Yesterday I had the temerity to take a short and somewhat gentle poke at Apple (AAPL), noting that their exclusivity to one particular network made it impossible for me to acquire the apple of the collective I — the iPhone.
A teeny-weeny storm ensued.
What happened is what usually happens around here. First the angry Apple (AAPL) fans come in, calling me names and contending that I know nothing about Marketing. Of course I know nothing about Marketing. After 25 years in business, it’s my contention that Marketing is like Economics. Everybody knows a lot about it and nobody knows anything about it. In the end, we are all equally intelligent and stupid on the subject.
For proof on this, I will point to the most superbly marketed item on the planet, the iPhone, which Apple (AAPL) rolled out with extraordinary perfection, except for the fact that it was priced wrong. So much for expertise in this area.
After the waves of invective hit me, a big number of you waded in to defend my honor and, not coincidentally, pile onto Apple (AAPL) a little bit. Some of you reminded cranky commentors that this is a site that, in between rants about one current indignity or another, indulges in satire now and then. Others forgave my ignorance and then launched into extensive technical discussions on the nature of cellular transmission and delivery. Those were very interesting. Thank you.
It is clear, as one constant reader noted, that all you have to do is talk about Apple (AAPL) to get your blog read. This is because people care intensely about Apple (AAPL). They love their Macs. They despise/love the CEO. They identify with the company as a scrappy David going up against the Phillistine Gates. They hate its critics. They defend its battlements. Others feel the exact opposite. And nobody has no opinion. Good for you, Apple (AAPL)! Passion sells. And we’re buying.
This holiday season, I have no doubt that all the Apple (AAPL) worshippers will be lining up to acquire. IMacs. Macbooks. Towering G5s. Flat screen monitors that irradiate your brain. All of them produced by the genius mind of one great corporation.
On the night before XMas, however, I won’t be home abed. I’ll be sneaking out to the nearest big box electronics store to pick up something else that starts with an X. It’s called an XBox. Perhaps you’ve heard about it. It’s surfaced as the game platform of choice for just about anybody who loves to suffuse their cerebrum with electronic cheese. I think it should go very nicely next to my AppleTV. I’m keeping quiet about it here, of course, because I don’t believe it’s made by Apple (AAPL) at all, but by some other corporation entirely (MSFT).
Gee… I hope I haven’t enraged all you Wii-heads now (NTDOY.PK).