With the announcement by Steve Jobs that’s he’s giving up the CEO role, Apple’s stock will probably take a hit today. The only real reason will be perceptual and emotional, since his successor is a proven talent and the Apple pipeline is full of new products. I doubt investors are reacting to something that they think happens five years or more from now.

Let’s hope I’m wrong, but after-hours trading had the stock down by several dollars last night.

The people who despise Steve Jobs and Apple strike me as the same ones who despise others’ success. They explain away the talent and innovation (luck, timing, theft) and they focus on what they perceive to be the weaknesses (autocratic, unemotional, ruthless).

Too often, like alligators, we tend to try to eat our own young.

Jobs has created one of the most valuable companies in the world through his visceral and intelligent identification of what customers need, whether the customers know it or not. (Most customers know what they want, but not what they need, or there would never have been a Walkman to begin with.) He creates trust and belief, and appeals to early adapters. His company creates more evangelists among customers than any I’ve ever seen that wasn’t actively in the evangelism business.

I’ve personally converted hundreds of people from PCs to Macs. I refused to listen earlier in my career when “experts” told me I had to be compatible with my clients and solely use PCs. I find it perfectly reasonable and efficient to be sitting here in Nantucket with my Mac lap top, iPad, and iPhone. (I’m typing this on my lap top and have written a dozen articles and columns, which I can’t do rapidly on the iPad. But I can read my books and play the latest level of Angry Birds and Fragger on my iPad. And I’m doing business occasionally from the beach on my iPhone.)

Steve Jobs is one of the latest American icons, like Hewlett and Packard starting out in their garage and creating “The HP Way” in their business (unfortunately lost in the past several years). He’s not going to be trotting out on stages in motivational rallies that dredge up ex-politicians, ex-quarterback, and ex-astronauts, along with vacuous “motivational speakers.” He’s the guy who did it his way, despite criticism, odds, larger competitors, and conventional wisdom.

We need more like him. Our kids should be studying him. He belongs in the news as an exemplar. But the media would rather focus on Bernie Madoff or the sexual escapades of still anther French politician.

One day, many of you will be telling your kids, “I watched Jobs build Apple. It was unbelievable.” I don’t’ think it’s unbelievable, but it certainly seems to be underappreciated.

© Alan Weiss 2011. All rights reserved.

I’m totally revamping my den/office, and I’m finally off the card tables and into about 75% completed digs. On the way to dinner the other night, on a whim, I said to  my wife, “Let’s stop at Best Buy and see if they have a copier/fax/scanner gizmo that will work wirelessly.” My son-in-law urged me to look at these and get rid of the three huge pieces of equipment taking up so much room (copier/scanner/fax, color printer, laser printer) in the old setup.

The people in Best Buy are very nice and knowledgeable, and a one of the guys took 10 minutes to describe what I needed but told me, “You’re not our demographic, and that level of machine isn’t here. But if you go onto BestBuyBusiness.com you’ll find it and can order it.”

Well, I was in the mood for immediate gratification, and would prefer to see it and watch it work, so I thanked him, disappointed, and left. On the way to the restaurant, we stopped at the Staples where we usually purchase office supplies. I didn’t think they’d have a machine like this, but it was on the way. The store manager intercepted me, found out what I needed, and sent over the resident printer expert, who was about 12 years old.

He took me through a few machines that would meet my objectives, narrowed it to one and demonstrated it for me, answered every question, told me it was $50 off, and then fetched a hand truck to personally take it out to my car and shocked wife. (Good thing it was a great evening, the box fit in the back seat, barely, with the top down.) And, of course, I get Staples reward points. (And this is an HP machine, I’m a devotee of HP, they were a fabulous client for ten years and I own their stock.)

The machine took 15 minutes to set up the next day, 10 of which were devoted to getting it out of the box and removing a pound of packing protection. The only wires it has are the fax jack and power cord. It works perfectly and has given me a ton of additional room. It is smaller than any one of the three machines it replaces.

Maybe Best Buy would draw a more affluent demographic if they stocked more sophisticated machines. They sell some expensive stuff in there, and they are a quality operation. Why would you send me down the road? Next time, my first stop will be Staples. That’s how delicate the retail business can be.

Try not to send me packing.

© Alan Weiss 2011. All rights reserved.

I had a minor quality problem with my Apple TV downloads. I sent an email to Apple. They refunded all my money for both series I had purchased (which can still be watched, the color is just a tad off), and when I thanked them for their responsiveness and generosity, they sent me this:

How can you not love these people?

