Supply and demands

The global logistics business is truly a wonder of our age, the engine room of our industrialised, globalised, flat world. In the US alone, the logistics business employs 22m people and carts more than $2000 billion of goods in any one year. Dancing in a tightly coordinated waltz are distant factories, giant container ships, jet planes, trains and those speeding vans that often nearly run you down in a London side street.

All is led from high-tech control centres that could be thousands of miles distant from any one of the moving parts; centres that anticipate demand and set in motion the huge machine to fulfil your need. This is the business that brings you bananas all year round, cheap furniture in the colour you want on the bank holiday weekend you need it, the latest cool Christmas toy in November not January.

Except for Apple, which appears - despite its achingly cool design and smart-ass ads - to have Bob from the local hardware store running its entire logistics operation. He’s been there years. “Dang,” he says, in my mind, in between spits of his chewing tobacco. “We’re out. Better order in some more come Monday!”. And it’s Wednesday. Then he goes back to his trucking magazine.

This, friends, is the only imaginable reason Apple couldn’t sell me a £50 power supply for my G4 Powerbook yesterday, either physically or online, with a two to four week waiting time. Service on the NHS is better. They obviously didn’t spot a run on the damned things as they fizz-popped their way to death. Bah. And now my Powerbook is useless.

[Update: The answer. Ugly, but available - and £15 cheaper too.]

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COMMENTS / 4 COMMENTS

So - would you, retrospectively, do anything different? Or, selfishly: any tips as how to how one might avoid a similar fate?

chris thought this on Feb 18 07 at 1:42 pm

Not really ugly - and available, which is what matters.

chris thought this on Feb 18 07 at 7:58 pm

i just bought a macbook through the apple website. i tracked its progress from the far east online, and was pleasantly surprised by how fast it shipped. perhaps when i come to order peripherals it’ll be a different story…

JonR thought this on Feb 19 07 at 10:49 am

I share your pain, but I think Apple still beats the NHS. Today, having prepared myself for an internal examination at the local hospital, I and six or seven other folk were sent home because the sterilising machine broke down (not for the first time).There was smoke so they called the local fire brigade and we were asked to stand outside in the rain. Would it not be cheaper to buy a new machine?

John thought this on Feb 22 07 at 4:45 pm

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