Hello friends,
I hate to admit that I actually wasted quite a bit of time reading this WHOLE thread too. My bad. It's probably why I don't spend many hours reading blogs and the like... because I'd have a problem stopping at reading just a "few" posts. 🙂 You know, some of those comments in 2012 and 2013 were pretty unproductive and honestly quite rude... but after taking time to read it all - I figured I'd at least pass on something I learned to Apple? LOL Maybe someone at Apple will read this, some day, and mention my perspective at one of their many strategy sessions (I know, wishful thinking). 🙂 So feel free to skip my post if you're trolling to start an argument... I'm not the type to take the bait. I'm just choosing to post my musings IN CASE Apple ever checks these, for grins. So if this will bore you - and it probably will - skip me and read the next one. If you're with Apple - please read! Thanks! 🙂
I'll hold off sharing my extended thoughts with regard to the "cord debacle"... many in this thread expressed my concerns already... but basically it's a bummer that you can't buy 4-5 chargers for a 5s and assume they will just "work" (and continue working through software upgrades too). Yeah, 4-5 cords minimum (and that's not including the rest of my family who need their own "set" too.) Let's face it, in "my" world, I can't have just one cord at home to do the job - it's become one at the office, one in the car, at home, at my home office, in my purse, etc... I gotta say, the effort I've had to take to research the cord issue, ("this accessory doesn't work error...") to make sure I buy the correct watt, app, voltage etc... was quite a bit more stressful than when I had to research how to fix the issues from upgrades that were running down the battery on my phone. But I bought in to this Apple addiction, so I trudge on.
It's not a perfect science - I get it - and I'm thankful for my iPhone - really I am... I still can't believe I attended college without one! LOL But lordy, when all your chargers are unexpectedly wiped out in one day due to a software update, and you have accumulated 4-5 per person in your family for convenience, that's a pretty costly replacement - $20 bucks x 4, per person in a family? That's a pricey change that we had already gone through when changing from our iPhone 4's to 5's... but the difference was we expected THAT additional expense. My opinion? AT&T did a poor job of publicizing this "microchip in the lightening charger and the upcoming challenges (that will drive you nuts)" 🙂 and also poorly publicized their anticipation of how poor knockoffs would impact their customers while those customers RAN to restock their homes/cars/offices with cords before their phones lost their charges. In this day of "spin", I guarantee Apple could've used some marketing technique to ease my pain with clear communications to the public about this important change - so I might have "bought in" to the cord issue, before I had to ACTUALLY "buy in" (sorry for the pun, couldn't help it).
I won't get into a debate over: "is it fair for Apple to try to hold on to the market or not when it's their tech" or "capitalism rocks, so there" or "they make em in China, so why are they so expensive" or "let's discuss the environmental impact of all of those expired iPhone cables" - because that's all really useless. We dealt with it - made the purchase when all our cables went dead. Hoorah. However, now our family is entering the next phase: "replacing broken cables" because that's a reality too. (NOTE: When you finally DO track down an "Apple approved manufacturer" you gotta make sure you take care of em... UNLESS you have a bunch of teenage boys, and you live a hectic lifestyle, where cords are moved around a lot and pinched in a purse, in the car - in various car chargers (oh and we didn't know some of THOSE wouldn't work either till THAT was too late too... so off to buy new approved car charge adapters). Wear and tear I guess just breaks 'em down, like Lawrence mentioned above.
And then there are the "gremlins" that you just don't know why they didn't work. Apple genius bar guys can give you a different answer EVERY time you go in there - for the SAME cord to the same genius bar but to different guys, all their answers are different... because often times they don't know why a certified cable isn't working either. So you just expect the cables to fail - (my sons and I call it the "gremlin" attack when we know it's a certified cable but it just stopped working. I mutter something that's probably in poor taste under my breath and I say, "ok honey, let's go get a new one" because afterall, I signed us all up to deal with this Apple iPhone issue and we are in the contract - and gotta use the phone...) Anyway, so you just have to plan on replacing most of them on a regular basis (annually for us) or you are left with a dead phone. 🙂
That's a lot of money, folks. And, honestly? We have quite a few Apple products in our home - and office - and my husbands vet office - and my children's school is completely Apple based... you name it, we all have it. But I would have MUCH more enjoyed purchasing a new iPad for my hubby, or a nice BIG screen monitor from Apple for my MacBook Pro, than spending hundreds and hundreds and hundreds on these cords over these past few years - and the stress, lordy, the frustration. Not sure what I mean? Then feel free to read this WHOLE thread. (giggle) If you're from Apple, you already know about the challenges... I just encourage you guys to take a NEW look at an old issue... and how you are presenting it to us. Sure look at how to fix the problem - you guys are good at that - you usually fix it VERY well when there's a problem... and I'm thankful. But do you think of how you present these challenges - AND your solutions - to us?
