[dcolton]

Someone had a rant about Apple in here not too long ago and it makes me wonder...how would I rate Apple. I think that we all fall into a category of loyalty and sometimes blind trust...but if you were to sit back and seriously consider how you would rate Apple...what would you give them?

I know that when I first 'switched' to Apple...I hated it for a number of reasons...a failed logic board being on the top of my list. That issue was resolved about a day before the replacememtn promgram was in effect (thank god because I made out much better). Nonetheless, since then, I have steadily become more and more attached to apple. So, when it comes down to it...I give Apple a 7 out of 10. What about you?

[OptimusG4]

I gave it a 9. Out of 4 computers and 2 iPods and numerous software purchases through them, I've had no complaints minus the OS X 10.0 "official full price public beta". Other than that I've been very happy with them. AppleCare comes in handy and the techs are qucik to resolve my issues.

[Millennium]

6. I love the technology, but I've loathed the company for years.

[voodoo]

I gave Apple 10 because I can't think of a better computer company. 10 = best, so 10 they get.

[MacGorilla]

I'd give them a 10 as well. I'm not always sure Steve knows what he's doing but I can't think of anyone else better qualified to run Apple.

[soul searching]

What are the rating criteria? Customer service? Quality of products? Shipping products on time? Etc....

[amsalpemkcus]

this report was out not too long ago, 7/10 is a bit harsh!

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1625331,00.asp

[dcolton]

Originally posted by soul searching:
What are the rating criteria? Customer service? Quality of products? Shipping products on time? Etc....

Overall.

[Sven G]

7: no technical problems, sofar (then, I also only have two Macs) - but I do have a problem with their more and more corporate attitude - Steve & Co. should try to regain some of their basic revolutionary ideals, if possible at all in today's world (maybe they could get just a little more like Mandrakelinux, etc.?)...

[MacGorilla]

Originally posted by Sven G:
7: no technical problems, sofar (then, I also only have two Macs) - but I do have a problem woth their more and more corporate attitutde - Steve & Co. should try to regain some of their basic revolutionary ideals, if possible at all in today's world...

You mean, besides iTunes, ITMS, iPhoto, iDVD, iMovie?

[york28]

Hardware: 7.
Software: 9.
Ethics: 7.
Customer service: 8.
Pricing: 6.
Sex appeal: 9.

Average: 7.67. Not too shabby.

[Sven G]

Originally posted by MacGorilla:
You mean, besides iTunes, ITMS, iPhoto, iDVD, iMovie?

Exactly!

[phoenixboy70]

8. because some of their hardware (especially the rev. a stuff) stinks. for a premium price i expect "premium quality", - nothing less.

i didn't include "apple germany" in my rating. i know they're a bunch of a55hat5 and not really representative of apple as a whole.

[soul searching]

Originally posted by dcolton:
Overall.

I'd say 7/10. My biggest issue would be with new products' availability. Everyone knows about this. Apple announces a product one day but it wont ship until a month or two from that date.

From a financial point of view, it might help them meet quarter numbers (e.g., if every product ordered counts as revenue even though they're not suppose to do that, and I'm not saying they do this but many companies do). Now from a consumer point of view, it sucks.

[wdlove]

I gave a rating of 8. Apple can and should always strive to improve.

[ort888]

It's tough. I love their OS, love their willingness to try new things. Hate their stubborness and loath their pricing and overall value for the buck.

I'd say about a 7 or 8 overall. If they lowered their pricing and made a better effort to listen to their customers needs (rather then billionare Steve telling us what we want) and wants they would be a 10.

[stevesnj]

An OS that doesn't bring my system to its knees because of pop-up ads, viruses, and spyware is a 10 in my book.

[cszar2001]

Gave them a 10. Best computing experience ever. Never wanna go back to the dark side of Windows.

[jorgem4]

Used Apple all of my life since my Macintosh Classic II all the way to a 12" PB nothing but the best! Sure you pay a bit more than the cheap PC you can build on your own...butthe extra mmoney is quite worth it! The best software...hardware. I gave it a 9. Beacuse there are some quality issues they need to attend to.

[SupahCoolX]

I gave an 8. Lowering hardware prices and fixing their shipping/production problems are worth another point each, IMO, to get it up to a 10.

[JohnnyAppleseed]

I gave it a 6 because I loath some things but generally love the puter and mac os x.

However after thinking about it and the nightmare I had with a PC today I want to change that to a 10.

[Agasthya]

The products and innovation is great but I can't ignore the ridiculously high pricing structure on virtually all products. What good is it to make the coolest stuff on the planet if only like 5 people can afford it?

[olePigeon]

Hardware: 10.
Software: 9.
Ethics: 7.
Customer service: 10.
Pricing: 7.
Sex appeal: 10.

I gave them a 9. 8.83 average.

[olePigeon]

Here're my ratings for Microsoft:

Hardware: 2.
Softw--...

THIS COMPUTER HAS PERFORMED AN ILLEGAL ACTION.


Here're my rat*&# f*- Real Soft--.. **## BUFFERING . . .

[SafariX]

Originally posted by olePigeon:
Here're my ratings for Microsoft:

Hardware: 2.
Softw--...

THIS COMPUTER HAS PERFORMED AN ILLEGAL ACTION.


Here're my rat*&# f*- Real Soft--.. **## BUFFERING . . .

lol

[Angus_D]

Hardware: 8
Software: 9
Ethics: 6
Customer service: 5
Pricing: 6
Sex appeal: 9

Average: 7

[nforcer]

- Things priced too high.
- Over emphasis on iPod/Music store... everything else seems secondary nowadays.
- Inability to ship core products on time: PowerMac G5s, etc.
- Shrinking marketsize hurts developers, and ultimately end users.

