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Apple pulls all customer reviews from online Apple Store

appleinsider.com

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Re: Apple pulls all customer reviews from online Apple Store

#81

Post by jlarocco »

derefr wrote: post #48
jlarocco wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that really useless, though? If I'm about to drop $3-6k on a laptop, I want to know beforehand that it's going to be a PITA connecting things to it. The fact that lots of people think it's difficult, and that Apple responded to their problems, is also useful to see.

Products are rated relative to one-another, though, not on any absolute scale (because everyone uses a different personal subjective scale, so all a review or recommendation system can hope to do is to normalize each person's ratings against their own learned model of rating criteria such that the person's lowest score becomes a 1 and their highest a 5.) If people don't like USB-C, they're just going to rate everythi…

I'm skeptical people are maliciously rating products 1/5 because they have an agenda against USB-C.

More likely, they dislike it because it's inconvenient and difficult to use with their devices.

Hell, APPLES OWN DEVICES don't even support USB-C.

Re: Apple pulls all customer reviews from online Apple Store

#82

Post by swiley »

derefr wrote: post #49
rgovostes wrote: post #7

The only thing remotely surprising here is that they lasted this long. It was frankly idiotic of them to have it there in the first place. No one is happy to spend $80 on a replacement MagSafe charger because the previous one frayed, so of course the listing was marred by 1-star reviews. The community Q&A also tends to be garbage. I understand that the average consumer is not going to have the same level of technical…

I think whoever originally architected the Apple Store website assumed that, because the Store carried a few third-party products on it alongside Apple's, it would end up evolving into a full marketplace where people would comparison-shop between different third-party offerings of the same product. In such a use-case, reviews and ratings would be useful. Of course, that didn't wind up happening; the Apple Store websi…

That sounds similar to their original attitude around the iPhone 30 pin connector.

Re: Apple pulls all customer reviews from online Apple Store

#83

Post by hermitdev »

uwuhn wrote: post #62
kps wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many ‘accessory’ products had overwhelmingly negative reviews, because Apple's form-over-function philosophy means that they're genuinely hot garbage. … so they fixed the glitch. ¹ e.g. one I'm familiar with http://web.archive.org/web/20191113224149/https://www.apple....

The Apple Tax, aka spending $60+ on a new adapter for each Macbook you own every 2 years.

I'm and Android user, my wife uses iPhone and Mac. Ive a pretty decent LG phone (the camera in particular is better than hers in low light conditions) and my phone cost about half of hers. She goes through 2-3 cables per year. I have never had to replace a cable (although I primarily use wireless charging). She is rough on the cables, as she charges on the couch with our dog and cats coming charging through. Plus, she's a little rough on things to begin with (she drops her phone while charging a lot). Still, I cannot understand buying 3 cables per year.

I do buy spares for my phone, but so I can have one for each place I spend a lot of time: bed, home office and work office. But, I only buy them once, and only when the port changes (e.g. Micro USB to Type C). Also, having now had several devices with wireless charging, doubt I'll ever buy another phone that doesnt have it.

Having my wife buy nearly $200 of apple chargers each year is certainly a tax of sorts.

Re: Apple pulls all customer reviews from online Apple Store

#84

Post by cbsks »

catalogia wrote: post #50
abtinf wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cables turning yellow and sticky is a uniquely Apple experience. I have boxes of cables accumulated over decades. Every other brand of cable is basically in the same condition it was when it went into storage. But Apple cables are fucking disgusting (there is simply no other way to say it). Why are they so sticky? Why are they so yellow? Every Apple cable seems to be affected--headphones, power supplies,and dongles.…

Somebody told me a while back that Apple cables self-destruct when other cables don't because a while back Green Peace talked Apple into no longer using PVC for their cables. The replacement plastic is presumably better for the environment but is less durable (possibly negating any environmental benefits by increasing the amount of e-waste produced?) I don't know how much truth there is to this theory though. It does…

If that were the case, I’d expect that Apple would use it in their marketing. A more environmentally friendly cable could be a good selling point.