SO - I do GET all the many, MANY comments of frustrated customers in this thread, because there are clearly multiple issues, and it can be overwhelming. As a mom, wife, business owner (and over-committer to my community 🙂) it honestly is hard to stop my mom taxi or business appointments to fit in errands and phone calls to AT&T, Apple, Radio Shack or Best Buy for returns when your phone, cables, connectors, software, charging ports are "glitchy" lately, or a "bad batch", and "just bring it in, and we'll trade it out". And online stores aren't even useful to try to return to - I just eat the cost (and when I purchase online - which I haven't done in a few years) I just expected that those cords weren't going to be here for the long haul... just a nice cheap solution for a little bit. And that's what they were - maybe for a week or two or two months? I had to try afterall...right? I mean, I did mention that I was buying the actual cords from the apple or at&t stores and they weren't lasting either, right? But it's improved a bit overtime and with your MFI program... so usually you can buy the $20 cable at these stores and get pretty lucky (not perfect) but longer than a month of use is nice.
Apple saved me lots of time over the years with the iPhone. In my home, my work, my children's schedule... Again, I'm VERY thankful. You revolutionized the way most of us organize our days... and communicate and experience the lives we have - and that's pretty cool. So no, I'm not bailing to Samsung like some out there. I know it's a work in progress - that's how technology is. But I'm just hoping that whoever in Apple that may (someday) read this - will hear that there's a big group of us out here that are just disappointed.
We hope you will take the time to put yourself in our shoes and make the process of using your product a little easier. I don't know what that looks like - maybe hold off on releasing an upgrade till you've thought it through and how you might present any "glitches" to your consumers? Whatever you do - just communicate BEFORE hand if possible. Find a way to COMMUNICATE with us. It shouldn't be hard, right? If I knew I might have a hiccup coming my way or a new round of purchases, I can plan for it and "buy in" to your reasoning, if you have sound reasons.
To any who chose to read my musings, here's a few links to helpful hints on spotting counterfeits and the issue of amps/voltage/ watts etc... so when you're purchasing your next "round of cables" you can be confident what you are buying should work - because just because a company says they are an "apple approved manufacturer" it doesn't always mean that they are... heck even reputable companies (ie Radio Shack, Best Buy, and yes, even AT&T... get duped and have sold me and other knock offs that didn't work. No, I didn't yell at the messenger...(the lady who sold it to me at Best Buy), or her manager and not even her upper manager... because often they didn't know THEY were being duped till their "glitchy" cables were being returned with complaints and it was determined they were counterfeits) again, not a perfect science... I get it.
So, there's my plea to Apple. COMMUNICATION is key. HONESTY is key. You wanna make all the money - OK - then share your challenges and tell us why we should purchase from you and "throw in the American dream speech" and I'm in. You guys probably developed whole branches of Apple just to maintain the MFI program - that brings on more jobs - that's cool. But just take time to respect the fact that we need to trust the company we purchase stuff from... and if you screw up - then say it, and tell us your plan, and we'll follow and back you up if we know we are part of the "team" too. 🙂
To the rest of you who for some reason chose to read my musings (giggle) here's my links: Identify counterfeit or uncertified Lightning connector accessories - Apple Support and also, here's info about MFI: https://developer.apple.com/programs/mfi/ and also, http://www.engineering.com/AdvancedManufacturing/ArticleID/10855/Lightning-Cable s-for-Apple-Products-Why-Quality-Matters… and also, this was interesting... (I gotta say my Mac is a gem and so I'm not bothered by the cost control issue...) but the article is interesting: http://www.macworld.com/article/2024257/how-apple-sets-its-prices.html and also, http://www.cnet.com/news/why-im-done-buying-cheap-lightning-cables/ and also, http://www.extremetech.com/electronics/136947-apples-mega-complicated-lightning- connector-analyzed and also, http://gizmodo.com/5945889/some-third-party-adapters-might-not-work-with-your-ne w-iphone?trending_test_three_a&utm_expid… and also, Everything you wanted to know about charging your iPhone or iPad and also, http://www.righto.com/2012/05/apple-iphone-charger-teardown-quality.html also, a few links to some MFI Cert stores - maybe this will help someone find a few use able cables? I think I'll try a few of these sites out soon (wish me luck!) 🙂 Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!
