I love you, Steve Jobs, but….

Feb 13, 2010 Posted by Sue Publicover on Feb 13, 2010 in Marketing thoughts | 0 comments

Dear Steve,

I’ve been an Apple fanatic since I booted up my first Macintosh in 1985. People laughed and called it a “toy”, but I knew better.

I got my payback when Windows was launched and all those PC users were so mesmerized by such features as pull-down menus and—wait for it—a mouse that were commonplace for us.

When you introduced the iBook, I was thrilled to get my tangerine beauty and proudly unplugged myself in public.

Then came the iPod and iTunes. Those many Mac naysayers had to admit that Apple was “on to something”.

Steve, even though my brother has a business where he builds custom PCs, I turned down a freebie and bought a MacBook—and then purchased another one for my son, all while my brother shook his head in total disdain.

I bought the iPhone in its first generation. Even when you lowered the price just a month after I had invested in this techno-goodie, I stood firm in my unwavering loyalty to you and to Apple.

And now you have launched the iPad and I have to say I’m a bit disappointed. When I heard you were working on a “tablet”, I thought I could maybe use MS Word, scribble hand-written notes, and send emails. What I’m seeing is something that rests halfway between my beloved Kindle reader and my MacBook. My Kindle is a much better size for portability as a reader. My cherished MacBook is easy to take along, thank you very much.

Steve, for 25 years, I have been an avid Apple fan, and will continue to be. But I’ve learned that you often tweak your first generation gadgets and those of us who leap are not rewarded for our faith, but rather pay the price of being a really big focus group. So, I am going to wait not-so-patiently to see how you can make the iPad even better. And you know you will!

Faithfully yours,

Sue Publicover