Re: Apple pulls all customer reviews from online Apple Store

#85

Post by saagarjha »

Razengan wrote: post #75
projektfu wrote: post #34

It boggles my mind why Apple doesn't have any engagement at all with the community. Their community Q&A is full of questions like "How do I play notifications through the phone speaker instead of bluetooth speaker" and the answers are just community members with the same problem, also wondering how to do it. Zero engagement from Apple.

It's sadly the same even on https://forums.developer.apple.com - a lot of questions just collecting cobwebs without any responses. :(

There are engineers who answer questions there.

Re: Apple pulls all customer reviews from online Apple Store

#86

Post by saagarjha »

musicale wrote: post #70
projektfu wrote: post #34

It boggles my mind why Apple doesn't have any engagement at all with the community. Their community Q&A is full of questions like "How do I play notifications through the phone speaker instead of bluetooth speaker" and the answers are just community members with the same problem, also wondering how to do it. Zero engagement from Apple.

I kind of wish they'd deploy a posse of geniuses to support.apple.com to address some of the more prominent issues with thousands of "I have this issue too" upvotes.

There are rumors that Linc Davis is a cover for exactly that.

Re: Apple pulls all customer reviews from online Apple Store

#87

Post by asveikau »

scarface74 wrote: post #42

By removing the reviews, it's possible that Apple will be seen as less credible to potential buyers. How could anyone disagree with this. Just look at Amazon for a shining example of reviews done correctly. They are always so credible, never gamed, and you never have to worry about fake products especially if you buy products labeled as “Amazon’s Choice”.....

I have sometimes had amazing smiles and laughter reading amazon reviews. It tends to remind me that people are pretty diverse in their lifestyles and opinions. When sizing up a product, that gives nothing at all of value: this guy hates it, but seems slightly crazy; this other one loves it but what do they know? So I just have a good laugh at how different these people are from each other, and likely from me, and make gut decisions based on pretty much nothing anyway.

Re: Apple pulls all customer reviews from online Apple Store

#88

Post by asveikau »

musicale wrote: post #70
projektfu wrote: post #34

It boggles my mind why Apple doesn't have any engagement at all with the community. Their community Q&A is full of questions like "How do I play notifications through the phone speaker instead of bluetooth speaker" and the answers are just community members with the same problem, also wondering how to do it. Zero engagement from Apple.

I kind of wish they'd deploy a posse of geniuses to support.apple.com to address some of the more prominent issues with thousands of "I have this issue too" upvotes.

This leads to an interesting, possibly reusable turn of phrase: a few geniuses short of a posse.

Re: Apple pulls all customer reviews from online Apple Store

#89

Post by saagarjha »

cbsks wrote: post #84
catalogia wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Somebody told me a while back that Apple cables self-destruct when other cables don't because a while back Green Peace talked Apple into no longer using PVC for their cables. The replacement plastic is presumably better for the environment but is less durable (possibly negating any environmental benefits by increasing the amount of e-waste produced?) I don't know how much truth there is to this theory though. It does…

If that were the case, I’d expect that Apple would use it in their marketing. A more environmentally friendly cable could be a good selling point.

Oh, they do: https://www.apple.com/environment/our-approach/

Re: Apple pulls all customer reviews from online Apple Store

#90

Post by saagarjha »

applecrazy wrote: post #76
cronix wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They might be lighter, but I consider not having a cord in between the heavy transformer and the wall plug to be a design flaw. Unless you have receptacles with vicegrip like prongs, like they are when they brand new, the transformers tend to unplug themselves over time due to their weight and gravity. Edit: Oh, and whatever they put in that white rubber seems to really attract cats. Not sure what it is, but it's the…

I’m pretty sure MacBooks come with a cable that extend its range. The official name for is a “power adapter extension cable.”

New ones do not include this cable in the box anymore.
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