News
Mix: iPhone 3G ads, Gartner, iFund, DownloadShopper
As part of a legal rebuttal to a prior complaint and lawsuit by iPhone customer William Gillis over iPhone 3G issues and possible false advertising based on the “twice as fast for half the price” claim, Apple has stated that “no reasonable person” should have actually believed the slogan. “Plaintiff’s claims, and those of the purported class, are barred by the fact that the alleged deceptive statements were such that no reasonable person in Plaintiff’s position could have reasonably relied on or misunderstood Apple’s statements as claims of fact,” Apple said in its response. Gillis was one of many disgruntled iPhone customers to file suit against the company, and AT&T, in the aftermath of issues surrounding the iPhone 3G’s initial release.
Market research company Gartner has released its third-quarter smartphone findings, showing Apple in the third position in global smartphone marketshare with 12.9% of the market. More notably, however, Gartner also revealed that for the first time, iPhone sales exceeded sales of Windows Mobile devices both worldwide and in North America. Finally, the company said that Apple shipped nearly 7 million iPhones into the channel in the third quarter, but has built up around 2 million units of inventory. The firm said overall smartphone marketshare grew 11.5% year-over-year.
According to a new report, over 550 companies had their applications to Kleiner Perkins’ iFund compromised after they were accidentally published to the web. TechCrunch reports that the data was accidentally published by KPCB’s former hosting provider Meteora Technologies Group in the form of an SQL database file. The file has since been removed, but exposed very detailed information about the companies, including contact information, business plans, financial information, and more.
Web developer Matt Brucker has launched a new site that allows users to search for music and compare prices between several major online music stores. DownloadShopper.com lets users search by Artist, Song, or Album, and compare pricing on the iTunes Store, Amazon MP3, and Wal-Mart, with markings for iTunes Plus tracks as well as pricing for both individual tracks and complete albums. In addition, the site offers a “Hot Deals” section listing free or discounted downloads from all three stores.
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1
I’m not being funny, but the iPhone isn’t half the price or twice the speed. How on earth are apple defending this?
Posted by Fanman on December 4, 2008 at 9:46 AM (PDT)
2
Look - I love Apple as much as the next guy, but come on! If you take out ads that make the claim that product “X” is twice as fast, you better be sure it is. It’s not like they made the claim that it will make your hair grow. “Twice as fast” is a measurable quantity. If it’s not - you’re lying. Some lawyer should have had the foresight to say “Ummmm… maybe we should just say it’s fastER?”
Posted by Warren Piece on December 4, 2008 at 9:51 AM (PDT)
3
Twice as fast might be measurable but it depends on what you’re measuring and how.
For instance in the network world whether it be 3g, 802.11n, or 100mb lan connections, you’ll never get the speeds that they are advertised as having due to overhead not to mention if you’re measuring internet speeds you also have the route to take into consideration as routers between you and the destination could be overloaded. Certain websites you’re trying to reach could also be slow. And, if you talk to Cisco they’ll try to make you believe that you get 200mb due to full duplex over a 100mb connection which is a ridiculous claim.
As for price, yes, technically the phone is the price is they say it is. I know people are upset about the service costing more over the 2 year term but that is the service. It’s also the service that is proving to not meet said claims regarding speed in many areas.
The unfortunate part is simply that Apple is tied to one carrier at the moment. Another unfortunate thing is that AT&T;is charging those not in 3g supported areas 3g prices. Again blame AT&T;for much of this.
Posted by Techslacker on December 4, 2008 at 10:43 AM (PDT)
4
Techslacker,
Completely understood, however Apple is essentially saying if you believe what we say (and it’s nothing preposterous) then you’re an idiot. If that’s their weak defence, then from now on we should not believe anything they advertise. Why even bother advertising?
I’ve been in the advertising world the last 18 years (a Creative Director), and understand the ins-and-outs of all the tricky legalese to get you to buy “things”, but this is preposterous.
Posted by Warren Piece on December 5, 2008 at 10:42 AM (PDT)
5
I think I have to agree, aside from legalese, their has to be some responsibility behind how you represent yourself. I have a lot of apple product in my business, and it’s great, and i wok in matketinh as well, but hey… when you get called out. Agreat company shouldn’t back peddle.
Posted by Wes smith on December 8, 2008 at 10:55 PM (PDT)