Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Cult of Mac, Steve Jobs, Apple, Developer, iPhone
Return of the Apple we know and love?
For the past few months, we've seen some turbulent waters here at TUAW. I don't think I need to mention the furor that's popped up in the comments multiple times over a number of Apple's past actions. All the iPhone unlocking has stirred emotions we didn't even know you guys had. The ringtones issue made a lot of us question just what kind of company Apple was. And Apple's own developers were pretty shocked when they found out that to develop for the iPhone, they'd need to brush up on HTML and AJAX, not Cocoa. The Apple we've seen the past few months has been making plenty money, but not so much winning our hearts.But as Macworld points out, change may finally be back in the air, and all in the past week. Apple brought DRM free music back down to normal prices, which is exactly what Jobs wanted to do when he wrote that open letter we all cheered so long ago. Apple has unlocked the iPhone-- albeit in France, and only because they had to, and they'll probably charge a lot more for it, but still, it's progress. High sales of the unlocks there will be more ammunition for getting an unlock everywhere else. And of course, we got the announcement, finally, of a coming SDK for the iPhone.
Apple isn't even close to back in the clear yet-- we may have cheaper DRM-free music, but no one but France has an unlocked iPhone, and all we have is the promise of an SDK with zero details on what that means. It's been a rough road these past few months, however, and we can only hope that Apple is listening to what their fans want, and willing to get back on track
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Ben Englert said 3:06PM on 10-20-2007
The $100 back should have been cash, not store credit. THAT would be the Apple we know and love. (Or just release the damn thing at $399 to begin with).
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raine said 3:32PM on 10-20-2007
@Ben
Wow, there is one ungreatful iPhone user.
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lucasweb said 3:38PM on 10-20-2007
iTunes + downloads are still more expensive the DRM downloads in the UK iTunes store.
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Angelus2007 said 3:40PM on 10-20-2007
I am not sure they are back yet. I think the lower DRM free price is more of the market than Steve Jobs being nice. If he wanted them a 99 cents to begin with why didn't he? With Amazon selling DRM free music for 89 cents how can you sell yours for 40 cents more?
Also the article said it itself, they only unlocked the iPhone because they had too. What about the $100 store credit, or raising the price for students?
It seems we are in a world where Microsoft is doing right by their customers and Apple isn't. What happened Steve? Why can't you still sell 30GB iPods for $200? Or how about firmware updates for my 5.5G iPod? If Redmond can do it why can't you? For all the bad things Microsoft has done in the past, early Zune adopters get the features in their old player, and those not wanting 80GB can get 30GB for $200. Sell me a 2GB 2G Nano for $99, I don't need video. For once Cupertino should watch what Redmond is doing instead of the other way around.
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A said 3:40PM on 10-20-2007
yeah bitch bitch bitch
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Erik said 3:48PM on 10-20-2007
Ugh, I just don't get some of the early iPhone adopters. I bought one early too, and I understood that I was paying a "gotta have it now" premium. You might even look at it as idiot tax, like with the Black MacBook. Whatever it is, YOU bought it, no one forced you to. Just be happy with it or sell it.
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Erik said 3:49PM on 10-20-2007
How can you possibly bitch about not getting a student discount on an iPod? Do you really need it for your studies that badly?
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Mo said 3:51PM on 10-20-2007
My understanding of French law is that Apple can't satisfy their obligations simply by selling a higher-priced but unlocked phone, because they have to allow ALL iPhone customers to have an unlocked phone, and can only charge for it within the first six months. That's my understanding of it, in any case.
(The whole “subsidy repayment” thing is actually baloney, because people are contracted to pay the ‘line rental’ for the minimum term of their contract regardless of whether they have an Orange, Vodafone, T-Mobile, or no SIM at all in the phone)
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Mo said 3:56PM on 10-20-2007
Er, I meant to say: plus there's no actual subsidy on the iPhone, just a cut of the revenues (but does this include line rental or not?)
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Ben said 4:01PM on 10-20-2007
Arrrgh. I'm so tired about everyone complaining about everything. There is no way Apple can make EVERYONE happy. It's just not possible. And I'm sorry to say it but keeping the fanboys (I am one of them) happy does nothing to increase market share and hit those revenue targets. I know we all like the idea of living in a closed off world where 5% of the market is just dandy. Apple WILL become the next Microsoft if they ever get the kind of share that we all know they want to have. There's no way that's not going to happen. Either deal with it or start using Ubuntu - you're probably not as likely to get screwed over there.
