Welcome to Apple PR-Nightmare Fall 2012 Edition

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Welcome to Apple PR-Nightmare Fall 2012 Edition Listen to this article

Screen Shot 2012 09 14 at 8 58 27 AM

image from Cult of Mac

Something tells me that Apple is about to have another PR nightmare, and it has everything to do with their handling of the move from the 30-pin adapter to the new Lightning port. Change happens; no one can deny that. So Apple’s decision to change the port in order to, in part, allow for a smaller size, is something that was going to happen eventually. Few argue that point. But then they went from bad, to worse to… Kaboom!!!!

Bad #1. The phone doesn’t ship with an adapter. It should. The adapter costs Apple little and including one would be a good-will gesture to loyal customers who shell out big bucks on their products.

Worse #2. $29 for the adapter. Seriously? $29? What are they smoking.

ThermoWorks Thermapen Mk4

Even Worse than that #3. The adapters don’t ship until October. THAT alone means all of us who are upgrading will have to carry our ONE sync/charge cable with us for at least a few weeks.

Better #1. For a few short hours it look like Apple had done the right thing and was shipping the iPhone 5 with an adapter. See the image above? That is what many saw when they were checking out while ordering their iPhones. It’s asking if you want to order an additional adapter, and it specifically says that purchasing it will give you a second adapter to use in your home or office.  That would be a great way to help customers make the move from the 30-Pin. Costs them relatively little and lets hem look like the standout good-guy company (they used to be).

WORST #4. Now word comes that… it was a mistake and the phone won’t ship with the adapter.

Issues like this aren’t new for Apple. And lest you think this is just about “the new Apple under Tim Cook”, issues DID happen under Jobs. But this one… this one is simply the result of Apple not thinking things through fully. What could have been a PR win for Apple is, at least in the blogosphere, now riling up folks. Something tells me Apple is about to, at best, have some new bad feelings about them and, worse, may have a PR sh!t-storm rain down on them. Looks like Mike saw this coming.

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About the Author

Dan Cohen
Having a father who was heavily involved in early laser and fiber-optical research, Dan grew up surrounded by technology and gadgets. Dan’s father brought home one of the very first video games when he was young and Dan remembers seeing a “pre-release” touchtone phone. (When he asked his father what the “#” and “*” buttons were his dad said, “Some day, far in the future, we’ll have some use for them.”) Technology seemed to be in Dan’s blood but at some point he took a different path and ended up in the clergy. His passion for technology and gadgets never left him. Dan is married to Raina Goldberg who is also an avid user of Apple products. They live in New Jersey with their golden doodle Nava.