Is anyone as frustrated as i am regarding changes Apple makes to products without notification to users so better buying decisions can be made? Example, Nano changed from 12 volts to 5 amps, it now does not work with with my car audio system and the Bose Sound dock. To have full use of the new Nano, i have to buy a new car cable as well as sound dock. There is no "transformer" to adapt to these accessories and I'm not about to spend another 1,000.00 to use a 300.00 piece of equipment. Apple seems to change products far too fast without consideration for economics. What do you do with an ipad you just bought and the ipad2 comes out? There is no provision for trade in, i suppose all Apple users are made of money or have enough to just blow for amusement? Has anyone experienced this frustration and problem?
Message was edited by: CLY4911
MacBook Pro,
Mac OS X (10.6.6),
ipad, iphone, nano
CLY4911 wrote:
Did you have a problem when the iphone4 was introduced? A lot of people did which is why Apple faced a class action lawsuit, or were you just accepting of the fact that the device had a design flaw causing users to an inordinate number of dropped calls.
A design flaw (a "flaw" which all cell phones suffer from to one degree or another) is a very different issue than perceived obsolescence. How is this relevant to your original question?
It was just a comment on another apple product. Please do me a favor and don't respond anymore. You are not helpful and your answers are irrelevant and irritating.
My questions are about obsolescence and usage, that is it. I don't need a defense argument about your personal feelings of Apple and how giving your old devices make you feel good (i don't care how it makes you feel), i am asking about the communities reaction to the constant change and associated costs.
Then to answer your question, frustrated...yes. Angry...no. It is the fact of product improvement. At some point things have to be discontinued. Look at the iMac, with that product, away went serial ports, floppys and SCSI. When I purchased my first iMac I had to replace all of those things. Like someone else said here, do your homework first, that will limit the surprises, you will know if you need to replace cables, software, accessories, etc. Then once you find that out, make your decision, is the new toy worth replacing all of those. When doing your homework, you might find out if there are rumors of a new version coming out and again you decide to replace now or wait for the chance of something new.
CLY4911 wrote:
My questions are about obsolescence and usage, that is it. I don't need a defense argument about your personal feelings of Apple and how giving your old devices make you feel good (i don't care how it makes you feel), i am asking about the communities reaction to the constant change and associated costs.
You're personal feelings of frustration are acceptable but mine of pleasure at being able to buy newer, more interesting (to me) devices are not? I thought you were specifically asking people to share their feelings.
Has anyone experienced this frustration and problem?
Thank you, i agree change is inevitable but Apple does not release information on new product launch dates until it is on the verge. There are a lot of rumors, i.e. Verizon becoming a carrier (that was a rumor for 2 years), ipad 2 - i would have waited as the only reason i bought the ipad was for business presentations but based on information at hand at time of purchase, it was too vague. My frustration is that there are no programs to help the consumer within a "reasonable" amount of time to make changes without a lot of money expended. My definition of reasonable would be 3 months tops.
Apple could create a program that credited a certain amount of money towards the newer model. In truth, ipad2 would have been a better device for what i use it for as the face to face feature would be very helpful in the way i use the ipad.
Thanks for your comments, they are constructive and helpful.
Completely disagree. Compared with other platforms, apple has provided support and software upgrades to older products when possible. Just because apple releases a new product does not make your old product unusable. Technology moves fast and apple has to keep pace if they want to be relevant.
No one is arguing that support is not available. Yes, Apple does update SOFTWARE, HARDWARE is the issue at hand, changes to products that cause additional purchases of accessories - such as the Bose sound dock and car cable for the ipod REQUIRE change which means additional output of money just to use your device. I did not say my equipment is unusable - ONLY THE NANO as it relates to other accessories i use to listen to music; Bose sound dock and the cable in the car. If you don't own these items, you would never know the difference however I do and it is a costly problem. The Bose Sound Dock is about 400.00 and the car cable is probably going to be costly as it is a Mercedes part.
And Apple DOES NOT release information relevant to product launch dates so users have the time and information to make informed buying decisions.