As far as unlocking goes, to me the wireless service provider is at least as integral as the OS itself because it provides a consistent level of service. Personally, I'd no more want an iPhone off of AT&T than I'd want an iPhone running Windows Mobile. By sticking with one carrier Apple is able to make it simpler for the everyman: limited rate plans, one carrier, one device. Simple. For normal people. Which is who they want to sell these to.
Doesn't anyone get that?
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db cooper said 4:08PM on 10-20-2007
Apple's ringtone policy = 100% pure, indefensible evil from the eighth dimension. Completely utterly in contradiction to the Hypocrite Jobs' "open letter" about DRM.
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Ross Nizlek said 4:08PM on 10-20-2007
"By sticking with one carrier Apple is able to make it simpler for the everyman: limited rate plans, one carrier, one device. Simple. For normal people. Which is who they want to sell these to."
I do get that, but what continues to infuriate me is that AT&T simply chooses not to service my entire state (Vermont). I'm more than willing to open up my wallet for Apple and AT&T, but they simply won't let me, nor will they allow me to use an alternative carrier.
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freakscene said 4:09PM on 10-20-2007
I think the changes you are seeing are purely due to market forces (competition, laws, et al), and not due to some self-analysis by Jobs and Co. The iPhone SDK will surely in some way profit Apple, whether it be a download fee, a lockout of certain featuresets for non-Apple apps, or the like.
Let none of us forget the old phrase, "Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely." Competition is a great thing, and it is what drives true innovation and pro-consumer initiatives.
I think the photo you used with this entry is entirely apropos. Jobs has a bit of a Mona Lisa smile here, and just like our favorite art enigma, we can't quite figure out what Steve is really thinking.
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BobbyW said 4:20PM on 10-20-2007
The ringtones: Do they have to charge extra because it's outside the scope of fair use? Although, someone I trust said to me that setting video to music is outside the scope of fair use, technically. And you can do that with drm tracks from iTunes.
I love Apple, but the whole thing with requiring a special cable to do video out is my main bone right now. I'm surprised enviro nazis aren't on them for that. They are making perfectly good cables useless. Their last attempt to break exisiting cables didn't work. This time they're trying harder. It's a nasty, aggressive move against loyal customers, not against the competition.
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Gordon said 4:36PM on 10-20-2007
I am also extremely sick to death of the brouhaha that has been raised by Apple pundits in the last 8 months. Its like they've all been needled to death by the Redmond crowd as fanboys and they're trying to make up for lost ground. Don't imagine for one instant that there was any doubt that there would be third party apps on the iphone. Apple got to their current position through some pretty brilliant strategy. They didn't crawl over glass for 10 years to let the other guys off the hook by being idiots. The only difference in Apple is today is that they've expanded the battlefront, and it is more difficult to keep everything aligned. That's extending the supply lines a bit, and making it more difficult for them to completely surprise everybody. Too bad, because that was part of the fun.
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Virtuous said 4:59PM on 10-20-2007
As a company Apple is no better than the competition.
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Neil Anderson said 5:07PM on 10-20-2007
Always room for improvement but Apple is looking good. They don't seem to be afraid to admit when they've made a mistake and then they do their best to fix it.
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Raul said 5:20PM on 10-20-2007
Hey, I don't get the Iphone price cribs, every time Nokia introduces a high end phone it starts at a ridiculous price like $600-1000 depending on the particular model, but within months the prices start the downward spiral towards the 300-450 level until they disappear off the market.
Early adopters know they have to pay a premium for getting it early. Getting a 100 credit would be a surprisingly good deed, but never had that from Nokia.
Apple made a mistake with the pricing and they corrected it as soon as they could.
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Andrew said 5:21PM on 10-20-2007
@Ben - the extra $200 was the fanboi premium. Hell, at least they gave you something back: would Gates have done that?
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WW said 5:29PM on 10-20-2007
@ Andrew "the extra $200 was the fanboi premium. Hell, at least they gave you something back: would Gates have done that?"
I think he did.... early zune 'fanboIs' are getting new firmware next month, remember?
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