Apple are giving the best option for their userbase compared to other products on the market. That doesn't mean it's all, or even mostly, what these users want. It only means other products give less.
The user is choosing out of an artificial lack of better options, which Apple can only get away with by having a big share in the US market. In markets where they are not dominant, the consumer benefits.
Consumers aren't great with choices, but that isn't Apple's greatest win. Apple's greatest win is that it only sells the high margin stuff. They won't play in the cut-throat market of low-speed processors or those free phones. They go after margins that are much greater than their competitors. They leave in what most people find most important and say, "go somewhere else" to anyone that doesn't like that. Want FM radio in that iPod? Well, almost no one else does so find a different product or get an add-on.
This isn't pro or con Apple. It's just who they are. They go for what's profitable and what most people would like. They don't want to be the biggest, they want to be the best.
I don't see anything wrong with having a genuine appreciation for a quality product. You, my friend, are a hater :) And you can put down your pitchfork.
In regards to your actual addressable comment, yes people have more choices. That's called competition, and there's a lot of GOOD competition out there. I'm speaking to Apple's communication strategy that's lacking in certain areas that are really making holes in their public perception.
The vast majority of the Apple products which I repeatedly hear are superior are used by people who are completely locked into their ecosystem and only use Apple products.
Which makes their advice less credible for several possible reasons:
* they may not have the exposure to other products to have an authoritative opinion,
* or they have used the products in a completely different context (eg, within the ecosystem with an iCloud account or other accompanying product),
* or they might be expressing a bit of stockholm-esque sentiment ("it's the best I can easily use due to the limitations in which I can use this particular product and I love living within these limitations, so it's clearly the best option because everyone should love living within these limitations too..")
Isn't Apple used to selling highly marked up products to people who want something that "just works"? It doesn't seem to matter if it's the best product or a competitive price.
One of the many social messages sent by Apple products is "I deserve/have the best".
Once you are selling to customers like that, you have left the realm of the so-called economically rational customer which has a value curve that seeks a good product at a fair price. Instead they feel entitled to the best product because they can/have paid the top price for it.
Thus there is going to be a subset that will deeply care that they have "the bestest of the best", and so micro differences become an obsession.
You have clearly misunderstood my position as you have replied to 2 of my comments already. You seem to have an "Apple vs the world" mentality when my point is entirely about holding Apple accountable to their own marketing. You sound like a bizarre Apple apologist and I'm tired of trying to explain myself to you when all you want to do is explain to me why Apple is better than everybody when I do not care and also fundamentally disagree.
If you think Apple's approach is the best you're allowed to think that. I disagree.
>people value themselves and get the best thing they can have.
The problem is that what someone considers "best" is highly influential by their social environment, of which status is a part of. If the majority of your friends use Apple, and there is the whole app interactivity that you get with things like iMessage over SMS, if you value the social experience you are going to think that Apple is best.
It's a tired meme that Apple users simply aren't aware of the wider world outside of whatever Apple makes. Many people choose them over what others might call "really excellent" because they value things that you don't.
Apple makes their money from selling products and services rather than selling the user. At least that's the perception. Apple also gets their share of this kind of criticism, but it invites much less of it in this way.
That’s not what people are saying though. Whether or not apple cares about its users is completely irrelevant. The question is whether apples incentives align with its users better than other tech companies. The answer pretty clearly seems to be yes, apple makes most of its money by selling hardware, their incentive is to make a product people enjoy. Competitors make most of their money selling ads, their incentive is to lock users in while maximizing the number and effectiveness of ads served.
Apple has a simple and transparent strategy that is good for its customers: pay a premium and get a premium product. They don't violate your privacy, they don't usually show you ads (although they do have an ad network, limited to mobile apps, iTunes and the Mac app store I'd think).
They have a limited number of SKUs. Apple makes a few good products, each one representing the Apple brand in all its glory. The vertical integration from hardware, to software and cloud is something nobody else can do except maybe if Microsoft if it gets serious about the Surface (despite the poor sales).
It might be true that we see less of the innovation that the Steve Jobs era was known for, but they haven't changed at the heart. They're keeping their design quality, their finish, and the vertical integration. Apple isn't making any junk and exploiting its brand and deceiving its customers with shitty products.
Having said that, it doesn't mean that Apple's products are for everyone. I don't like iCloud and I don't particular like iOS, but even so I can see the value in what they're doing.
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