[R2D2]

Originally Posted by lazybrain

Not necessarily they will give you on refurbished unit as replacement. It all depends on timing and availability.

That's right, if the product has been recently launched and a unit develops a fault, it goes without saying they won't be so far down the product lifecycle to have refurbs in stock. So a new one it will be.

[Swanand Inamdar]

Here's an example thats not related to the iPhone, but Apple as such.

A friend of mine, in Asutralia is an Apple fanatic. Every product that's launched; he has it. But thats irrelevant.
His 1st gen Mac Air started acting up after 3 years of use (obviously making it out of waranty). No physical damage. Used with utmost care.
He takes it to the Apple store for repair. 1 hour later, he gets a call from the SA that they are ready to replace his (3)year old Mac Air, with a brand new one! Why? Because, the device acted up, for no fault of the user.
That, in my books is A.S.S.

Can any other company match that?

[dar3dev|l]

^^ let me add an Apple experience with a close relative of mine.

Bought a brand new 16GB 3GS last year from an Apple Store. In the 12th month he started facing issues with the phone, at times battery not charging or losing charge all of a sudden , phone becoming sluggish, etc. He went to the apple store to have the problem rectified. Guess what !

He was given a brand new 16gb 4S , NO QUESTIONS ASKED !

of course my relative took it happily, NO QUESTIONS ASKED

[lazybrain]

Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

Can any other company match that?

Originally Posted by dar3dev|l

He was given a brand new 16gb 4S , NO QUESTIONS ASKED !
of course my relative took it happily, NO QUESTIONS ASKED

Not only that if anyone who had interaction with call center of Apple India will know how professional and courteous the executives are. I had an experience an year back with them when i called them for some petty iTunes query. The call got disconnected during the conversation. Within few seconds i got a call back from the same executive on my mobile saying "Sorry Sir the call got disconnected, tell me how may i help you". Now compare this kind of behavior with companies like Airtel

[sa_kiran]

Samsung reduces the price of its flagship product 3 times in 3 months, including one just a week after launch - http://m.bgr.in/manufacturers/samsun...-for-rs-34900/

This has not happened with Apple. I hope that have enough checks for their products that they don't have to resort to such desperate measures to sell. AND, did not iPhone 5 preorder close in less than 1 hour on 14th September?

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by lazybrain

Not only that if anyone who had interaction with call center of Apple India will know how professional and courteous the executives are. I had an experience an year back with them when i called them for some petty iTunes query. The call got disconnected during the conversation. Within few seconds i got a call back from the same executive on my mobile saying "Sorry Sir the call got disconnected, tell me how may i help you". Now compare this kind of behavior with companies like Airtel

I had the same experience when I bought my X1.

[R2D2]

When I finally let go of my IP4s it will definitely be for another iPhone - it just may or may not be the IP5. India prices will determine this.

It is a wonderful to experience the best of both worlds - Android and IOS.

[Sn1p3r]

If someone is within the iOS and Apple ecosystem iPhone 5 is a very logical and nice upgrade even for 4S owners due to 4G. Play to believe it. However, LTE as a technology hasn't been standardized due to radio waves allocation in different countries. Many have hastily said iPhone isn't world phone, sorry that isn't correct. It is however 4G that isn't, you still can enjoy pricy 3G data bumped up-to 7.2mbps (dream in India over my reliance iPad connection)all across the world.

Recently, I had a chance to play with the thing and it's not odd and really you can work with it, pocket it like other normal phones and still be in the best ecosystem. You may point I am being a fanboy but no I earn bread and butter on Android and rest from iOS. First time ever Business' love the product from Apple

Android is great but handling and debugging it for different devices and the way services act with interacting with different peripherals is not as smooth as Apples walled garden. Freedom someone fretted, it's never absolute and Steve never said customers are dumb, he said they need to be told how to, thus iPhone is still the one to beat and thank for changing the game. Once google goggles is commercialized I am sure I will be the first to pounce but right now iPhone is the best. Other phones have one or two features that are spec-ed better but none has the finesse to beat it.

As for now I am still to decide which one to order? I work in three different countries with three different LTE band. Arrrgggh!!!

[Warwithwheels]

Originally Posted by lazybrain

Now compare this kind of behavior with companies like Airtel

You are comparing Apples and oranges. Apple is a niche company that makes phones/ tech products, whereas Airtel is just a service provider.

If you compare the no. of clients that Apple has to service vis-a-vis the load on companies like Airtel that have a HUGE subscriber base, you'll demand for more from Apple.

Moreover Apple charges a premium for all that which has been factored into the cost of the phone/product itself. They better provide quality service.

Am in no way trying to justify Airtel's callous customer care. Just trying to say that you cannot Compare Airtel and Apple just because it rhymes well.

[sa_kiran]

Originally Posted by Sn1p3r

Freedom someone fretted, it's never absolute and Steve never said customers are dumb, he said they need to be told how to, thus iPhone is still the one to beat and thank for changing the game.

Steve quoted Henry Ford - If I had gone around and asked people what they want, majority would have asked for faster horses.

Bulldozing customer requirement/opinion in some instances, has paid off for Apple. But they have not been like this all the time. iPhone/iPod/iPad are not island devices, they are part of of a very well planned ecosystem. A lot of people find iTunes very cumbersome. I find it very useful to manage music, videos, photos and apps. Regarding paid apps, there are several apps which show alerts for price drop/free. Overall experience, a great thumbs up. YES, I'll buy iDevices in future as well.

[anujmishra]

Do you know Apple enjoys 70% margin in its products. Then why not it is easy to replace devices than repairing it? It is just fleecing customer with exorbitant rates.

