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iPhone Debacle Provides Learning Moment for Marketers and Advertisers
The iPhone is a revolutionary device, no doubt. However, the actions of Apple in this week’s firmware release, which wipe out 3rd party apps that a user might have installed on their iPhone at best and “bricks” (renders useless) at worst is reprehensible. Forget $200 price drops, this move by Apple is rotten to the core.
Others with very important are agreeing:
Salon makes the point that if you care about your rights, you should not buy an iPhone:
But Apple has now made it plain that anybody who buys the iPhone is not really buying it. What we’re doing instead is more like renting it — Apple remains your landlord, stern, controlling, and allowed to evict you at will. At whatever price — $600, $400, $200 — that’s a very high cost to bear. If you care about your rights, don’t buy an iPhone.
Gizmodo goes so far to write “Don’t Buy an iPhone“:
I’m not so deluded that I think this little rant of mine will stop Apple from selling millions of these phones. But I’m pretty sure this is what other geeks are thinking. And possibly, more than just the geeks.
While this is nothing new from Apple, it strikes at the core of fanboys (and girls) everywhere who want to believe that Apple is a benevolent corporation in terms of products and process. It seems that perception could be evolving into a sober reality that Apple is a profit driven corporation just as capable of doing “bad’ things as say Microsoft. When you look at the locked in iTunes platform, the loss of NBC shows and the release of Amazon’s DRM free mp3 service, Apple needs to be careful about the satisfaction of its dedicated (and casual) users.
While I’d love to make this a diatribe in favor of open source standards, devices and operating systems (like my beloved Ubuntu… use it!), I’ll refrain and instead point to the general learning moment that we as marketers or those involved in the online revenue industry can learn from Apple’s faux-pas.
- Lesson #1 Don’t lock in your consumers based on what you perceive as their best interests: You might know a great deal about your users/subscribers/buyers based on statistical data, but you don’t know their human thoughts, wants and needs. If given the choice, don’t make assumptions for them based on your own perspective. Tap into the stream and see what they think, feel or need. If you don’t have that ability in your program, find a way to build it in.
- Lesson #2 If you love your users, set them free: Web users are realizing that the data that they create on forums, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, etc is their own and they will increasingly flock to services that allow for the open exchange of their own data. Some call that a “social graph,” but the idea is that you should always be as open as possible with API’s, RSS, open standards, OpenID and look for ways to innovate. Your bottom line will thank you.
- Lesson #3 Allow your product/service/site to become an anchor, or coral reef, for an aspect of your users life rather than a walled garden: Apple has essentially cut off the iPhone from any service that a user might want to integrate into their own daily experience (outside of web applications). Instead, make your service a coral reef of a user’s web experience, or something that they can build upon to enrich their own lives.
- Lesson #4 Encourage tinkering with your service: While not immediately obvious, allowing others to give input or even tinker with the innards of your product/service/site only makes it stronger. This isn’t about user generated content or amateur hour at YouTube… think of the highly skilled programmers and engineers that pour hours and hours into developing open source products (Firefox, Thunderbird, Amarok) or Linux operating systems (again, I’ll point to my beloved Ubuntuthat you should all at least try out) that rival or excel past their proprietary “competitors.” There are highly skilled shoppers looking to help you improve your shopping affiliate program, and that is true for almost every niche. Find them by opening up.
- Lesson #5 Make money, but do so with transparent actions: Apple’s iPhone debacle has been caused by the actions of a corporation that has a certain perspective (do-gooders) but explained an unpopular (unethical) action with a very weak defense (Steve Jobs saying that he doesn’t wan the AT&T network to crash because of a faulty 3rd party app on the iPhone… ridiculous). Everyone expects Apple, or you, to want to monetize your product or service or site… but do so with transparency, especially when you have to make a decision that might alienate a loyal fan or visitor base.
So, short of making this a post advocating using open source products exclusively (which you should try to do!), let’s learn from Apple’s mistakes and mis-steps in this situation and realize how improving our programs doesn’t always mean erecting a walled garden or protective barrier in the name of customer interest. The bottom line is that “freedom” (as murky as a term that it is) is becoming a sought after quality by many web users when they make choices on which service, product or site to use in their day-to-day lives.
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Some more iPhone fun - among people who got special international plans set to use theirs in London this past week - some worked and some didn’t.
I doubt the folks who bothered to get a special plan setup and then didn’t have a phone were saying “Cheers!”.
Having witnessed every single dedicated Apple reseller (VAR) operation get hosed by the Apple planned obsolescene practice. They always built-in destruction of existing Apple platforms by every new productline release to penalized their small cult following. Exact opposite the Bill Gates model of encouraging 3rd party developers since day one of Microsoft.
Moral of the story is you get fleas even when laying down with a totally liberal pink bisexual poodle.
I dunno. The iPhone was marketed as a closed system. One of the reasons I chose the Treo over the iPhone was that I could hack and modify the Treo. I added a 3rd party launcher and use a number of programs written by others that I use daily.
When you buy a closed phone (like just about every other phone on the market) you get what you buy. When Apple came out with their iPhone it was pretty well understood that they were not going to allow 3rd party applications or unlocking. Those who chose to fiddle with their phones knew fully well the risks they were taking.
While I feel for those who spent money on “bricks” I also can’t go and put blame on Apple.
Brad-
To me, that’s like Apple bricking every Macbook and iMac that users have loaded 3rd party apps on. It doesn’t make sense.
Voiding someone’s warranty for tinkering with equipment is one thing (and no one would have an argument with Apple for doing so). Completely bricking the device to non-functionality is over the line, though.
A company that seeks complete control over a system that I’ve bought and paid for and can voluntary “break it” at their own volition seems quite unethical and everything that the Fanboys believe Apple is against.
This is a very interesting move by Apple. I can understand the money based motives behind it, but I would have thought (maybe naively) that they’d make a killing of selling those phones either way - possibly even more if they open up the device…
This being Apple - makes me think there’s a bigger thought, or an incredible amount of money locked behind this whole thing…
Any insight?
Sam,
Maybe we just have to disagree. I see the iPhone as an iPod, not a computer. You buy a computer and expect to modify it and add software. You don’t buy an iPod and then expect Apple to back it fully if you go and mess with the OS and add stuff not suported by Apple. Particularly when Apple has said all along that they don’t want you messing with it and users knew that there would be frequent software updates.
Do I agree with the strategy? Not at all. I think that they should have opened the device like the Treo. Let the developers come out with some great apps and let users add them as they want. I love my Treo because of the 3rd party apps, not because of what they built into it!
I guess that’s the main sticking point for people who agree with me over this… I do view the iPhone as more computer (or at least hand held internet device) than phone.