Baltimore Sun: Foreign Customers See Blemish On Apple's Shine

H ere, in the US, we Apple users enjoy the best the company offers: iTunes Music Store, iPhoto picture ordering, good service, and first dibs on newly released hardware and software at fairly competitive pricing. That may not be the case for Apple customers beyond our borders: SunSpot.Net, The Baltimore Sunis online presence, posted the newest column from Dave Zeiler, who says that Apple may not look as shiny to customers on foreign shores, and many are voicing their dissatisfaction. From the article, Foreign matter: Mac users abroad have gripes that Apple would be wise to heed :

In a forum discussion at the Macworld UK Web site, several Mac users said Appleis emphasis on introducing an iTunes Store for Windows users in the United States before launching the service for Mac users in Europe was evidence that Apple does not consider them a priority.

"iPhoto has been out in the US with full functionality for a good while now, but we are yet to gain the ability to order photo books here in Australia," said Ishtiaque Omar, a Mac user who lives in Canberra.

Omar said Mac users in Australia also were irked that they must pay a bit more for Apple goods and services than their US counterparts while getting less: "We are essentially paying for functionality weill never use."

George Wong, a Hong Kong Mac user, is annoyed that Appleis Hong Kong Web site is in English, not Chinese. As a .Mac subscriber, heis further dismayed at the total lack of Chinese for that service, even on Appleis China Web site.

The full article goes on to discuss other Apple foreign shortcomings and is a very interesting read. Stop by the SunSpot.net and read the full article.