Friday, October 14, 2011

Christmas in October


Do you know what it is like to be one of the only people without a smartphone? Because I do. You feel out of the loop, you are not that you have a very important email that you need to respond to ASAP, or that your teacher assigned more readings at 10pm the night before class, or that pictures are up from your weekend activities and worst of all you get lost . . . and have to call someone with a smart phone to give you directions. It is extremely frustrating!
But, no longer am I a dumb phone user (as of 2 hours ago).
I had been waiting all day in my apartment for FedEx to deliver my iPhone. I was getting nervous the later it got that the Verizon store wouldn’t be open when it arrived. Finally it arrived and to my surprise when I opened the box the “Getting Started” manual informed me that everything I need is in the box, including an activation guide! It was so incredibly easy! First of all this is my first smart phone so I was worried about getting my contacts from my dinosaur onto an iPhone, they even addressed getting your contacts in this handy one page activation guide.
I am still blown away by how incredibly intuitive and easy this process was. All I did was back up my phone numbers on my old phone to some place in the sky, turn that phone off and turn on my new phone. Set up got easier from there, the phone prompted me every step of the way, from setting up the language, location, email etc. As a first time smartphone user I am beyond impressed and could never see myself going back or even switching to a non-iPhone (and it’s only been 2 hours).
Now that it is all set up and I have taken a step back, it amazes me even more. Apple really has the consumer in mind, all the time. In the “Getting Started” manual there is also a way for me to donate my old phone and accessories, they have literally thought of everything. From the preorder, to delivery, to set up to constant customer service, Apple is a force to be reckoned with in the mobile phone industry. This constant attention to the consumer, along with superior products, is what has made Apple what it is today. Even the commercials are focused on the consumer and their many uses for the product; they sell their products as an experience rather than just the hot new thing to have.
Even outside of the mobile phone industry, getting this phone was one of the best experience I have had as a consumer in a long time. There was little to no effort on my part, I preorder it, it arrived exactly when it said it would and it is now my cell phone.

1 comment:

  1. It's not surprising that you're already hooked. While Apple does a great job marketing to consumers in the pre-purchase phase, they also excel at the loyalty loop. They are always inventing new applications and downloads for the iPhones to keep customers interested in the phone. I know of only one person who switched from an iPhone to another Android phone, and this was for purely personal reasons. I have a Blackberry, but I feel that there are fewer apps than there were 2 years ago when I purchased the phone. They have done nothing to keep me "up to date" with the Blackberry brand, and I am quickly becoming interested in purchasing an iPhone sometime in the future. No one excels quite as well as Apple does in keeping their customers continually excited to discover what new things their iPhones can do.

    -TFL

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