Apple’s OS/Hardware Bundle Pays Off

A study performed by VocaLabs has shown that overall satisfaction with Apple’s support is rated higher than rivals Dell, Gateway, HP, and Toshiba. The survey is conducted at the end of a conversation between an end user and tech support at each company. Company, call, and agent satisfaction were highest for Apple over other PC manufacturers except for company satisfaction which was a tie with Toshiba. Should this really surprise us? Courtesy shouldn’t really affect this, but the Apple model of hardware and software is much simpler. The hardware and OS were built by Apple which makes it much easier to predict what kind of hardware and software configurations the user is in, thus creating less confusion between support technicians and end users. One of the advantages with going the PC route is that you can use a lot more hardware within your PC which can make for awkward situations with tech support people. Variables like wireless managers and anti-viruses really make it difficult for tech support staff to predict what the end user sees on his or her computer so of course it will lower satisfaction when it’s harder to communicate.

I’ve had the same experience with Apple support vs PC support staff. I’ve only had to call the actual Apple support line once but have worked with local Apple repair shops who interface with Apple for me on other occasions. When I went to get my hard drive replaced in my MacBook about a month ago they even replaced the top cover on my case for me because it was cracking. I didn’t even ask! They just offered to do it. I can counter that with a really bad experience with a PC manufacturer. One time I was working on trying to get a Lenovo desktop to use a second video card alongside the built-in one. I finally got desperate and called the Lenovo support line. After spending 20 minutes waiting on the line they told me that it wasn’t a supported configuration. I knew the video card worked because I had tested it in another system but they said it wasn’t supported and basically hung up the phone. Wow, what service. Okay, I’ll stop my ranting now :)

What’s very interesting about the results is that customer loyalty to both Apple and Dell are the same: 70%. While I’m not sure exactly how these terms are defined, I think there’s an interesting statistic here. The survey suggests that 52% of customers are satisfied with Apple as a company, yet they have a 70% customer loyalty rating. The same goes for Dell. They are showing as a 45% overall company satisfaction yet their loyalty is 70%. I’m not quite sure what this could suggest. It could mean one of two things: that people were trying to make cool designs in the bubbles when filling out the survey (Yes, it’s a phone survey. Yes, I’m kidding) or consumers are not satisfied but keep coming back for more. An interesting human trait, indeed. I’m sure it has something to do with the fact that humans are never satisfied but I thought it was worth noting. At any rate, Microsoft’s separation of hardware and software policy seems to be catching up with them. Of course, you are sacrificing some level of freedom when using a platform such as OS X since it can’t be run on anything besides Apple hardware (according to the EULA at least). However, end users seem to lean towards solutions that “just work” rather than caring about the ability to pick exactly what chipset and processor they are using. Of course there will always be those few (I count myself among them) but the consumer market seems to be swinging in the opposite direction. Like everything, it will most likely swing back in a few years but that seems to be the trend for the moment.

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Filed under News, Tech Trends : Comments (0) : Nov 20th, 2008 by Wyatt Walter

Google iPhone Search App Problems with British Accents

On Monday, Google’s new voice search application for the iPhone hit the iTunes AppStore. It’s a free application that allows users to speak their search text to perform Google searches. The application works great.. as long as you have an American accent. It’s been reported to be returning especially strange results for users with British accents. The Daily Telegraph, a newspaper in the U.K. has reported that users had the device interpret the word “iPhone” for several different words including “sex”, “sledding”, “my sister”, and “Einstein” (I hope they’re not related..). Google has stated that the application is available in U.S. English only so far, but there were definitely some confused users before the clarification was made. The application actually works quite well with an American accent but has made for some confusing and funny search queries.

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Filed under News : Comments (0) : Nov 19th, 2008 by Wyatt Walter

Adobe Bringing Flash to More Platforms

It seems that Adobe is seeing the threat of Microsoft Silverlight to its Flash platform and is taking Flash to more platforms. The two most noticeable platforms that Adobe is missing in its lineup are 64-bit Linux and iPhone support. Yesterday, news reached the blogosphere that support for both platforms was coming. An alpha for the 64-bit Linux platform has been announced and Adobe will finally support both 32 and 64 bit versions of the “big three” desktop operating systems: Windows, OS X, and Linux. Adobe support for the iPhone rumors have been flying for some time, but yesterday Adobe announced it would be focusing on a build for the ARM platform. Of course, the iPhone isn’t the only phone that runs on ARM processors, but it’s evidence that Adobe is focusing its efforts on mobile phones, possibly the iPhone. Steve Jobs has said a few times that Flash was too heavy for the phone to handle and that Flash Lite was too stripped down to be useful. The lack of Flash and Java support were the two biggest complaints that Apple received in its lawsuit in the U.K. over its ads claiming you can get to “all the Internet”. Microsoft’s Silverlight platform is still missing on the iPhone and is sounds as though that won’t happen for the time. Flash support on more devices and platforms will help Flash remain the dominant platform in multimedia web content, no matter what technology comes out as being the easiest and most efficient.

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Filed under Tech Trends : Comments (0) : Nov 19th, 2008 by Wyatt Walter

Windows as a TV-Tuner Commercial

So I recently saw a Microsoft commercial about how Windows could be used as a DVR. They had testimonials on how they can record TV and take it with them as though this was a new thing for PCs to do. Much like the ‘Mojave Experiment’ commercials, these commercials are a bit out of base with reality. What person, in their right mind uses a PC as a DVR and then takes it with them? What about the shows that are on when your PC is on the road? Oops.. Seriously, use a MythTV box and share out your shows as podcasts so they can sync to your iPod or Zune or just use a real DVR. You’ll use less power with a real DVR and not have to worry about having your PC left home while your favorite shows are on. If you really must use your Windows PC as a DVR, use something like Orb so at least you’re not taking the PC with you. It’s free and it allows you to access your TV tuner card from another machine over the web. Okay, I’m done.. I just couldn’t take it any longer.

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Filed under Tech Trends : Comments (0) : Nov 17th, 2008 by Wyatt Walter

VMware: A Traditional Licensing Model in a SaaS World

With our economy closing in around us, companies are investigating ways to save money and improve efficiencies. Startups that are looking for VC are struggling to find cash to front projects that involve IT projects. One way to conserve costs is to virtualize infrastructure to get the most of hardware purchases. VMware has been considered by many to be king of virtualization. However, VMware’s cost of entry is extremely high. A startup can get into the VMware ESX line with a starter pack which allows for 6 CPU’s, virtual center, and 3 years of support for $20,000. That’s actually an incredible deal when you go try to buy that software retail with machines from an OEM. Unfortunately for VMware, an organization can get into virtualization using Amazon’s EC2 service or other cloud computing provider for a much lower cost per machine. Perhaps a subscription-based model could allow for a lower point of entry for organizations into the VMware architecture? The technology is great but so far their licensing hasn’t adjusted to the way the market is moving. Even Steve Ballmer harped on VMware for its pricing model. Of course, they do offer the ESXi version of their software for free, but it doesn’t allow you to hook into a SAN or migrate guests between VMware hosts.

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Filed under Tech Trends : Comments (0) : Nov 17th, 2008 by Wyatt Walter

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