[drewprops]

I'm devastated

Sorry everybody.

https://appleinsider.com/articles/21...d-into-january

...

[psmith2.0]

Apple is obviously on the ropes. Doomed, I’d say.

- J. Dvorak

The real tragedy here, of course, is that these things didn’t get a 12-minute segment during Monday’s event.

“And now, to tell you more about this groundbreaking cleaning device is Kelley Coffman, Senior VP of Fiber Technologies at Apple.”

“Thanks, Tim. For decades, Apple has led the way in…”

**8 minutes later**

“Thanks, Chris. As you can see, the design and manufacturing of this cleaning cloth is like no other in the industry. But there’s more. To tell you all about this cloth’s commitment to environmental justice, I’m going to turn it over to…”.



Hopefully colors next year? And perhaps even a larger, slightly thicker (but still sleek and attractive) Cloth Pro for $29. *fingers crossed*




When both of those come to be in 8-12 months you remember this post and chuckle to yourselves!

“I thought Paul was just being silly, but damned if he didn’t nail it! Who knew that idiot had insider sources?!”

[PB PM]

With news that there will be magnesium and aluminum shortages, cleaning cloth shortages are the least we need to worry about.

[turtle]

I'm gonna hoard my soda cans now!!!

[psmith2.0]

Which is exactly why I’ve migrated my workflow to an Etch-A-Sketch. So far so good!

Not the best color fidelity in the world, but it does fine for the kind of work I do.

[psmith2.0]

Being serious for six seconds, it’s kinda weird/funny Apple went this long without doing this. Seems like the sort of thing they would’ve been selling for 10-15 years now…a money-making accessory that goes with every bit of hardware they sell.

Such a simple, obvious thing…they left gazillions on the table!

Or was it in development/testing all this time?!

[PB PM]

Originally Posted by turtle I'm gonna hoard my soda cans now!!!

If it was only that. It will delay computers, phones (back plates, the metal ring around the edges), vehicles (most use aluminum engine blocks, many have alloy wheels), and much more. All of Apples computers are wrapped in aluminum shells after all.

As for the cloth, anyone dumb enough to pay $19 for a microfibre cloth deserves to wait.

[chucker]

They should have licensed this cloth to PC makers.

[psmith2.0]

Okay, that was funny.

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by PB PM As for the cloth, anyone dumb enough to pay $19 for a microfibre cloth deserves to wait.

What do you think Apple has in each one? .17? .38? $1.19?

Go, Timmy!

"Our Mac sales were down slightly from last quarter, but...we sold the absolute shit out of our cleaning cloths!"

Mark my words: there will be more to come...colors and sizes. In 2-3 years $19 is going to look quaint and "remember when these were able to be had for just $20?"

[psmith2.0]

There aren’t many details at Apple’s site. What, if anything, is special ($19 worth of special) about these? Anything legit, or just marketing?

Will the braided, looped Hermes edition (in Mocha Sunrise and Onyx Dream) be $219?

Probably.

[kscherer]

Originally Posted by chucker They should have licensed this cloth to PC makers.

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 Okay, that was funny.

Hell, I didn't know Germans even had a sense of humor. Don't they get shot for that?

[chucker]

Originally Posted by kscherer Hell, I didn't know Germans even had a sense of humor. Don't they get shot for that?

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 Mark my words: there will be more to come...colors and sizes. In 2-3 years $19 is going to look quaint and "remember when these were able to be had for just $20?"

The return of iPod socks.

[kscherer]

Originally Posted by chucker .

I tease, I tease.

[Dr. Bobsky]

Originally Posted by kscherer Hell, I didn't know Germans even had a sense of humor. Don't they get shot for that?

German humor varies from region to region... Snarky, dark, ironic, flat, non-existent, hillbilly, can all describe certain areas some of the time. I think the concept of Germans as humorless comes from how they present themselves internationally: in control, with a limited ironic range. My German colleague here in the UK is the most self-important, humorless (except when making fun of other people's nations or social class standing), German I have ever met, and he decidedly would not naturally fit with any of the Germans I lived and worked with in Germany.

