As little as one year ago, the name Apple was synonymous with innovation and ingenuity. The iPhone was viewed to have no equal, the iPad was essentially the only product in its market, and the MacBook was seen everywhere on campus.
Apple no longer holds this sterling reputation. The company’s decline can be attributed to increased competition from companies like Samsung, Apple’s refusal to support non-Apple products, and Apple’s inability to deliver the revolutionary products it did during the Steve Jobs era. Senior accounting and finance major Mark Rosato summarized his switch from the iPhone to the Samsung Galaxy S3 in five words, “Customization and lack of jailbreak.” He described Apple products as “redundant” and explained that even when he had an iPhone, he jailbroke it to work like a Droid.
Nevertheless, Apple still boasts a very loyal customer base. Brent Oursler, a freshman mechanical engineering major who owns a MacBook Pro and an iPhone 4S had a very different stance on Apple than Mark.
“[Apple products] are easy to use which is good for me because I’m not good with computers. They’re compatible because everyone else has Apple products. It’s universal. They’re not very cheap, though.”
Price has always been an issue for Apple critics. According to junior accounting and information systems major Jordan Kirschenbaum, “Apple sells lesser products for higher cost. People buy Apple products because of the appearance. They buy them because they’re shiny.” This seems to summarize the attitude most people have towards Apple right now-it still sells some of the most popular products on the market, but this may change as other companies catch up.