We’re insured (house, cars, personal property, liability, etc.) by Amica, a Rhode Island-based firm that I think is the best in the business.

Today they sent a letter explaining that an error in the rate created a lower insurance premium on my homeowner’s policy than should have been the case. I braced for the added amount due. The letter went on:

“We understand you trust us to provide you with timely and accurate policy information and we value your loyalty. Therefore, we are taking the unprecedented steps necessary to honor the lower premium stated in your renewal for the remainder of this policy period. However, we must correct the rates upon your renewal policy which may contribute to an increase in the cost of your insurance. As we embark on our 104th year of providing insurance coverage, Amica’s philosophy remains the same—courteous, professional service that exceeds your expectations. Without our valued, loyal policyholders, we would not be the company we are today.”

My policy doesn’t renew until September, 2011. I don’t think I need to say another word.

After a long delay, and lambasting Delta several posts ago and on Twitter, they have responded quite well. Mr. Anderson, referred to below, is the CEO. Credit where credit is due:

Dear Dr. Weiss:

RE: Case Number XXXXXXX

Thank you for alerting Richard Anderson to the unsatisfactory customer
service you encountered at Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) on May 29.
Richard has asked that I extend his personal apology,
on behalf of Delta Air Lines and our Delta Connection Carrier, Mesaba
Airlines, for the many inconveniences you suffered with a duplicate
billing and for not receiving a refund for your original flight coupon
from MSP to Boston. We are also truly sorry for our delayed response.

Your comments are well received and your frustration is understandable.
Clearly, we recognize the value of your time. Our goal is to provide
caring and accurate service at all times. I am truly sorry in this
instance you did not receive the service you expected and had every
right to receive. Feedback like yours will help us improve our overall
customer experience. Be assured Richard has shared your letter with our
Airport Customer Service leadership team at MSP for internal follow up.

As a result of your experience, I will be taking the following actions.

-ticket XXXXXXXXX – asking passenger refunds to issue a full refund
for the MSP-Boston flight coupon
-ticket XXXXXXXXX – asking passenger refunds to check your AX card
for a duplicate billing of $934.70 for your travel from MSP to
Providence

As a Gold Medallion member, you are an integral part of our customer
base. Thank you for writing and again, we apologize for your
inconvenience. We deeply value your business.

Sincerely,

Kathy Johnston
Administrator
Executive Communications
Delta Air Lines/KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

On a dark, back road of Nantucket, we had a nighttime encounter with a flatbed truck driver who was pretty obviously drunk. The details are unimportant, but the guy got out of his truck, shouting obscenities, and ran after us because I used my high beams to see if I had enough clearance to get by. (Chasing a Bentley on foot is one indication of possessing a high blood/alcohol rating.)

When we got back to the inn, I called the police to report him, because I figured he would give other people the same grief, and maybe come back after me. The officer on the phone was dismissive, and wouldn’t even take my name. That ticked me off more than the truck driver.

After I returned home, I found the Nantucket Police Department on Google, and was impressed that Chief William Pittman had a direct email address. I wrote to tell him about his indifferent officer, because if I were he, I’d want to know.

He called me personally today, apologized, and told me what corrective actions were being taken. He even figured out who the trucker driver was, and told me the issue should have been handled far differently. He was totally professional, and service-oriented. I know if I had been wrong, he would have told me that in the same manner.

I’m impressed. No one is perfect, no department is perfect. But when leaders are determined to be responsive and constantly seek improvement—and not be defensive—good things happen. And maybe a future assault is prevented.

Compare this to another experience in Nantucket: I’m waiting for my wife at a convenience store, where all the parking spaces are filled, so I’m in a loading zone, with the motor idling, at 9 at night, when no one on earth is going to load or unload on Nantucket. I notice a heavy guy walking down the street looking at me, and it looks like he has a holster, though I figure it’s a cell phone.

Next thing I know, he’s next to me in an SUV bellowing at me, like a small town, redneck, tough guy. He screams at me not to stay in the loading zone, and I notice the light array on the SUV and look down to see “Sheriff” on the door. Politely asking me to move would have had the same ultimate outcome, right?

I recounted this at the Wauwinet bar the next night and a local guy asked me, “What kind of car do you drive?” Curious, I told him, and asked why that mattered.

“Because you ran into our sheriff,” he said, “and he just hates anyone here with money.”

“Aren’t we the ones who help the economy, and don’t most people on this island have mney?” I asked.

“Go figure!” he says.

So, hail to the Chief, at least he sets a shining example on Nantucket.

(Do you have a good or bad police authority example? Make a comment below!)

© Alan Weiss 2009. All rights reserved.