Apple, loyalty and the power of forgiveness
By: Jessica Mintz
Like any company, Apple has its shortcomings. It's turned out some products even its biggest fans call mediocre, it gives customers minimal information about its plans and intentions, and developers complain about unusual restrictions. However, the company has managed to cultivate a culture of fierce loyalty, and situations that would have other companies in crisis mode seem to roll off its back.
First an iPhone price cut left early buyers feeling foolish, and then came reports that some iPods were spitting sparks. Now the new iPhone 3G has been marred by bugs, spotty service, disappearing programs for the device and a veil of secrecy over software developers trying to broaden its appeal.
Such a string of mishaps and missteps might throw another electronics company into crisis. But of course, Apple isn't just another electronics company. Even as iPhone griping rages online, it looks like Apple's sterling reputation will emerge untarnished.
"The objective reality is that Apple does plenty of wrong," said Peter Fader, a marketing professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. However, Fader said, the company's loyal fans, and even casual users, have come to identify so strongly with Apple's high-end, individualistic vibe that they're willing to look the other way.
"Very few companies have this kind of iconic status where anything they do, even if it is mediocre, will automatically have a halo around it," he said.
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