Following controversy in China with state-controlled media outlets going after Apple over its warranty policies, Apple CEO Tim Cook today addressed the issue in a letter published to the company’s website in China. Within the letter (translation below), Cook apologized to customers and announced the company would implement a number of changes to “improve the level of service” for Chinese customers.
Among the changes Apple will make is an improved repair policy for iPhones, clearer warranty wording on the company’s Web site, better training for Apple Authorized Service Providers and easier customer contact with Apple Feedback Service.
Seems like a step in the right direction. Now to see how Chinese state media reacts…
I want to tell you a little story about how we climbed to the top of one of the seven wonders of the world.We had to hide from the guards at the Tomb near the foot of Cheops. Climb the stone slabs on the most ancient structure of humanity to the sounds of prayers. It was one of the most intense nights of my life. Many thanks to good friends who accompanied and supported the idea.
While I can’t condone the climbing of these beautiful and ancient structures, the view from the top must be magnificent. I’ve been to the Great Pyramids at Giza and some things are striking – how massive they are and how close the city of Cairo actually is, for example.
Not only has China’s Central TV been running regular follow ups to its March 15 expose on Apple’s iPhone repair policies, but on Thursday People’s Daily — the Communist Party’s official propaganda organ — attacked the company for the fourth day in a row, devoting half a page to negative articles.
Apple’s no longer a media darling in the US, either, but they’re definitely feeling the pinch in China. Philip Elmer Dewitt takes a look at the likely reasons behind the push.
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It is also in the consumer’s interest. Just yesterday my friend Kirk found some new music because he follows me on Rdio. But I can’t do the same thing with my friends who are on Spotify. Because all of these services are silos, by definition of their paid business model. If a roaming network existed, there would be more social music discovery, listening, and, I believe, uptake of the paid subscription model by consumers.
If Apple ever does a subscription service, I think most people would default to using what they offer. Considering Apple is the most popular music distributor in the world, and if most people used their service, it seems likely it would turn into just what Fred described — except all on one service.
“The Internet and digital media have produced this ‘Peter Pan effect’ where we never grow up, we’re perpetual children, we never have to be responsible for anything — we keep this juvenile mentality,” she says.
Indeed, the Web has a clique for every would-be adolescent — class clowns, bullies, drama queens and fanboys. (There’s plenty of room for geeks and nerds, too.) They all get to indulge in their petty squabbles, and few of them show signs of growing up.
Residents of Santa Clara, Calif. not only have a new smart meter program but free outdoor Wi-Fi to boot. The city’s non-profit electric municipal utility, Silicon Valley Power (SVP), is taking advantage of connected electric meters by integrating support for a second public unencrypted Wi-Fi channel, allowing the city to blanket the airwaves with free Wi-Fi.
It’s a pretty clever idea, and Santa Clara has the advantage of having a population density high enough to create nearly ubiquitous coverage. The connection won’t be fast – only about 1 megabit per second, according to the report, so don’t plan on streaming HD video from your iPad on free wifi as you walk down the street.
From data loss and corruption to unexpected Apple ID use cases, developers have seen it all—but are stymied by the persistence of problems that prevent them from shipping products with working iCloud support.
Comments from prominent developers including Rich Siegel at Bare Bones Software and Black Pixel’s Daniel Pasco paint an ugly picture about how difficult it is to work with iCloud.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom implored gaming entrepreneurs to feature strong women in their games, rather than highly-sexualized figures, at today’s Game Developers Conference.
The wife of California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, Siebel Newsom explored this issue when producing and directing the documentary film Miss Representation, which is highly critical of the media and entertainment industry’s portrayal of women.
Women make up a small percentage of the gaming industry – 12 percent, according to a member of the panel. What’s more, they’re relegated to marketing and support roles more frequently than development and design positions.
Until there’s better gender parity in the video game business, chances are this isn’t going to change dramatically.
As part of its fourth-quarter earnings announcement early this morning, the company said that co-founder Mike Lazaridis will retire as vice chairman and director on May 1.
The beauty of this gorgeous black Les Paul Custom Lite is more than skin deep, and Gibson USA has also packed added versatility into the traditional formula. Two of Gibson’s most popular humbucking pickups from the Modern Classics series offer all the tone that made the Les Paul legendary in the first place, plus added single-coil sounds thanks to the coil-splitting mini-toggle switch added in place of the second tone control.
Jim and Dan talk about Apple’s broken promise (iCloud), Google Reader, Fever, NetNewsWire, Black Pixel, Newsfire, iTunes Purchase fraud, WifiSLAM, the value of Apple stock, guitars, and more.
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This is a great conference with one of the best speaker line-ups I’ve seen. Don Melton, Matt Gemmell, Matthew Panzarino and many others, including me, will be there. Go sign-up and we’ll see you there.
Portuguese media companies, struggling through the worst recession since the 1970s, are pressing Google to pay for content on its news search engine, echoing similar demands elsewhere in Europe.
I’m not sure I understand the demands by these media companies. Google links to the articles which should bring in traffic to the sites, enabling them to make money. I don’t see any ads on Google News, so it doesn’t appear they are making money from it.
“I went into my local store to return my Astro pants and Invert crops, both purchased this month. I was asked to BEND OVER in order to determine sheerness. The sales associate then perused my butt in the dim lighting of the change room and deemed them “not sheer”.