No, I'm not made of money. I sold my first gen iPad and bought the new one. I've been buying Apple prods long enough to know that a version of most any of their products are good for about a year before a new version comes out. I've gotten each new version of the iPhone and have successfully sold the previous version without much trouble. Will continue to do that with the iPad too if I want to upgrade.
I can't say I'm frustrated. More like excited on the new things they have in store!
I am personally very happy with the way Apple does things. Sure there are the occasional moments where you scratch your head at their reasoning sometimes. Overall though, you can pretty much rely on them to push the edges of the envelope.
Technology such as MacBooks, iPads, Apple TVs, iPods etc are luxuries. They are not things people are entitled to. The Apple Tax as many call it is not for everyone. As others have suggested, buying Apple means being informed, doing research, and educating yourself.
After seeing my Apple TV2 my cousin wanted one. He ran out, purchased it and then was furious that he could not hook it up to his non HD 8 year old TV. He whined and carried on something awful to the point where you would think Apple ran over his cat, burned down his house, and knocked up his wife. Eventually, he went to the store and bought a new TV with his tax refund, hooked it all up and he was drooling over how much nicer all his stuff was. He even said later that he wouldn't have known what he was missing had he not bought the Apple TV2.
If it weren't for companies like Apple who constantly innovate, we would all still be using ancient tech as others have posted. I can't imagine going back to cellphones pre-iPhone. Now, every cell phone copies it's form and function. Without iPads, you can pretty much guarantee there would still be the same horrible Windows based tablet PCs that no one used if they could avoid it.
You are complaining that by making changes to their products without notice, Apple is doing something wrong. Would you prefer they come right out and tell all of their competitors their exact strategy? As an AAPL stock holder, I'm very glad they are as secretive as they can be. Their secrecy and Android nipping at their heels will ensure the best is yet to come. If that means an iPad 3 this fall, then so be it. It will hurt having just put down money for my new iPad2, but it can go live with a family member while I spring for it's sibling. Not everyone can afford to do that, but that's my guilty pleasure in life. I'm sure I'm not the only one who likes her toys.
As far as programs to reimburse/credit people who just bought an Apple product before a hardware change, Apple has some. One such example is the price drop on on the iPad 1, and Apple giving out $100 rebates to those who purchased one in the last few weeks. That's fair of them to do and they didn't even have to do that.
If you believe the iPad 2 would be better suited to your business needs, then sell the 1st gen to offset it's price. For your Bose sound dock and your nano, I don't know about that one. Personally have not bought an iPod since getting an iPhone. It works perfectly fine on my Sound Dock (the portable one).
First, i don't recall ever saying i was entitled to any Apple product so where that statement comes from is your own messed up logic.
Second, you may think these products as toys, i don't. Its obvious that you view technology as fun. I don't, i don't think these products are toys either. Last, I don't appreciate your personal opinions about what i should do with my equipment, it is none of your business nor germane to the question posed. It's obvious you've drank the Apple Kool Aid by your statement of being a stockholder. You're entitled to your opinion, you're just not allowed to attack me for asking a completely legitimate question as it relates to obsolescence.
If you are going to post, keep your answers directly related to the question, most of us or at least myself don't care about your personal feelings. If i wanted that, i would ask for personal commentary and a dissertation on the merits of Apple as a company,
I'm sorry i even posted, learn to read the question and answer appropropriately.
PERISH the thought! The mention of Commodore 64s gives me flashbacks. Although, must say, it was a Commodore 64, and the frustration and aggravation of using it, that led us to our first Macintosh... the one with 512K, one floppy drive and no hard drive, and MacPaint!
Is anyone as frustrated as i am regarding changes Apple makes to products without notification to users so better buying decisions can be made?
I could not agree more! Only a few months after I purchased my 16K RAM Card for my Apple II+, they come out with the Apple IIe. With 64K of RAM built-in!!
We're showing our age and you know there will be people on this thread having no idea what we are talking about... about computers with RAM expressed in K and not in Gigs or MB.....
