Apple Archive

I know, I know…Apple does nothing wrong, the iPhone is perfect, yay Apple. With the required Apple is awesome statement out of the way, I’d like to share a very important bit of poor usability in the Apple App Store. The good news is that the issue can be corrected very easily.

This past week on the tech blogs there were two major stories: the launch of the $41-million, VC-baked photo sharing app Color; and the beginning of fun posts about whether we are in a bubble or not. Rackspace employee Robert Scoble wrote a rant where he described how Color will basically never be able to recover from their initial App Store launch. I haven’t installed Color but one of the things Robert noted is that Color has a large number of “scathing reviews” and two-star ratings.

I read a few of the blog posts around the Color launch and wanted to check out the reviews and ratings Robert mentions in his post so I loaded iTunes and landed on the App Store page for the Color app. Below is a screenshot of what I see when the Color page loads. If you look at the red arrow, it points to the Rating for the Color app. It says 4+ which clearly means that Color has a rating of higher than 4 but less than 5 probably meaning the average is 4.xx. This was very confusing to me because Robert said that Color had a much lower overall rating of near 2.

Oh! While it doesn’t look like a link, the “Rated 4+” actually means that the application itself has an age rating of 4+ which means it’s basically approved for all audiences.

When you scroll down on the Color app page, you see what I’ve posted below – the customer ratings for the app. This is horrible usability – it makes nearly all apps with “Customer Ratings” of below 4 appear as if they have much higher overall ratings.

Apple could easily fix this by changing “Rated 4+” to “Age Rating” and placing “Average Customer Rating” right below it with a link that takes the customer down to the customer ratings section seen below. Assuming others agree with me, it would certainly be interesting to look at download counts for low customer rating apps after the change is made to see if in fact this major usability issue led to higher download counts.

I remember when the new Air Jordan sneakers came out — everyone wanted the new style, no one wanted last year’s model. You could get huge discounts on the “old” version of the sneakers — sometimes more than 50% off the original price.

Earlier this month we saw Apple reduce the price of their refurbished iPad devices by about $150. And just a week ago Josh Lowensohn at CNET reported that AT&T reduced the price of the AT&T 3G version of the original iPad by $100. AT&T is still offering their iPad deal — a 16GB AT&T 3G original iPad is selling for $429.

Today I am reading on multiple deal boards with several confirmations that Verizon is selling the 16GB WiFi original iPad for $299. This model does not come with the 3G service only WiFi and the deal appears to be available only in Verizon stores. Confirmations have come in from across the country.

If you read some of the Apple fanboy blogs, it seems like if you have an iPad 1, you might not want to upgrade to the iPad 2. The fanboys suggest if you are purchasing the iPad for the first time, the iPad 2 is the way to go. Apple describes the iPad 2 as, “faster, lighter, thinner” — I think the big difference is the camera and the “cool” cover (that’s the real gem of the iPad 2 and why the fanboys ran out to buy one so they can make sure everyone knows they got an iPad 2 like the Jordans).

This deal is a $200 savings over the new iPad 2. That’s a lot of apps you can buy. I think this deal will get a lot of people thinking of an iPad before they consider an Android tablet.

When I was a youngster, I busted my butt at the supermarket every week. And about once a quarter, I bought the new Nike Air Jordan sneakers. These sneakers were crazy expensive and my mother would yell at me (mainly because people were robbed for their Jordans in NYC) that I shouldn’t spend so much on sneakers. But I remember that even though they were expensive, there was something magical about wearing them. I can’t dunk a ball (though I was good at the three) but walking around Brooklyn in the sneakers just made me feel a bit cooler than if I bought just the basic sneakers.

When people ask me why the iPhone has been so popular, I reply by saying, “it’s the white headphones.” I only owned an iPhone for three weeks when it first launched because there was no AT&T signal in my apartment building in Manhattan. When I returned the iPhone, I went with a Samsung ACE which has Windows 6 Mobile. The phone has been great, it handles email great, phone calls with Sprint have always been rock solid and I like the keyboard. It’s a great utility phone, but it doesn’t have the white headphones.

I’ve taken two flights with Virgin Atlantic in their Upper Class service (I used points back in the day when the points from Delta transferred – it was sweet!). The experience from the second I arrived at JFK and LHR was absolutely amazing. Virgin Mobile has tried to copy the “look” of Virgin Atlantic but I am not sure the experience offered is the same.

I am not an Apple fanboy, but there is no doubt that when you buy an Apple product or visit one of their stores, it’s like slipping your feet into a pair of Air Jordans. I think Apple has realized that making a phone is easy, it’s making an experience that is much harder. These mobile devices are attached at our hips, in a purse, a fanny pack, or a belt clip night and day. And so the experience is so important today with technology. I bought an Apple iPod Touch during the holidays on Amazon and just opening the packaging made me think the device was made for the experience.

Continue reading “My First 24 Hours With Android and Virgin Mobile and Why Apple Currently Has Won The Experience Battle” »

So the big news today from Apple is the new iPad 2. It is thinner yadda yadda, lighter yadda yadda, has more ram, has some cool new software, Scoble loves it, it can get you dates, it can help you balance your checkbook, it can help you fix a flat tire, there’s nothing it can’t do. Brad McCarty at Next Web has a recap of all of today’s iPad 2 announcements including the seriously cool case that can be folded up into a stand.

