Early adopters comprise a group of dedicated geeks who are the first to grab a new device hot off the press for a number of reasons. There’s the "I gotta have it first" group the "I love new technology at all costs" group and there’s the "I have one you don’t" group. One thing I can say with certainty about early adopters, they always expect to pay a premium that some even deem the "Early Adopter’s Tax". It’s a fact of life in the technology sector that the devices that said sector produces will always drop in price over time. How much time is acceptable for that price drop is at the heart of the iPhone rebate debacle.
There is no question that the Apple announced price drop of $200 for the iPhone touched a nerve. Never have we seen a knee-jerk reaction of such magnitude that it made mainstream news. It’s been discussed on major websites (like jkOnTheRun), and mainstream publications, heck it appeared on my local news and even the major network news in the US. So if the only people affected are early adopters and they expect the price of technology to drop over time anyway why did this produce such a backlash that Apple felt the need to step in and offer a $100 store credit?
If you follow the commentary on every web site that has discussed this outrage a common theme emerges among those who did not grab an iPhone at the launch. I should point out that I’m in that camp, I did not buy an iPhone then and do not intend to buy a discounted iPhone either. Even though I am personally unaffected by the rapid (and large) price drop that Steve Jobs announced, I can sympathize with those who were outraged. I am certainly an early adopter where mobile technology is concerned so I can see both sides of the arguments that are flying around with such vitriol. The "quityerbitchin" contingency is being typically vocal and telling the early iPhone adopters to quit whining and take it like a geek. A lot of examples are being mentioned where other products had price drops after launch so the iPhone outraged should shut up and are merely getting what’s coming to them. This argument doesn’t work here, though, because the iPhone is unlike any other device that came before it.
The iPhone is the most hyped, longest discussed product ever prior to launch. We’ve heard from Apple and everyone else that the iPhone was the be-all for everyone, and that it would cost only $599 for mobile nirvana. That price point is significant in this whole discussion because even though the iPhone was only released a couple of months ago the price and the product has been hyped for months and months. When you hear something like this for so long it’s inevitable that the mindset is formed that this is what the device will cost for the foreseeable future. Those who raced to by the first iPhones knew that the price would be dropping in the future, they were simply blindsided that the drop came so quickly and was so steep. They were the ones who stood in line, in many cases for hours or days, to avoid a shortage that never materialized, so they were already feeling a bit played by the Apple hype.
The end result of this Apple price drop announcement was taken by most to be a total "in your face" kick to the groin. It was done in the global public forum and could only have been the equivalent of a "screw you" from Apple, even if that was not the intent. Apple loves their loyal customers so I am confident they did not want to tick off this customer base, but let’s face it, if you go public with something like this there is no surprise that the most loyal of customers felt like Apple was ridiculing them in front of the entire world. Because, intent or not, that’s exactly what Apple did. Otherwise this would not be big news, and nothing would have happened. As long as Steve Jobs insists on creating the big splash, he has to be prepared to be hit by the tidal surge.
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