Kevin Tofel speaks out on the iPhone rebate issue on the NYT!

You may have heard about a little issue that caused early iPhone adopters to get a bit outraged over the announced price drop of the phone.  The New York Times has an article today, "iPhone owners Crying Foul Over Price Cut" which takes a look at the whole amusing situation.  They wanted an expert opinion over the outrage so they reached out to none other than our Kevin Tofel:

The rebate, at least, was enough to mollify some early iPhone customers like Kevin Tofel, a blogger in Telford, Pa., who writes about mobile phones at a blog called jkOnTheRun. Mr. Tofel was so annoyed with the surprising iPhone price drop that he was planning to make T-shirts that read, “I was a $200 iPhone beta tester for Apple.”

“I just felt so used as a consumer,” he said. “They hyped up the iPhone for six months and built up our expectations, and then they grabbed our extra $200 and ran.”

But Mr. Tofel was pleased to hear about the store credit. “I think it was probably the best compromise from a P.R. standpoint and the right thing to do for consumers,” he said. “I’m sure they are taking a lot of heat but they are listening to their customers.”

Comments

[Benz145]

Wow awesome! Congrats Kevin.

[Jim Stewart]

Apple made a strategic decision to lower the price of a high end item in order to boost sales for the key buying season of the year. I bought a new MacBook 4 months ago, and guess what happened? Shortly thereafter, the price dropped, the speed increased, and the drive capacity grew. So what? I expected it to happen, because thats how a technology product life cycle works in the real world.

This whining about "being used" is pretty weak. Anyome with a cortex knows to hold off on buying until the product matures a bit. I waited a year for the MacBook to go Intel and get the bugs out. Early adopters (people who wait in lines for new products) always pay a premium. Move on.

[Andy Castelano]

It would seem Mr. Tofel has been caught up in the classic ubernerd conundrum: He wants to be the first kid on his block to have the new goodies, but thinks he should get it for the bargain basement clearance price. News flash, pal, that's not the way it works.

If you really thought it was worth $600 two months ago, then that's what it was worth. You got to flaunt it over the other nerds for this long, so it should be worth the cash. If it wasn't worth that much then, you shouldn't have bought it. Either start waiting longer to buy your gadgets or quit your whining.

[acjif98]

An article from Marketwatch sums it up well;

Apple introduces the iPology
Marketwatch - September 07, 2007 8:32 AM ET


Related Quotes
Symbol Last Chg
AAPL Trade 135.01 0.00
Real time quote.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Apple Computer has developed and introduced an entirely new marketing innovation called the iPology that turns customer complaints into free publicity

[Mike Cane]

Boo hoo hoo.

No sympathy from me. You should be used to this kind of thing.

Just be glad this week didn't bring the DISCONTINUATION of your model and an IMPROVED one. Just like Sony did with CLIEs.

Wow. I Am So Glad I couldn't afford ^p^p^p^p^p^p^p^p^p^p wasn't stoopid enough to wait on that line. (Ha!)

(Yeah, I probably have the ^ character wrong. It's been ages...)

[LeBeck]

I bought an HDTV in February. If I had waited until June, I would have paid less. If I were to adopt Mr. Tofel's philosophy, I would run out to Circuit City and demand a refund. The reason I haven't is simple: I'm too old to find enjoyment from people laughing at me. Similarly, the first computer I bought cost upwards of $3,000.00. My first laptop upwards of $2,500.00. What makes owners of iPhones so special that they can demand a change in the decades-old market realities of high technology? Get over yourself, Mr. Tofel.

[Alan Kayser]

Uhm. Could it be that Mr SJ planned this all along? Not to be a skeptic, but this was a pretty quick turnaround from his earlier "that's technology" stance. And it makes Apple look really good that they "listened" to their flock, er I meant early adopters. I find it hard to believe that Apple didn't plan all along to have the iPhone at this new price and get the early birds to fork over the big $.

[acjif98]

Whether this was planned or not it worked.
My guess is the PR people got to SJ immediately after his "tough luck" statement and went into full damage control.
Now we have the "Open Letter" before the next news cycle.
Strategery here.....
The $100 credit is looking like a bargain when you add up the value of the publicity and impressions.
I watched the Today Show this morning. 3 stories.
Headline - "Apple gives $100 credit"
Instead of "Apple Customers given the shaft"
The lesson is react quickly. If the credit was given a week later it would have been harder to reel in a full week of bad press.

[Warner Crocker]

Congrats, Kevin. Way to go.

[Fred Graham]

So right! Young'ins with little money sense but high on shallow fashion and just HAVE to have the newest tech thing, you just don't understand that money doesn't grow on trees. Dad probably popped you the cash and "enabled" you into the lifestyle you can't afford and now we want to cry about it. Wake up!!!! I suppose you have a mortgage with an ARM or a ballon payment also. Sure you're cool, you have an IPhone, just call all your "friends" they 'll feel sorry for ya because I sure don't. You weren't screwed you were stupid. Live with the experience and learn.

[Kevin White]

There's nothing wrong with being an early adopter.

Apple didn't really do anything wrong with the price drop, either. That's just life. What happens if you buy something and it goes on sale next week? You price match it, or you go, "Darn." (You price match = you try, and the store either does it or explains it away with 'company policy' designed to introduce breakage into every refund attempt.)

Kevin's not an idiot for buying an iPhone early. He's not an idiot for complaining, either; it's unfortunate that the price drop happened so quickly after release.

