Apple's Stupidity

First things first. Apple makes some beautiful, extremely innovating products. Their computers are slim, sexy and powerful. Their iPod's revolutionized the music industry. The iPhone and iPod Touch have created a touch screen trend which is forcing all competitors to play catch up. In this world of innovation, however, Apple has made some very poor decisions in my opinion.

The only place that Apple has gone right is with the iPod and iPod Touch. These devices are incredible. While the price is still relatively high compared to its MP3 player competitors, no other device offers the functionality and flexibility than that of the iPod. I own an iPod Touch and love it! My only beef with the Touch.....having to pay for the software updates! That is ridiculous in my opinion, but that's an argument for another day. Onward...

Mistake #1 -- Who is Apple targeting with their computers? Are they really trying to compete or are they going after a niche market. Like I mentioned previously, their computers are great, but who in the hell is pricing these things? I understand that Windows Vista is awful. I understand that PC's and Windows based products are more vulnerable to hacking, viruses and worms. However, for the average computer user in this country, Apple computers aren't even considered as an option. I could walk into Best Buy right now and buy a HP laptop with a dual-core processor, 4 GB of memory and 320 GB hard drive (among other things) for $585. Look at the laptops that Apple offers by comparison. Specifically, look at the price vs. features noted above. What person wants to spend an extra $1,000 to get a laptop with similar features? Certainly not your average American.

Mistake #2 -- I sure hope that AT&T is paying Apple LOTS of money for their exclusivity agreement surrounding the iPhone. This deal has been fabulous for AT&T, a great business decision, but what was Apple thinking with this one? T-Mobile customers have the fortunate ability to hack the iPhone to use it on their network. Customers of Sprint, Verizon and the rest of US cell service providers are stuck. Sure, the appeal of the iPhone has encouraged many people to switch carriers, but that's not always convenient. Contract cancellation fees are outrageous if you bow out early. If you can't wait for that 2-year contract to expire, you'll be paying 1) cancellation fees, 2) the high price for the iPhone itself and 3) the iPhone plan price (which for what you get, far exceeds any other plan).

I'm a very satisfied Verizon customer. Verizon has been easy to deal with , reliable and fair priced. I'm not interested in switching carriers despite my heavy interest in the iPhone. Nearly all my friends and family have Verizon so I have the enormous benefit of free Verizon to Verizon minutes/texting. It allows me to opt for a cheaper plan, saving me money. That would go away if I switched carriers. Granted, I'm only one customer, but I absolutely guarantee you that there are throngs of Verizon and Sprint customers who would already own an iPhone if it wasn't for Apple's bone-headed business decision to be AT&T exclusive.

Unless the price of Apple computers comes way down, then I won't be considering an Apple the next time I'm computer shopping. And I sure hope that when the iPhone exclusivity contract expires next year, Apple decides to expand their iPhone to other cell carriors. If not, LG and RIM will be my cell phone companies of choice.

It seems to me that Apple is extremely innovative and tech savvy. As far as business savvy, not so much.