP for 400 dlls more.
  - Steko 14y ago
    "I get the author's feelings." No matter how good your customer service is there will always be people that feel just as aggrieved as the author because they fell just short of the standard for replacement. Maybe Apple is completely falling apart and This Would Never Happen With Steve(TM)... or maybe we've seen this movie many times before. For years it was the Guy with One Bad Pixel when the standard for replacement was two but he always swore on the forums that it was Right In the Middle.
    - aespinoza 14y ago
      I agree. No matter how good you are you can never please everybody. And for the record I personally don't think Apple is falling apart. The problem I see is simple to identify, and in the position Apple is in right now, it is difficult to remediate. It is a problem of scale. I think Apple is growing too much too fast, and it is struggling to scale their operations. I obviously could be wrong since I am not an insider, but it seems that is the case.
xenophanes 14y ago
> So what is the point of paying the Apple premium if they are just the same as everybody else ? OS X and increased quality of some (not all) hardware. And they do have better customer support on average.
- aespinoza 14y ago
  OS X is not that amazing to pay for a premium. I also use Linux, and they are pretty good as well. Hardware-wise, they are great as long as they can honor the warranty. If I get a defective machine (like in this case) and I had to pay a higher price for a defective hardware, that doesn't make it ok. Apple is not about better products. It is about better execution of those products. I pay the premium because of Apple's execution. Agreed, customer support is better on average, but not that much; not enough to justify the premium. The premium is worth it because of the overall execution of the company. I pay more, but I get an implicit insurance that everything will just work.

gknoy 14y ago

In the Retina macbook's case, the premium seems worth paying because no one else has a laptop with comparable hardware. It seems like the Nexus line has similar dpi as the retina iPads, though, so hopefully this is simply a case of Apple having it first, and everyone else will have it in the next year or so.

aespinoza 14y ago
I understand, but if the monitor fails, it ends up being worse than the rest don't you think? I get the author's feelings. He spent the money on a new laptop, that is sold with the idea that just works and that if it doesn't it will made to. Also, there is a premium above the premium with a retina display. You get the same laptop than an basic MBP for 400 dlls more.
- Steko 14y ago
  "I get the author's feelings." No matter how good your customer service is there will always be people that feel just as aggrieved as the author because they fell just short of the standard for replacement. Maybe Apple is completely falling apart and This Would Never Happen With Steve(TM)... or maybe we've seen this movie many times before. For years it was the Guy with One Bad Pixel when the standard for replacement was two but he always swore on the forums that it was Right In the Middle.
  - aespinoza 14y ago
    I agree. No matter how good you are you can never please everybody. And for the record I personally don't think Apple is falling apart. The problem I see is simple to identify, and in the position Apple is in right now, it is difficult to remediate. It is a problem of scale. I think Apple is growing too much too fast, and it is struggling to scale their operations. I obviously could be wrong since I am not an insider, but it seems that is the case.

xenophanes 14y ago

> So what is the point of paying the Apple premium if they are just the same as everybody else ? OS X and increased quality of some (not all) hardware. And they do have better customer support on average.

aespinoza 14y ago
OS X is not that amazing to pay for a premium. I also use Linux, and they are pretty good as well. Hardware-wise, they are great as long as they can honor the warranty. If I get a defective machine (like in this case) and I had to pay a higher price for a defective hardware, that doesn't make it ok. Apple is not about better products. It is about better execution of those products. I pay the premium because of Apple's execution. Agreed, customer support is better on average, but not that much; not enough to justify the premium. The premium is worth it because of the overall execution of the company. I pay more, but I get an implicit insurance that everything will just work.