If Microsoft had released the XBox 360 for 600 dollars, and then dropped the price 200 bucks just a month or two later, I'm sure there would be gamers lining up to tear MS a new PR orifice. (And forum trolls going, 'STBY, STFU'.)

[Rodfather]

Great strategy. Foresee the backlash, write about it, get on NYTimes, pick up angry Times readers, and end up with more subscribers. Genius! ;)

[VGB]

You're a tech blogger and I can't believe you fell for the hype?!?!?! No matter how advance or whatever, WHEN WILL YOU LEARN NEVER TO BUY THE FIRST RELEASE of a hardware or a software?!?!?!
I'm in IT and this has been a rule since 1990 with Novell Networks (remember this?!?!?).

You're shirt shld say, " SUCKER GOT SUCKED FOR $200 REALLY GOOD BY IPHONE "...well you early iphone birds have a $100 guinea pig stipend...

[Chris]

"Caveat emptor," let the buyer beware. The idea is so old the phrase is in Latin! You all took a chance. If you want to recapture some of that lost $200 dollars by selling t-shirts, go ahead and do it. I might even support you by buying one. When my brother made his Confirmation, his gift was a reel-to-reel tape recorder/player. When I made my Confirmation, my father and I were faced with the choice of 8-track or cassette. What about all the money Baby Boomers spent on vinyl records and now their offspring and nieces and nephews don't know what a record is? Electronic gadgets are a risk and a gamble. You spent the money to live in the moment, now move on.

[Chris K]

$200 bought a lot of bragging rights. That's the price that everyone pays for gadgets.

It's not a ripoff unless you've never paid attention to any major technology, ever. How many cellphones fail to drop in price? How many MP3 players? Cameras? Memory cards?

$600 got you the phone, the bragging rights, and the marketshare to ensure that in 2-3 years, you can do it all over again. It's hardly Apple's fault that when people decide to subsidize their R&D.

[Kevin]

Good god, what a baby... your head is in so deep you can't remember the thousands of times that new technology (your speciality? lmao) prices drop after the first wave? I guess the whining and stomping got you what you wanted though. Thank your parents for allowing that tactic to work for you. Time to get my news somewhere else.

[Jose R. Ortiz]

Wow, a lot of people seem upset. I agree that all technology will eventually drop in price and something better and cheaper will come along. That's just the cycle and we are all aware of that, including Kevin. However, you have to look at the context. The price drop came just over 60 days after launch and it was not for a new model of the actual phone. Now a price drop was inevitable, but this was no minor slash in cost; the price was reduced by 33%. When prices were reduced on the iPod line a couple months ago it was by a mere 6% - 7%, and this is for something that has been available for a year and is being pushed out by a new model. I don't own an iPhone and I am not an Apple fan, but applying this to any product brings me to the same conclusion, it does not make sense. Maybe some of the public outcry does go overboard, but I don't think it is all without merit.

[Jose R. Ortiz]

Oh yeah by the way, I almost forgot...grats on the story Kevin.

[Jose]

"Mr. Jobs", "Mr. Tofel" WOW! I knew it was just a question of time. Congratulations!

[gork]

Here's my problem with this...it's just not good policy. I know, it happens and has happened. On one hand, this is Apple. Apple just isn't like other companies. Apple actually gives a crap what people think about them. Of course it could have also been their stock price going down the day of the announcement!

[Cody B]

Good job on the story Kevin. I do think that what they printed makes you look a lot more radical then you really are.

But I do agree early adopters always pay outragous prices. I expect it when it comes to mobile tech.

Shoulda kept the Dash! just kidding.

[Fake Kevin Tofel]

Hey guys, get off my back. Let the baby have his bottle.

Seriously, you've ALL been tricked, just like I PRETENDED to be. Much like Apple leveraged its pile of whining iTards to draw gratuitous media focus on its tepid iPod press conference, we here at ktOnTheRun have used my own feigned self-pity disguised as grandstanding ignorance to draw new eyeballs onto MY personal tech blog. Thanks NYT!!!

I'm also a little disappointed that nobody called me out on my "early adopter" joke. Clearly, not every early adopter is also a tech/gadget addict, but tech addiction manifests itself in a host of seemingly benign behaviors, such as looking like an early adopter. FOUR HDTVS!?!? I don't JUST early adopt. I early adopt and then adopt again and again and again!!! Other symptoms that we tech addicts display are brilliantly irrational public tirades about how we've been victimized by the very abusive partnerships that we've sought. Haven't you've been paying any attention to me!?!?! Sure, my little addicition does appear like a desperate cry for attention, but can you blame me? Look at all the COOL stuff that the famous hacker JK gets sent to play with. He even has the audacity to break ktOnTheRun and post reviews about this stuff just to mock me.

And don't you worry about my "rebate". You know I'm just going to spend it on more merchandise from the dealer who got me into this mess in the first place. An addict wouldn't have it any other way...

I'm just a squirrel hugging Apple's nuts.

[Kevin White]

I really hope that the people who are flaming in this comments section realize how they appear to people who aren't being hot-headed over KT's response to this whole iPhone price drop.

[acjif98]

Actually, getting quoted in the NYT is huge.
Kudos Kevin.
As for the rabid response here....
Let Fake Kevin handle it.

[RafyGeorge]

As most of the other people have commented, only a fool buys an electronics product the first few months it is out. Look over the last 30+ years, all electronics drop in price within the first year on the market. About 35 years ago I purchased a Texas Instruments calculator for $125, then six months later you could buy the same thing for $20. Live and learn, at least you had more history to give you guidance than I did 35 years ago...
Quit yer bitchin...