About Customer Feedback

And the way Apple eschews them, Macworld has an interesting flashback of some of those moments.

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses,” said Henry Ford. Like the automobile pioneer, Apple has long eschewed focus groups and popular opinion in determining how make its products insanely great, focusing instead on making its own design decisions without soliciting its customers’ prior approval. But even Apple and CEO Steve Jobs may not always know best. Sometimes, the company has revisited its decisions in light of user outcry—though certainly there are times that user complaints haven’t spurred any Apple changes. Here are some examples of each.

An interesting read, if not only to check out some of the insanity that sometimes takes over Cupertino. Of course it really didn’t had to be this way. Apple could still take bold and daring steps into the future and unknown areas and then insert the customer feedback into the decision loop of corrections and updates or new products. But that seems farfetched for the small jewelry boutique Steve wants.