The iPhone Debacle & Power of the Consumer

I am an above average gadget guy but definitely not the extreme kind. Case in point I did get my Apple iPhone™ on June 29^th but I was not standing in lines forever. I reached the Lenox Store may be 20 minutes before the 7 PM Grand Opening, stood in line with my family for about 40 minutes or so and got my 8GB iPhone.

And, I was pi**ed at the announcement made by His Jobness yesterday.

But, then there is the Power of the Consumer! The announcement angered tons of early adopters (I was fuming last night, I was willing to spend the 600 bucks, and I know some people think of that as wasting money, but I did want to be an early adopter).

The strong feedback forced Apple’s CEO to offer a rare apology to the early adopters – (He could have done better, but in this case something is better than nothing).

I was an early adopter of the 2G 30GB iPod, 1^st Gen Shuffle, 2^nd Gen Shuffle, and the 8GB Nano when it came out (I also own the Apple 15” G4 PowerBook). No more, not even with the $100 Apple Rebate. Apple has left a bitter impression, and I will think twice before buying any new Apple Product.

The net has changed, it has given a medium to express and point out to Apple and other companies to think through their future product strategies. And it has given power to the consumers (an interesting post @ GigaOm on this)!