iPhone owners to Apple - We thought you loved us

Recently Apple slashed the price of its iPhone by 200 dollars. The New York Times reported that Apple fanatics felt betrayed by the way Apple hyped the phone and then raked in an extra $200 profit from early buyers such as the incredible toolbox pictured in the article surrounded by his applauding toolbox, Apple-fanatic, cohorts.

A mobile device blogger was quoted as saying

I just felt so used as a consumer. They hyped up the iPhone for six months and built up our expectations, and then they grabbed our extra $200 and ran.

Let's analyze this quote. Part 1: "I just felt so used as a consumer."

This is so stupid I'm having trouble formulating a non-obvious response. Consumers are meant to be used. Advertisers have created a consumer culture (and the culture has willingly allowed itself to become defined by consumerism) so that companies can make money. Predators eat prey. Producers use consumers. Producers don't love you. Steve Jobs wrote a response to Apple customers that was strongly grounded in solid business logic. He didn't write a sobby, "I miss you, please come back to me", high school love letter locker note.

Part 2: "They hyped up the iPhone for six months and built up our expectations"

Yeppers, yes they did, and you ate it up with a big ol' ladle. If you don't want to get taken to the cleaners then don't believe it when big companies hype their own products. Duh!

Part 3: "then they grabbed our extra $200 and ran."

Let's be clear about this. They [Apple] didn't "grab" anything. "Grab" is "steal" with a quarter cup less anger. Apple didn't steal anything. Instead, the loyal Apple congregation waited hours in long lines to fling Benjamins at a haggered cashier. If anyone grabbed anything I'm sure it was the Apple fanatics grabbing the iPhones out of the cashier's hands.

The New York Times article boringly describes Apple's obvious business strategy.

Ken Dulaney, a vice president at Gartner Research, said that in general starting high and dropping the price slowly was a smart strategy. By starting the price high, manufacturers can gauge early demand and reap greater profit from early adopters who are willing to pay any amount to be the first with a particular device. “It’s probably a formula taught in business school,” Mr. Dulaney said.

Please Mr. Dulaney, "It's probably a formula taught in business school"? I'm no MBA, but I'd say it's a sure thing. Just more evidence (as if evidence was needed) that Apple is a corporation with the goal of making money. Try not to forget it.

P.S. I'm not a mac hater. I owned an iBook for awhile. I love it as a programming environment. It is far easier than the PC.

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