[Worldwalker]

Originally Posted by jhempel24

Every post n this thread was great unto I read world walkers. That was just disgusting. Why can't a company do something right because its the right thing?

Because that's not what they're in business to do. Companies are expected to do something right because it benefits their owners -- including the fractional owners called stockholders. If they do otherwise -- if they harm their own business -- then they're not meeting that fiduciary requirement, and (depending on conditions and jurisdiction) possibly violating the law. There have been shareholder lawsuits over bad decisions intended to benefit the company; it would be financial suicide to make decisions intended to harm it.

This was a very human reaction when having such a high a spot in the community. Its about people helping people in need. Not hmmmm....we should help them but only because its good for business.

How can you tell?

Apple did what was good for Apple. Yes, it was also good for other people. But I maintain that they would not have done something that was good for other people but harmful to Apple. They will make back what they spent on staff hours and electricity a hundred times over in increased sales.

Im not an apple fan, I don't like the product or what the company has turned into, but this story proclves that even Apple knows when its time to stop being a business and be a place that can truly help people.

When did they stop being a business?

I see nothing but them being a business -- being a legal, practical, and profitable business -- in the whole story.

Let's look it over, section by section:

First, the author is an Apple employee, and presumably not a disgruntled one. So he's probably going to tell the story in a way that makes Apple look the best. It's important to take that into account.

Next, the actions in question:

Employees led the customers to safe places. That's standard procedure in earthquake-prone areas. When I worked for a retailer in an area which is known for earthquakes, we were taught the same thing.

They set up surge protectors with iStuff charging devices so people could charge their Apple products. That's just treating their customers well so that they will continue to be customers. Any good company does this. Customers are a business asset. You have to buy them (advertising, etc.). If you use up the ones you have, it costs you more to buy new ones. Smart companies keep the customers they already have. Apple is a smart company.

When they closed up, they left their wi-fi network accessible. Well, um, so does Staples; I've used theirs from my netbook at all hours of night. Maybe they normally shut it down when they go home for the night, maybe they leave it up, I don't know. But I do know that it's not a crippling burden on Apple to leave their access point running.

Note: When I first read that post, the update about letting the employees sleep at the stores, or putting them up in hotels, was not (to my knowledge) yet present. Checking the post again for this summary, I just read that for the first time. I would have been less harsh about Apple if that had been there (or if I had read it) the first time through. Now, thanks to people like jhempel calling me names, I don't really have that option. I should, therefore, point out one quote: "...and that they would write off on it all." In the long run, it's all just a business expense to Apple. Still, I would like to have said "Apple did better than I would have expected." The insults removed that as an option. I'm not sure that's to Apple's benefit.