Q: No DVD drive in new iMac ???

Probably not going to change many minds. Mine didn't. But, I put money where my mouth is. Here's my new office desktop and the digital department gets my '07 model since it's running 10.6.8 and is able to do SMB file sharing. I'll be ordering a refurb for home soon.

Cheers!

cwmmjm wrote:

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If you want, I'll complete my study when I have time but I think that's good enough a sampling to see the real direction this is going. Thanks for playing.

Your numbers actually prove C's point rather than supporting your own.  Apparently you don't realize--or maybe don't care--that this forum is very much like a hospital's emergency room.  It is not representative of the population as a whole, it is entirely representative of a facility where the patients--you and others--come to complain of something wrong and the staff--Csound1 and others--are here to help with those problems.  Just as in that emergency room the vast majority of the population never visits here to express satisfaction with their status.  In other words, the population sample in this thread is skewed and the numbers cannot statisticaly be used to prove anything about the decision to remove the optical drive.

If the numbers of those protesting the decision on this forum were on the order of 5 or more digits then I'd begin to believe Apple may a problem on their hands.  As it currently stands the very small number of users here protesting the decision indicate the opposite but prove nothing.

From empirical data I have seen the removal of the drive is important to a few, an inconvenience to many, and absolutely meaningless to the vast majority.  As stated previously, I am in the latter group and you are apparently in the first and there is nothing wrong about being in either.

And the lady I seen in Bridgestreet Store Saturday? She's unlikely to post here about her displeasure as well. In the end, it's all anecdotal. 1000's who are happy aren't going to jump on here and say it. 1000's who are unhappy, likewise. But, I've been an Apple Forums user since they counted posts instead of points, probably since 2005. I didn't register and join to b!tch and moan about the lack of DVD drive. Just seen the thread after I looked at an iMac. Wouldn't have one for more reasons than just the DVD drive, but that is a major negative to me. But you have to remember one other thing, too. There are consumers in this thread who felt so strongly about this that they did go to the trouble to register and post. I'd worry if I was Apple. For everyone who complains, 5 others who are displeased don't say anything, just move along. The average consumer, myself included, doesn't think they listen anyway. Too big, too powerful and too far up the corporate ladder to care.

I absolutely loved everything Apple put out from 2002 until now. Why did they really do it? Lost touch with real consumers? Arrogance? Cluelessness? I really don't know. But they better address this and quick.

that is your opinion and you have nothing to support it. c is more arrogant than helpful.

But you have to remember one other thing, too. There are consumers in this thread who felt so strongly about this that they did go to the trouble to register and post. I'd worry if I was Apple. For everyone who complains, 5 others who are displeased don't say anything, just move along.

For everyone that complains there could be any number that just don't give a rip who never think to post.  As I stated, I don't believe the numbers on this forum contain any meaning at all.

cwmmjm wrote:

 

The average consumer, myself included, doesn't think they listen anyway. Too big, too powerful and too far up the corporate ladder to care.

I heard of studies that seem to say the average consumer doen't believe any large corporation listens to them.  Belief is not proof.  Some still believe the earth is flat.

Personally, I think Apple listens, but only when the voices are logical and coherent and expressed through the appropriate medium.  In reading the TOC I see that this forum is not an acceptable medium to express dissatisfaction with a product. It is designed to get help when a product fails to perform according to it's design standards.  I would never get on here to complain (not that I haven't thought about it) as I don't believe Apple pay useful attention to complaints or emotional arguments expressed on this forum. When I am dissatisfied with an Apple product I express that dissatisfaction via Apple's official feedback site. Even though my issues have been minor, I've done so on numerous occasions.

