Commentary: Apple and AT&T Independent Resellers Unite!

There was a time, when buying a Mac meant a trip to your neighborhood independent Apple reseller. Just about the time Apple decided to take matters into their own hands and open their own stores, the cell phone industry exploded, thanks in no small part to the growth of independent cell phone providers. All of those kiosks in malls and standalone independent phone dealers add a substantial amount of revenue for AT&T each year. Many offer contracts with different carriers. What better way to get them to get more customers onto your service than to arm them with the most sought-after cell phone around?

Instead, these dealers are left with the unenviable task of talking down the benefits of the iPhone to get customers to purchase a different phone. Even though there are still no superior phones to the iPhone yet, more and more decent touchscreen competitors are springing up. And guess what? They aren't on AT&T's network. So in essence, you're making your own resellers push customers to competitors.

Let's go back to the Macintosh resellers for a moment. These are stores who have stuck through thick and thin with Apple for years and years. They did the heavy lifting for Apple, taking the time to fight the hard fight, to give the best, personalized service, and to evangelize, from the heart, about why the Mac was better. It could be argued that these days Apple gets far more revenue from their own stores than these resellers, so therefore they aren't important. Well, guess what? They are important. And the proof? Well, they're still standing. All those years of building customer relationships continues to pay off. Even as Apple continues to open more and more flashy stores, there is a base of customers who continue to buy products from their tried and true reseller. Maybe the local Apple Store is too far away. Maybe people don't want to brave a mall just to ask a computer question. Maybe the jig is up, and people realize that getting a knowledgeable genius in an Apple Store is really hit or miss these days. Whatever the reason, People still choose resellers.

There have been fundamental clashes before about how products were being distributed, with some feeling resellers were getting shut out. Eventually though, (some) product would arrive. It's a far different story with the iPhone.

I cut Apple some slack on this issue with the original release of the iPhone. After all, it was a new product, and a small(er), controlled rollout could be justified. We're over two years in now, and there's no justification beyond greed. We know the phones can be activated at home, why not allow more people to sell the phone. And with the announced deal to sell the iPhone in Wal Mart, doesn't that shoot the whole theory that this is about controlling the point-of-sale experience? We've visited two Wal Marts (and will continue to do so) and have yet to find a person who could tell us about the phone, or even a working demo model.

The Apple and AT&T resellers would both show far more passion and knowledge in selling the iPhone. It is inexplicable these two groups, who have shown their loyalty to their respective corporate gods, are unable to sell a product they want to sell and could sell with far better enthusiasm than Apple's current third-party iPhone providers. I hope Don Mayer at Small Dog Electronics is right. In his predictions for 2009, Don predicted that "Apple will allow its top independent resellers to sell the iPhone." It's the right thing to do, and way overdue.

Image: Movietonic.com

TDL Live and a Special Thanks

Here's this week's TDL Live. Originally airing before our "Welcome to Macintosh" documentary event, there's a live skype interview with the filmmakers in the second half of the show. We also cover the post-Macworld news. Enjoy, and don't forget, you can subscribe to the show as well:

Missing at Apple: Where's the Vision?

A lot has been made, and will continue to be made about the lack of new products and jaw-dropping moments at this year's Macworld Keynote. It's the not the lack of a new Mac Mini, or new iMac that worries me. It's not that the iPhone nano still hasn't materialized. It's that the over-arching vision for the company doesn't seem to exist anymore.

Probably the most distinct, singular vision from Apple came when Steve Jobs proclaimed the Mac would serve as a digital hub. With this vision, everything from iTunes to iPhoto and even drivers were designed. The digital hub vision guided each part of the company. Jobs' proclamation of the digital hub though was nearly eight years ago now. Two years ago we were first introduced to the iPhone, Apple's most innovative product in quite some time. When you make a product that's cool, intuitive, and groundbreaking, you can get a great response. The problem is, at some point if you're a maker of more than one device, each item needs to work together, and form the core of what the company's overall strategy will be over the next several years.

What is Apple's strategy now? All indications are to take the products they're already making, and make them incrementally better. Other electronics companies have been doing this for years, but this isn't what we expect from Apple. There should be a clear vision of where we go from here. With the capabilities of the iPhone and iPod, the Mac as a digital hub is dated. What's the new vision? Is it everything in "the cloud?" Is it everything you need in life, to go? While Apple has slowly, dipped a toe into both of these visions, you can't push a cloud strategy while overcharging for MobileMe and soon charging for iWork.com , You can't push a take-your-life-with-you strategy when people can't even copy and paste.

Tell us where you're going Apple. What's it all about?

iChat Text Communicators Shipping

(Click on the pic, to see it larger.)
No, you didn't miss a Macworld product announcement. Rather, another company is laying claim to the iChat trademark, and producing the text communicators you see above for children. They were part of the holiday print catalog for YoungExplorers.com By the way, it looks like a fine catalog for unusual toys. The devices feature SMS instant messages, that can be sent "up to 35 feet away!" Yes, why talk to one another when you can send a text? Teach them young, I suppose. Oh, we've just intercepted the first message sent by Apple Legal to manufacturer: u r sued.

Share your Macworld Memories

As we enjoy the last Macworld with Apple in attendance, we want to know about your favorite moments from Keynotes past. There was the Schiller jump in 1997, the G4 cube launch, Powerbook G4 (power to go!) Or Steve's first MWSF keynote after returning to Apple. Let us know in the comments below...