Last September, I posted about a variety of refurbished iPad deals at the Apple Store. At the time, the refurb iPad 16GB WiFi model was available for $449.  Today they have lowered the price to $349 or $150 less than the new iPad 2. The Apple Store has all of the details. The prices range from:

• $349 for the 16GB WiFi model
• $479 for the 16GB WiFi + 3G model
• $529 for the 64GB WiFi model

Apple notes regarding their refurbished Apple iPad devices:

• same 1 year warranty as a brand new iPad
• all manuals and accessories
• a new battery and outer shell (to me this makes the device look brand new)
• a new white box (ha!)

So if you don’t care about the cameras, the thinnerness (new word!) or the lighter weight of the iPad 2 and still want to get in on the action, you might want to check out a refurb iPad original. You can call it the Classic iPad like Classic Coke.

It sure looks like the newest generation of the Apple iPod Touch is the electronics item that has seen the most deals — both online and offline. More than ever I’ve noticed Amazon going head-to-head with Target. When Target has an electronics item on sale, Amazon appears to match the price nearly immediately.

I think these iPod Touch deals might be the last great buys of the year — certainly the last buys if you are planning to get the device for a Christmas gift.

Amazon is offering the 8gb iPod Touch for $205 with a free $25 Amazon gift card. This brings the net price down to $180 – this is $50 less than the Apple Store and if you include tax savings from buying on Amazon, the total savings is somewhere around $70. If you have a Prime shipping membership with Amazon, I think you should still be able to get the device home before Friday and certainly if you add in the extra $4 for overnight shipping.

This second deal isn’t for the deal newbie. If you do the legwork, you can get the 8gb iPod Touch for $162.50 + tax at Target. The deal requires some Target coupons and includes a gift card but if you are willing to do the legwork, this is the best deal overall. I still prefer the Amazon deal above because it’s easier and doesn’t require dealing with lines at the store and/or potential coupon issues. The deal instructions can be found on Your Best Source on the Net.

If you prefer BestBuy, they have the iPod Touch for $229 with a $50 Best Buy gift card. If you are one of their Reward Zone members, I believe you can also grab some free headphones. Remember with Best Buy you will pay sales tax on your purchase.

Side deal – if you need iTunes credits, BestBuy has $50 cards for $40 this week with free shipping. With all the iTunes gift card deals out there, please don’t pay full price buying direct on iTunes without a gift card.

If you have been looking to purchase an Apple iPhone 4, here’s the deal of the season. Apple sells the iPhone 4 mobile phone for $199. You can also purchase the iPhone 4 at an AT&T store for the same price.

Over the next week, Walmart will be selling the iPhone 4 for $199 plus a free $50 Walmart gift card. The deal begins on Saturday so don’t head over to Walmart today.  What makes this deal great is if you were planning to buy an iPhone anyway, use the gift card immediately to buy an iTunes gift card and use the $50 to load up on apps and music.

Here are the terms of the Walmart deal, “Gift card offer not available online. Offer valid from Saturday, December 18 – Saturday, December 25, 2010. Offer only applies to Apple iPhone wireless phones sold with new 2-year contract or qualified upgrade. Store selection may vary. While supplies last. No rainchecks. Gift cards are not eligible to be used with the phone purchase. Offer available at select stores. See store for details.”

You can also get a discounted iPhone by purchasing a refurbished iPhone 4 through AT&T.

I’ve been a fan of QVC for a long time – I think they have always done a good job of being the tops of television shopping when it comes to the quality of their programming. Their sets and graphics are always improving and their hosts seem a notch ahead of competitors including HSN. QVC pushes their social media efforts and even hired “social media host” Courtney Cason earlier this year.

One of the things that is pretty amazing is how well they are able to take electronics and create “packages” which sell for a much higher price than the item sells for alone. Their packages remind me of my days working at The Wiz in NYC where every salesperson knew that the best spiffs were on accessories and rarely on the main products themselves. That’s why a computer rarely went out the door without a surge protector or mouse pad.

If you are wondering if anyone actually buys the packages QVC offers – they claim to have sold 7,500 of the iPod Touch 8gb packages this month.

I have two examples of how QVC maximizes revenue on their electronics sales — the iPod Touch and the Nintendo Wii.

iPod Touch – QVC vs. Amazon/Apple Store

The 32gb 4th generation iPod Touch launched today as a bundle on QVC for a whopping $426.80. Before we get to what’s included in the QVC bundle, the base device is currently selling for $299 in the Apple Store and Amazon is selling the iPod Touch device for $244 after $25 gift card. QVC charges a whopping $11 for shipping plus sales tax in all states.

The simple math comparing QVC to Amazon – QVC total price $474, Amazon total price $244. That’s a $230 dollar difference! You could buy a 2nd iPod Touch from Amazon for the same price as the bundle on QVC!

Continue reading “Here’s How QVC Maximizes Revenue on Electronics Sales” »