Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple Corporate, Apple
Apple among "10 most overrated brands"
Boston.com has produced a list of the 10 Most Overrated Brands. Apple is at number nine. How so? According to Boston.com, it's the hype that sustains us."...while Apple has made its name combining sharp design with great technology, the brand's true appeal comes from the fact that consumers are hooked on the hype."
Us? Succumb to the hype? It's not like we post pictures of empty boxes, sleep on the street or buy Steve Jobs Lego figures. I agree that the fanatical devotion of what Boston.com calls "the iCult" gets way out hand. Is any phone worth three nights on a New York City street? Of course not. But ask those folks why they're there, and they'll tell you it's the fun of hanging out with like-minded Mac geeks.
While Apple hypes their products, it's often the fanboys who push it over the edge. For me, that doesn't detract from the fact that they deliver great products.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Jam said 2:40PM on 10-29-2008
I buy Apple products because they are good, when a product isn't good I buy an alternative. Case in Point Cinema Displays (Overpriced with lower specs then the competition) and the Mac Mini which is almost an entirely pointless computer.
The MacBook Pros, Mac Pros, iPods and the iPhone on the other hand are very good products and lets not forget OS X which is just the best consumer OS available.
I don't know anyone personally who buys Apple products for the 'Hype' they keep buying them because they are satisfied with what they pay for simple as that.
Reply
draconix2002 said 2:46PM on 10-29-2008
I have to agree on the point that Apple is an over hyped brand. Yes, the hardware is rock solid, but OS X isnt everything its made out to be. I dislike the iPod due to its heavy tie-in with iTunes, which is a horrid media player, but excels in being a store... that i dont use. Same reason I dont have an iPhone. It tries too hard to be something its not. its a great day to day machine, but beyond creative arts, Apple is a horrid business machine. I've had OS X crash more times than Vista via Bootcamp... thats pitiful. Especially since i use Vista way more than OS X.
Reply
Skyler said 2:58PM on 10-29-2008
What the hell were you doing to make OSX completely crash? Mac user here for 10? years and only had apps crash. Never the whole OS.
draconix2002 said 3:14PM on 10-29-2008
nothing really special, mostly day to day apps (FireFox, Entourage, terminal, ARD 3.2, Preview, iChat)... i have an early 2008 17 MBP, 4GB RAM 320GB HDD (upgraded from a WD passport HD)... but i should note that my machine is also my main terminal to my 3 xServes... which one has massive problems of its own (OD Master no less)... Not thrilled with their User OS, appauled at their Server OS, Huge fan of their hardware (going back from the G3 to now, especially now since its Intel CPU/nVidia backed) can do completely without their peripherals (ipod/iphone). (fyi: crash = multi lingual grey screen)
Also, since I'm the server admin as well as help desk, i have 30 iMac users that break the OS, even without Admin access... we're still new to the switch (march of this year and still going)... but things are barely being held together...
Zoroaster said 4:00PM on 10-29-2008
Yeah I don't know why OSX has a reputation for being so much more stable than windows. My imac crashes inexplicably on a regular basis. If you take care of a windows computer it doesn't really crash all that often. And when my windows machine crashes I can generally figure out what is causing it, but when my mac crashes its suddenly and for no apparent reason. With that said I don't think it crashes MORE than xp, and I still prefer OSX overall, I just don't think it has some huge stability advantage.
Nick said 7:23PM on 10-31-2008
For someone so opinionated about the OS and for claiming to work with so many Apple server products, I find it odd that you don't refer to a kernel panic as a "multi lingual grey screen." If you want to criticize Apple products, that's your right, but please learn the terminology, especially when self-elevating your experience with the product so high while posting an an Apple-oriented blog.
SteveJr_Ri said 6:34PM on 10-29-2008
Complain about iTunes all you want but its nice to have one company to handle all your services. I don't like having to use windows Zune for a zune device, that program is horrible to use IMHO. People can have opinions, your entitled to it, but there's no need to bash it. I switched to mac a year ago and I might restart my laptop once every few weeks because of updates/installs. It never crashes for me, is very stable, and when you put the computer to sleep it manages the battery way better, unlike other laptops where when I would put them to sleep I have to immediately plug it in when I went to use it next, my laptop can now last me almost a day of usage.
Odineye said 6:57PM on 10-29-2008
"but beyond creative arts, Apple is a horrid business machine. "
Guess that depends upon what you are trying to do. I use MacBooks and iMacs in my consulting business, and find that they excel in pretty much everything I ask them to do. Far less downtime, far more functional software, and often at a lower price - I can find a Mac or Apple equivalent for everything that is offered for Windows that I want to accomplish - iWork instead of Office, Money instead of Quicken, Bento for Database management - all at considerably lower prices.
Jake said 2:58PM on 10-29-2008
Sure Apple is overhyped by some people, but that doesn't mean their products are inferior as that article implies. Apple makes great, quality products.
Reply
kohnjrug said 2:57PM on 10-29-2008
Shouldn't Obama be on this list?
Reply
Skyler said 2:58PM on 10-29-2008
schwing!
Jake said 3:03PM on 10-29-2008
HA!
ericdano` said 3:00PM on 10-29-2008
Yes, he should. Wait till he takes office and people realize he won't do half of what he promised.........
Level 5 said 8:04PM on 10-29-2008
you sir, has the win of the day, omg.
Meatleg said 9:13PM on 10-29-2008
HAHA! Yeah, it's amazing how just being intelligent can make others call you overrated. I guess that's what happens when the bar for electability is set so low by a fact-free faith based foreign policy and reckless, short-sighted domestic policy custom made for millionaires.
If the candidates were computer platforms:
Obama would be Snow Leopard (still in beta, but already ahead of his time)
Bush would be the barely organized pre-windows DOS (I am sooooo ready to retire those floppies) and McSame would be, well, whatever this is:
http://tinyurl.com/68mggp
ericdano` said 2:59PM on 10-29-2008
Google Phone? Where? What? Oh, you mean that mess called Android. That is not a Google Phone. That is implying that Google is making the whole thing like Apple does. That is not true at all. They are taking a page from Windows Mobile, and providing the software, while trying to get hardware makers to use it.
As we have seen, controlling the whole product allows for a tighter experience. Apple will hold the top spot for a while, Android and RIM will fight for second, and Windows Mobile is going to be towards the bottom.
Reply
draconix2002 said 3:16PM on 10-29-2008
I should note that Apple developed the iPhone OS, and the case, but the innards were developed out of house to Apple Specs... much like Google and the G1...
draconix2002 said 3:18PM on 10-29-2008
Another note: I wouldnt buy either one... i miss my Nokia 5160... lothe my Moto Q9m, want a Blackberry Storm...
Frippe said 2:59PM on 10-29-2008
Apple makes very nice products. But I must agree that the hype over it is way too much. Much of it is produced by all the fanboys but Apple is doing their part also. Firstly with the keynotes and invites for special news events. Always when there is a news event the speculation is spiraling out of control. Secondly, what is it with the shutting down of the applestore to add a minor product. I mean, it seems very strange that Apple uses a system that needs them to take down the whole store just to add some items.
Reply
Squid7085 said 3:03PM on 10-29-2008
I fail to see a problem. :-)
Reply