Just now it setup a bad example by changing its connector to "Lightning Connector". All users will have to buy all new docks and accessories of it. It is $2bn market all together and it means big bucks for accessories makers and royalty to Apple. Ultimate looser is customer.

With much ado it still released phone with 4 inch screen where Samsung and Motorola releasing phones with 4.7inch plus.

[Technocrat]

Originally Posted by anujmishra

Do you know Apple enjoys 70% margin in its products. Then why not it is easy to replace devices than repairing it? It is just fleecing customer with exorbitant rates.

Just now it setup a bad example by changing its connector to "Lightning Connector". All users will have to buy all new docks and accessories of it. It is $2bn market all together and it means big bucks for accessories makers and royalty to Apple. Ultimate looser is customer.

With much ado it still released phone with 4 inch screen where Samsung and Motorola releasing phones with 4.7inch plus.

I am not sure why this hoopla around the connector change. Other manufacturers do it all the time. Besides its not as if your old devices would stop working or that the new ones don't come with cable.

For something which works so universally(Car Audio, Music Docs, Charging, sync etc), I don't think people should mind shelling out some more.

Its a way forward with the small design. Even if they had gone the micro usb way the costs or effort for an end user would have been still the same.

[sa_kiran]

Originally Posted by anujmishra

Do you know Apple enjoys 70% margin in its products. Then why not it is easy to replace devices than repairing it? It is just fleecing customer with exorbitant rates.

With much ado it still released phone with 4 inch screen where Samsung and Motorola releasing phones with 4.7inch plus.

Other manufacturers have big enough margin that they should be able to bring the devices to working condition. They have failed. So, why crib about Apple's margins? Anyway, we pay premium to a lot of products including food, right?

Screen size - well, it is an individual choice. I personally don't like to hold or see huge plates against ears. They are really funny/comical. Probably Apple has done some survey and as a result they are deliberately limiting the screen size to 4".

[anujmishra]

Originally Posted by sa_kiran

Screen size - well, it is an individual choice. I personally don't like to hold or see huge plates against ears. They are really funny/comical. Probably Apple has done some survey and as a result they are deliberately limiting the screen size to 4".

This is really funny that Apple has done some survey. Mind you there is no use of screen while holding along with your ear. It is used when you are gonna see something into it. Also, check overall size of S3, Razr and IPhone 5. Physical size is same and Samsung and Motorola are successful utilizing same space with bigger screens. With the same external size S3's screen is 4.8" and Razr is 4.7".

Other drawbacks:
1. There is no NFC in IPhone 5, which is one of biggest demanding features of Smartphone.
2. They have replaced ever popular and mature google map with their own product which is not even covering Metros. See some review who updated their software to iOS 6 and their experience some 2 - 3 pages back.

3. There is no auto-scaling feature in IPhone as their OS is completely hardcoded(Just to provide little performance which doesn't have flexibility). So all Apps that belongs to previous generation devices which run shorter in screen. How fanatic this is.
http://www.gottabemobile.com/2012/09...taller-screen/

Just read some comparison review. I can help you providing one link
http://www.gadgetreview.com/2012/09/...alaxy-s-3.html

People are just getting emotional for IPhone and loosing long way.

Originally Posted by Technocrat

I am not sure why this hoopla around the connector change. Other manufacturers do it all the time. Besides its not as if your old devices would stop working or that the new ones don't come with cable.

This is the place where Apple saw one more opportunity to fleece its ever loyal customer.

Originally Posted by Technocrat

For something which works so universally(Car Audio, Music Docs, Charging, sync etc), I don't think people should mind shelling out some more.

It is not question of mind, people have to compulsorily shell to get the things working.

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Its a way forward with the small design. Even if they had gone the micro usb way the costs or effort for an end user would have been still the same.

Where was Apple when everyone moved to micro usb, why Apple kept its old connector till 4gs. This is sure it is $2bn market for them to earn more moolah. There are many hotels, places, hangouts where they have invested substantially on such accessories, now they have to shell more to get this new connector.

[Technocrat]

Originally Posted by anujmishra

This is the place where Apple saw one more opportunity to fleece its ever loyal customer.


It is not question of mind, people have to compulsorily shell to get the things working.


Where was Apple when everyone moved to micro usb, why Apple kept its old connector till 4gs. This is sure it is $2bn market for them to earn more moolah. There are many hotels, places, hangouts where they have invested substantially on such accessories, now they have to shell more to get this new connector.

I am still not sure, how is it fleecing its customer?

People would still have had to shell out more if they kept changing their adapter with advent of every new technology, just select any manufacturer & see how many types of connectors they have introduced in the last decade?

Apple product owners didn't have to bother if they bought an apple product 10 years ago, the same cable works even today for all the products they launched in these 10 years, how about savings that people had on those for these many years?

How many universal accessories are available in Market today for any other product as they are for iPhone/iPod/iPads?

Again if you don't have such products you don't need to shell out anything.

And all of these would continue to work with the new devices. People don't need to thrown them away because of the new connector.

For that matter if you use a device which takes in the USB apple cable the new cable will work just fine without any adapter i.e. if your car audio accepts the regular apple cable to run your iPod/iPhone you don't need to buy the converter instead just use the new cable. Which covers quite a chunk of the users.

Again the hotels & accessory makers don't need to change anything, its the owner of the new device who needs to buy an additional connector.

And for all this rant can you name one such connector with such a mass operation? Micro usb even today after so many years of existence is still Primarily used for Data Transfer &/or Charging.