Even With the GPhone Looming, Apple Still Doesn’t Get It
It seems that even though Google is gearing up to compete head-to-head with the iPhone, Apple still wants to limit consumers. First they prohibited cash sales of the iPhone. Now it seems they won’t let you buy one with a gift card either. Wired has the story here: Some Apple Stores Still Accepting Gift Cards for iPhones
NerfHerder, a commentator on the Wired article, has it exactly right. Apple is becoming what the famous “1984″ commercial mocked. Google should do a Super Bowl commercial to introduce the GPhone in the same pattern except having Steve Jobs as the talking Big Brother head and the faceless minions shuffling along sporting iPods and iPhones. That would be a public relations coup.
Another point is that the Christmas shopping season is kicking off. Parents and Grandparents will be looking for gifts to buy their trendy young offspring. What will they do when they hear that Apple is making it difficult to buy it? Apple hopes they will suck it up and buy anyway using a credit card. But, if they’re a savvy shopper they’ll find a better way to spend their gift dollars.
One last point, how is Apple tracking credit card purchases? Is this method secure or are we going to find out about a missing laptop with this data in a few months?
What are your thoughts? Good business move or just more Apple marketing arrogance?
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