Apple Computer seems to be suffering from a lot of problems with quality control lately: IPods are riddled with Windows viruses, laptop batteries are bursting into flames, and MacBooks are randomly shutting down.
Every few days, there are fresh reports of battery recalls, mooing MacBooks or iPods that scratch too easily.
But is Apple's reputation for quality really slipping?
It's my impression that Apple's quality control is no better or worse than before – we're just hearing about it more.
Consider that Apple is growing like crazy. The company shipped 1.6 million Macs and 8.8 million iPods last quarter. That's more computers and iPods than in any three months in the company's history, representing a 30 percent to 35 percent annual growth rate.
This past year, Apple sold more than 39 million iPods and 5.3 million Macs, all while switching to a brand new architecture based on Intel chips. If 99 percent of these Macs and iPods are in good working order, and 1 percent were defective, there would be 53,000 malfunctioning Macs out there and about 390,000 dodgy iPods.
That's almost 450,000 upset Apple customers, all making a stink on forums and websites. I don't think there's anything like that number, or even half that, or half that.
There obviously are some problems; that can't be denied. And certain machines seem more problematic than others. There are few complaints about the iMac, but lots of bitching about MacBook Pros.
The problem is figuring out whether the problems are widespread, or restricted to a small – but vocal – minority. One of the joys of writing for the net is hearing from scores of copy Nazis and propellerheads if you make a mistake or express a controversial view. But if you write something people like, you hear nothing, not a peep.
The same is true for quality control. You'll never hear from the silent majority of happy campers out there.
Definitive numbers are hard to come by. Apple didn't respond to calls and e-mail asking for data or comment. A recent survey by PC World rated Apple and Lenovo laptops as the most reliable.
The internet is a famous echo chamber. Post some pictures of a flaming power adapter on Flickr, and soon every blog in the universe has a report.
I think Apple's problems are the corollary of falling crime statistics in the 1990s, which had mostly to do with demographics. In Apple's case, it's effectively doubled its market share for portables, and all of a sudden there are double the number of customers complaining about problems.
Welcome to the mass market, Apple.
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Leander Kahney is managing editor at Wired News and the author of two books about technology culture: The Cult of Mac and The Cult of IPod. He contributes to the Cult of Mac blog.