If I'm really angry I'll compose a well thought out and emotionless email and ship it off to the company. Case in point...About 10 years ago I was totally dissatisfied with the service I received from a very large company (not Apple) and I wrote about my dissatisfaction in an email I sent to the CEO.  I knew the CEO wouldn't be likely to read it, but I did know that someone would.  The result was that I was contacted by an administrative assistant of one of the companies VPs and received a totaly new device--not just a replacement, a totally new unit that was vastly improved over the one that I actually had issue with.  The cost of the unit I originally had was $2400.  The cost of the replacement was $3500.  Do I expect service like this from all of my complaints, of course not, but I do know that had my email been filled with emotional phrasing it wouldn't have gotten past the first screening.

cwmmjm wrote:

 

  I absolutely loved everything Apple put out from 2002 until now. Why did they really do it? Lost touch with real consumers? Arrogance? Cluelessness? I really don't know. But they better address this and quick.

You have far more experience with Apple than I.  I was forced by my job as an engineer to use Windows machines.  It was only after I retired that I dumped the Windows boxes and started with Apple and then I didn't get heavily involved until my Windows boxes all finally died--the last one going in 2009.

As to Apple losing touch...time will tell.  You may be totally correct in your position.  From my point of view the numbers do not appear to side with you, but it is all just guesswork. For example, I can see that sales of Windows boxes have fallen sharply--and they still have optical drives--while the sales of Macs have been flat.  That doesn't seem to indicate that a large number have abandoned the Mac platform for the PC platform, but as the actual number of Macs sold is relatively small one simply cannot make an accurate determination from Mac sales numbers--or PC sales numbers.

I really enjoy my new iMac and have never missed the optical drive.  I have a very small (about the size of the SuperDrive) USB buss powered, tray loading, Blu-Ray drive that fits nicely on the iMac's 'foot'.  Looks like it belongs there.  I find it far more useful to me than an internal non-Blu-Ray optical drive would have been.

mjf2802 wrote:

 

that is your opinion and you have nothing to support it. c is more arrogant than helpful.

I wasn't responding to you.

cwmmjm wrote:

 

. Not the 99% you earlier claimed. That makes those of us who dislike it very much at about 73%.

Post a link to where I claimed that 99% of people in this thread see eye to eye with my view please. Don't quote out of context or I will correct it for you.

I will quote you word for word:

[quote=Csound1]

This thread has less than a thousand individual posters, and roughly half of them do not agree that they (Apple) screwed up. Even by the most favorable math you can come up with that is less than 1%.

You can have your own opinions, but not your own facts. [/quote]

Now, tell me. What is the remainder at less than 1%? You are saying above that "Even by the most favorable math you can come up with that is less than 1%". You also said this thread has less than a thousand individual posters. That's correct but you could have easily said 'less than 100 individual posters' and would've been just as correct. So, I gleaned through the first 50 pages and found a total of 55 individual users who either said they wouldn't buy (33) or it was a bad idea (22). On the otherhand, about 5 users in your corner are as you, strongly in defense of Apple to the point you wish to chastise someone for not meeting up to your constantly moving standard of what a fact is. I posted FACTS and you've dodged them. You're not even close with the roughly half statement to begin with so that would make your assertion that less than 1% are displeased and flipped to more than 99% pleased a false one.

Oh great one, correct me as a disciplinarian and rap my knuckles with a bamboo stick. As for me, I bought the machine I wanted. I don't really care what they do with the silver turd at this point.

An very well-balanced post CRH24.

The market place will determine Apple's future - not predictions by a handful of posters in a user support forum.

Considering today's market where the home desktop PC is on the decline in favor of portable devices, sorting the true reasons for flat sales whether they're caused by certain features being left off or the masses simply preferring smaller mobile devices is a task best left to Apple's marketing dept. Their track record indicates they've done a pretty good job so far predicting what the market wants or driving it with new innovations and I see no sign that's changing.

The best any of us can do as consumers is to vote with our dollars. If purchasing an external superdive or USB hub is that big of a deal for you for any reason, then buy an alternative brand of PC. Just be careful you don't cut your nose off to spite your face.

regards,

dave     

As I said, less than 1% of new iMac users are here complaining, even if the entire thread agreed with you it would still be less than 1%.

