Rebellion fears addressed

Leander Kahney, a writer for Wired.com, posted a new column today asking the question "Are Apple's Customers Rebelling?" The question is raised by recent reports douting the quality control and over all value of buying Apple products such as the iPod media player. Recent reports from the BBC, Daily Telegraph, and The Scotsman all question the long term success of the iPod as problems with the device get the media spotlight. The Scotsman recently published article stating, "… two years after Britain fell in love with the iPod there are signs that the pocket-sized box that transformed the way millions listen to music is beginning to lose its shine." These comments are echoed around the media as the backlash of iPod faults grows.

Teething troubles

Apple has reported 20 percent year-over-year growth for Macs and 200 percent growth for iPods.

"True, some of the new machines are having teething troubles," wrote Leander Kahney, columnist for Wired.com. "But it's hard to tell how widespread these problems are. The internet is a notorious echo chamber; a few vocal critics can make it seem like there's a full-scale breakdown."

Kahney believes that the problem is not nearly as widespread as the voices on the internet suggest, speculating that the numbers of faulty MacBooks is probably less than 10 percent. The columnist blames the media for "backlash," claiming that the effect is limited to newsgroups and journalists hunting for stories.

"No doubt there's a lot of customers out there who are quite happy with their new machines," he explained, "And they'll remain blissfully silent until something goes wrong."

Apple in the spotlight

PC Worlds' John Dvorak is fingered as one of the "pundits" in the media who likes to draw negative attention to Apple in an attempt to balance out the overwhelming number of journalists who are "Mac Fans."

Kahney claims that all the attention is due to Apple's cutting-edge mentality and technology that sets both design and feature trends throughout the industry.

"A funky looking iMac looks better on the front page than another dull Dell -- even if the Dell will outsell the Apple machine by a factor of 10 to 1," Kahney said.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs uses this media affiliation with Apple to make every product announcement an event, which reverberate through numerous media outlets. All of the positive attention Apple draws can turn against the company, however, if something goes awry.

While researching, Kahney found that Dell recalled 553,000 AC adapters, and IBM recalled 225,000 in 2004. Those stories received nearly no press coverage compared to the 128,000 batteries recalled by Apple last spring, however.

"Apple has long punched above its weight in terms of the media attention it attracts -- it's just now it's attracting the wrong kind."

by MacNN Staff