1 post tagged “victims”
So you bought an 8 GB iPhone at $599 when it first came out and are whining your spoiled and stupid head off when it dropped by $200 just over two months later. Now you're saying that Steve Jobs raped your virgin orifice when a few weeks ago you wanted to carry his babies. What's wrong with this picture?
Then you were obligating yourself to a 2 year lock-in with AT&T/Cingular as your only possible mobile carrier. I get the fact that the iPhone was shiny, hyped, and the nerd-herd status symbol of the week. It is nice to look at and use, but what about that price point and all those restrictions?
You didn't understand the fact that a $600 phone with a very restrictive carrier options (one) and two year lock in with an expensive plan wasn't going to be hitting a mass market price range for the most of the market? You thought everyone else in the world was hanging on Steve Jobs' every word like you were? You didn't realize that price cuts were inevitably coming very soon to try to create some sales volume?
So what happens when the price cuts come?
- Whine that Steve Jobs did something illegal by pricing it so high when it really should've cost $399 from the start. Sorry, I have news for you about supply and demand. Good ol' Steve-o could've priced them at $10,000 or $1 billion dollars if he wanted to, just you probably wouldn't have bought one at that price and he wouldn't have made money off the pathetically desperate for nerdly status who couldn't afford them at that price. It is only illegal to price things high if there is some secret deal in the market for EVERYONE to price their phones this high so there is no competition and people have no choice but to pay high prices because of price collusion.
- Get insulted that (*gasp*) the unwashed masses might be able to afford an iPhone and it won't be so exclusive to your club anymore. And you were so enjoying your conspicuous consumption and invidious consumption. But you bought it for the features, right? Um, wait, those are still the same, so what has changed? Oh, those people paying $399 weren't desperate enough to prove their coolness and were willing to wait for the price to drop. Unlike you, they didn't buy one for $599+fees, wait in line all night like goons for the privilege, and then rub it against their crotches and then shove it in people's faces for superiority points like you did.
- "But I didn't know it was overpriced." So you're saying you're stupid and/or were so desperate to prove your worth that no price was too great to make yourself look cool, is that it? Early adopters always pay a premium and early adopters of heavily hyped gear pay even more of a premium (such as for the original RAZR).
- "But I got ripped off." No one had a gun to your head making you buy it. You made your decision to buy it at a high price point. I assume you can take any responsibility for your actions? That was your decision not Apple's. Evidently, Apple figured out the same thing that many people knew from the beginning: that the price point was too high for the long term sales volume they wanted to have. You were just part of their little money-making experiment. This isn't different than usual, it was just a little more obvious. The problem wasn't that they priced high, it was that they went just far enough that you noticed instead of keeping you in blissful ignorance of how markets work.
- "Apple is a magical land of gumdrops and lolly-pops like Santa's workshop. They shouldn't be shamelessly making money." Puleeze. They charge whatever the market will bear and try to maximize their profits. You paid. Now shut your trap and quit trying to blame your own actions on someone else because you feel stupid now. If it is overpriced and they don't get as many buyers as they want then they'll figure out ways to make more money--like lowering the price or getting it made for cheaper (or both). They're not doing this for charity. They're just as much of an evil corporation as anyone else--just one whose products are probably a little nicer to use.