I gave them a 4

[Ghoser777]

Ahhh... is there a decreasing percentage share or decreasing number of users on a mac? Hmmm...

[nforcer]

Originally posted by Ghoser777:
Ahhh... is there a decreasing percentage share or decreasing number of users on a mac? Hmmm...

Decreasing marketshare last I checked.

[york28]

I may need to change my vote- my new Dual 1.8 that came yesterday is having some serious problems... we'll see how well it gets resolved.

- Things priced too high.

No complaints (ok, charge a premium, but pump the specs up so that my G5 doesn't have less RAM, HD space etc. than a $500 eMachine)

- Over emphasis on iPod/Music store... everything else seems secondary nowadays.

Well, that leads to an improvement in...

- Shrinking marketsize hurts developers, and ultimately end users.

The number of users is climbing, just not as fast as the whole computer industry is growing. Low end/entry level users are more likely to buy a cheap PC.

- Inability to ship core products on time: PowerMac G5s, etc.

Apple does introduce products very early. But my G5 did arrive a few days before it was even slated to ship.

[Rev-O]

I rate Apple an 01.

Waitaminnit... I was holding the damn score cards up backwards.

10.

[Zimphire]

I gave them a 7. I'd have given them a 8 if they would get their GUI minds made up.

[Rev-O]

Originally posted by nforcer:
- Things priced too high.
- Over emphasis on iPod/Music store... everything else seems secondary nowadays.
- Inability to ship core products on time: PowerMac G5s, etc.
- Shrinking marketsize hurts developers, and ultimately end users.

I gave them a 4

"10"
"10"
"10"
"10"
"7"
"9"
"10"
"7"
"4, from the Russian judge..."

[Link]

6. Apple's hardware releases can be kinda cool sometimes but they take forever to update, are famous for denying widespread problems until someone takes legal action, and treat their customers like crap more than otherwise.

On the flip side, they still actually *gasp* have tech support in the US...

Then again: Their contracted companies (flextronics and teleplan international) are a disasater. I've heard of lost laptops, computers coming back with more damage than they came in with, stuff not getting checked, stuff getting broken, oh geez the list goes on.

But to the good: They're not as bad as HP.

Back to the bad: I'd avoid with my greatest might to ever buy a 'closed' product from apple. This includes ipods, airport base stations, hrmm just about anything that uses software that is up to apple to update. Thing is from experience it's buggy, or lacks something, apple never updates it right and THEN the minute a new version comes out it's as good as unknown to apple.

Then again my bro's imac is a nice example of a good apple product -- my ipod while the case broke, the headphones stopped working after little usage and the remote wore out for unknown reasons --- has been pretty good as far as the actual 'pod is concerned.

With the mess of ibook/powerbook problems out there, apple's policy on dead pixels, apple's tendancy to sell machines that are defective and then deny it.. I don't know if I'd ever want anything from them again... that doesn't mean I won't buy something from them, just that I must think about it long and hard.

Oh please don't give me that "I've never heard of problems" crap. Almost every apple product revision in the past 3 years was plagued with SOMETHING.

Powerbook G4: Crappy hinges, the paintjob, crappy airport
white ibooks: motherboard and hinge issues galore
powerbook g4 aluminum: The 15" with white spots, 12" with screen enclosures that literally popped apart, 17" with bad flexing, oh geez that list goes on.
MDD Powermac: Crazy loud power supply
G5 powermac (problems STILL persistent in second revision): chirping processors, power supply oddities in noise, noisy audio system)
iMac G4: The crooked screen issue. Need I say more?
eMac: The CRT issues.

heck I can dig deeper
Powerbook G3s: Power supply (also sometimes known to be a problem with the yo-yo power supplies)
Powermac G3 and G3 B&W: the hard drive partitioning
Original imac: The analog board
Airport base stations: Capacitors
iPod 1g and 2g: Firewire plug not retrofitted, cases of defective batteries
G4 cube: the famous mold line problem
I can't really remember others right now. It's just that almost every time apple pulls their mantra on customer complaints:

1. Customers complain
2. Apple staff tell customers it's a "totally new issue, never heard of it from anyone before"
3. After repairs, problem comes back again
4. Apple denies such a thing or calls it an "isolated and rare occurance"
5. Customers make websites and bitch about it everywhere
6. Apple starts deleting posts from their forum constantly
7. Customers threaten legal action
8. Either apple gets sued or a fix/recall happens
9. The recall doesn't cover all affected products
10. Customers bitch about being out of the offering
11. Apple extends recall

There's also been times where apple ****ed up on their marketing. Stuff comes to mind like the Power Mac G5 "The most POWERFUL computer in the world!!" with it's overkill benchmarks -- I wonder if that was good or bad.. lol.
....

at least their name got out.

Either way Apple can be cool -- but they come off as a bunch of scumbags too. Wouldn't you be pissed if you and your friends say, bought the same TV, then the tv randomly turns off, you call the company, the company denies it, you go online and find 8923472 other reports of the same problem, etc etc etc...

Then the day the company releases the new model of said TV, boom no more support, people completely forgot it existed, and any mention of a fix for the previous gen owners is totally eliminated.

That's the way I see apple.. and yet here I am wanting to buy a 17" pb....

*SIGH*

[nforcer]

Originally posted by Rev-O:
"10"
"10"
"10"
"10"
"7"
"9"
"10"
"7"
"4, from the Russian judge..."

Heh.

I am critical of almost everything, especially things I do. But I'm especially critical of anyone or anything claiming to be "the best". The OS and developer tools are what keep me on the platform, but for everything else, Apple could still use a lot of improvement.