Archive for the ‘iPod’ Category

Support for Mac and its users still limited

Wednesday, September 26th, 2007

Up until this week, my bank was Sky Bank. Sky Bank was recently purchased by Huntington and they officially switched over to Huntington this past Monday. The transition seemed as though it would be smooth. That is, until I received an email regarding my online banking for Huntington:

Step 1: Verify System Requirements

Browser Requirement
Internet Explorer 5.5 and above

Operating Systems Supported
Windows 2000
Windows XP

Alright, that’s going to be a problem. I do have a MacBook Pro which has the ability to run Windows. That doesn’t mean I want to fire up Windows every time I need to check my bank account online. I don’t run Windows unless I absolutely have to and it’s just convenient to have the ability to do my online banking from the Mac OS.

I got a call from a Huntington online banking specialist asking why I hadn’t set up my online account. I let them know I am a Mac user and inquired as to what my options were. After checking with his manager, here is what he told me: “We advise that Mac users find access to a Windows based PC. Your other option is to contact Apple and talk to them about a workaround.”

Huntington Bank is not a small company. They have the resources to provide support for the Mac if they choose to. I understand that Windows users still make up roughly 90 percent of the population. Why alienate a potential market of users who are growing yearly though? Especially when you look at an average Mac user.

It never ceases to amaze me that this is still an issue. Five or even three years ago, maybe. With the growing number of users and interest in Apple, the iPod and iPhone, it just doesn’t seem to make sense. From a customer service standpoint, well, larger companies seem to do this all the time. From a marketing standpoint… I guess they just didn’t think it through.

Needless to say, if anyone knows of a bank that supports Mac online, I’m looking ;)

Posted in Apple, Mac, Marketing, Viral Marketing, iPhone, iPod | 5 Comments »

iPhone price cut, new iPod Touch introduced and Steve Jobs makes amends

Thursday, September 6th, 2007

The new iPod Touch and iPod Nano

I’m going to have to rename my blog soon to “Apple Man” or “Mac Daddy” or something clever… It doesn’t help that I haven’t had a chance to post in weeks due to vacation and heavy project load, but the fact of the matter is, it seems like Apple/Mac stories and reviews have dominated my posts recently.

Anyways…

Let’s start with the first issue that hits me personally: Steve Jobs announced yesterday that the price of the 8GB iPhone would be nearly cut in half to $399 while the 4GB model is discontinued altogether. The 4GB model getting axed was pretty much a no brainer… who’s not going to pay an extra $100 for twice the hard drive space? I personally don’t know anyone who even entertained the thought of buying the 4GB model.

Now the price cut of the 8GB is another story. I’m not going to lie and say that it didn’t completely annoy me when I found out initially. I stood in line for hours and paid the full $599 less than 10 weeks ago. Had it been 6 months to a year later, I’m sure I wouldn’t have cared at all.

After giving it more thought and letting the sting wear off, I put it into a marketing mindset:

  • Anyone who was going to buy the iPhone by now for $599 has already done so (sales have pretty much dropped off). Time to get the rest of the market who potentially wanted to buy but thought $599 was a bit too steep.
  • It also helps that most people who already bought have been raving about it so this price cut could potentially open the flood-gates again.
  • Also, I know it’s the beginning of September, but Christmas is not too far off (I received a text from my sister on Sunday asking me what I want for Christmas, I swear!).

    • Jobs and Apple also released the new iPod Touch which seems to be the iPhone minus the phone. It has some other limitations (no mail capabilities, maps, stocks or weather), but essentially it gives people the ability to have an iPhone without having to switch carriers or deal with AT&T. It also has the ability to connect to WiFi where available which gives users the ability to get on the web via Safari. The one thing it does have that I’m pretty envious of is a 16GB model.

    One of my main reasons for buying the iPhone was having the ability to check mail from my phone so the iPhone to me personally would still make the most sense. Who wants an iPod and a separate phone anyways?

    The new iPod Nano came out which is pretty incredible as well. It’s about as compact as you can get while still having the ability to watch video. It also has the Cover Flow capability of the iPhone and other iPod models. At $199 for the 8GB model it has a ton of value considering all its capabilities and compact size.

    *I started writing this post last night, and since then Steve Jobs has issued “an open letter to iPhone owners” on the Apple website. In summary, he received an outpouring of complaints concerning the price drop and explains the reasoning. At the end, he offers every iPhone customer a $100 store credit at Apple.

    Way to go Steve, you did the right thing. Nothing worse than alienating not only the loyal Macheads that have never even considered using anything else, but more importantly, the people that could potentially make the switch after buying the iPhone. A hundred bucks doesn’t go very far at an Apple store, which could also equate into converts using their credit towards making that switch with that new shiny iMac that just came out less than a month ago.

    Posted in Apple, Evolution, Mac, Steve Jobs, Viral Marketing, iMac, iPhone, iPod | 1 Comment »