Unless you really believe that most of them are posting here.

Next time include the context.

Now here's a quote from you, the entire thing

cwmmjm wrote:

 

Your dodge isn't even clever. You want to attack figures and the lack of attribution. Okay, so I know 10 people, myself included, and nine of us think they screwed up and you think they didn't = 90%!

So what do you think that represents as a percentage of sales?

If you are right we will be able to see, till then you are just guessing (same as the rest of us)

by the value of apple stock i would say the market is reponding to apple as a whole. not a great giant but a floundering technology pool that is being poorly directed. not that that can't be corrected but for now it is what is.

So what if Apple loses customers because there is no DVD drive in the iMac.... They will gain twice as many as they lose in new customers... For god sakes people...Spend the 60$ for an external drive and get on with your lives... Go feed the homeless... Walk an old lady across the street... Go for a walk with a loved one... But for heavens sake,, STOP WHINNING about something you will NEVER EVER EVER CHANGE!!!! It aint coming back...Its gone,,so long,,farewell...... NO MORE CD/DVD drive... The truth hurts,,maybe you all need to see a shrink and get it out of your system!! YOU HAVE NO BEARING ON APPLE WHAT SO EVER .... The iMac is a state of the art computer and if your going to bellyache about it having no CD/DVD drive you can do 2 things.... DONT BUY IT or buy it and buy an external one,,whcih most normal level headed smart proffesional cool down to earh nice people would do....

Completely agree!

I can't believe, myself, that this thread is still going!

Apple is Apple and will do what it wants to do and there isn't thing one anyone can do about it.

Apple has always played by its own rules to keep pushing technologies forward.

Introducing new technologies while discontinuing older technologies or what Apple believes is aging technologies.

As I have been continually saying, I believe Apple made the move away from the bulit-in optical drive because they were unreliable and because the drives didn't function or operate well being installed in a less the optimal vertical orientation inside the iMac.

It's June now peoples.

Time to get over this issue and move on.

That is NOT what you said and you know it. I called you out on it and your attempts to wield the rod of correction demonstrates your obtusity. You have also dodged your false statement:

"This thread has less than a thousand individual posters, and roughly half of them do not agree that they (Apple) screwed up."

If that's what you really meant, then you should've said THIS to begin with:

"less than 1% of new iMac users are here complaining, even if the entire thread agreed with you it would still be less than 1%."

Now can you see your quotes, side by side, do NOT say the same thing.

I now have the iMac I want.

Cheers!

ReWoP wrote:

 

So what if Apple loses customers because there is no DVD drive in the iMac.... They will gain twice as many as they lose in new customers... For god sakes people...Spend the 60$ for an external drive and get on with your lives... Go feed the homeless... Walk an old lady across the street... Go for a walk with a loved one... But for heavens sake,, STOP WHINNING about something you will NEVER EVER EVER CHANGE!!!! It aint coming back...Its gone,,so long,,farewell...... NO MORE CD/DVD drive... The truth hurts,,maybe you all need to see a shrink and get it out of your system!! YOU HAVE NO BEARING ON APPLE WHAT SO EVER .... The iMac is a state of the art computer and if your going to bellyache about it having no CD/DVD drive you can do 2 things.... DONT BUY IT or buy it and buy an external one,,whcih most normal level headed smart proffesional cool down to earh nice people would do....

I do not agree but that's my OPINION based on people I personally know and posters here coupled with my own experience.

If you don't care about a DVD burner and firewire, then this is the machine for you. You are obviously operating on an assumption that there are those who would NOT buy it if it still had an optical drive and firewire. Explain how removing option(s) would GAIN customers? They're gaining customers for a variety of reasons, the main one being people are sick of Microsoft crap. The Apple platform is still superior, in spite of Apple's mistakes. All I'm saying is that they'd sell MORE if they hadn't removed it. It's hard to argue with that.