The Austrians with similar linguistic limitations simply don't take themselves as seriously when abroad, and can be hilarious...

[drewprops]

All of this frivolity and German-humor inspection is great and all, but my Mac wiping rags are still going to get here WAY LATE.



...

[kscherer]

What in the hell did I start?

[PB PM]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 What do you think Apple has in each one? .17? .38? $1.19? Go, Timmy! "Our Mac sales were down slightly from last quarter, but...we sold the absolute shit out of our cleaning cloths!" Mark my words: there will be more to come...colors and sizes. In 2-3 years $19 is going to look quaint and "remember when these were able to be had for just $20?"

Given that you can get 50 packs of microfiber cloths for $20 or less, pennies each would be about right. Apple's going to make a killing on microfiber cloths.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by kscherer I tease, I tease.

Imma polish your ass with that cloth.

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by drewprops All of this frivolity and German-humor inspection is great and all, but my Mac wiping rags are still going to get here WAY LATE. ...

January, I’m reading. I bet a lot of those purchases were Christmas stocking stuffers. Who doesn’t have an iPhone at this point? Plus all the people who may be getting an Apple device under the tree. I’m surprised they don’t sell a family-friendly 5-pack at a slight discount. Even a single person might go for that: one in your home office/desk, your coffee table, nightstand, your car and at work? All the places you regularly use your iDevice or Mac.

I would never have imagined such a scenario…$19 cleaning cloths to start with, and then such demand/selling out like they have! I figured, Monday afternoon, they were dead in the water and the kind of accessory they’d barely sell.

Who knew that, in addition to new pro notebooks, there was such heavy, pent-up demand for a first-party screen-cleaning cloth at such an Apple-y price point!

At $7-9, from anyone else, it would’ve been “really? GTFOH with that…”. Leave it to Apple to slap $19 on it with a straight face and without blinking an eye.

“For all you smartypants and snarkmeisters who think our $700 wheels are a hoot, check this out…”.

But if you’ve got multiple Apple devices - Mac, iPhone, iPad, watch (and tons of people do) - and you’re often unsure what’s safe/proper to use on their screens, such a thing may be exactly what you want…worry-free cleaning, knowing you’re not going to damage any material or coating on a $400 watch, $1,200 phone or $3,500 notebook. The compatibility list at Apple’s site is pretty much everything they’ve made/sold in the past 5-7 years, so that’s a lot of devices. Pretty much every Apple product out in the world, and in use, in 2021.

Looking at it from that angle, yeah…I can see why they’re sold out. Hell, I’ll wind up with one before it’s all over. I’ll have a new iMac and phone too

[chucker]

Listen, the thing the pandemic really showed is that we all need to reconsider our cleaning regimen!

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211142

[psmith2.0]

Gonna paint mine to look like Iron Man.

[kscherer]

Originally Posted by chucker Imma polish your ass with that cloth.

Promises, promises …

[709]

Originally Posted by chucker Listen, the thing the pandemic really showed is that we all need to reconsider our cleaning regimen! https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211142

The heck? I wonder what other kinds of do-it-yourself weirdness Apple has lurking on their site.

[kscherer]

Originally Posted by 709 I wonder what other kinds of do-it-yourself weirdness Apple has lurking on their site.

New product idea:

iLurk

Should that be the name for the glasses?

[chucker]

Originally Posted by 709 The heck? I wonder what other kinds of do-it-yourself weirdness Apple has lurking on their site.

It’s one of the projects from the early pandemic days. Tim Cook even did a little video introducing it.

[Maciej]

Didn’t they use to ship a black microfiber cloth with MBPs a few years ago?

[PB PM]

They also used to ship them with some iPods, IIRC.

[psmith2.0]

I’ve got one. I think it came from my original 2007 iPhone.

[Maciej]

Oh! Maybe it was the iPhone then. Good memory!