There are two very recent purchases that I’ve made (or made on my behalf) that have both become fodder for class-action-type melodrama:

• The discontinuation, and subsequent fallout of the 4Gb iPhone.
• The discontinuation, and subsequent fallout of the GM OnStar Analog Verizon Service.

They are not, however, being handled the same way. For those pining away for retribution at the hands of Mr. Jobs and company, this comes as a good piece of news. For those who are flat-out annoyed and willing to throw their pencils at the windows of the Detroit Uppities, well, you’re out of luck.

You see, Apple decided that even though it did something within it’s full spectrum of rights as a corporation, they bowed to the consumer and decided that they shouldn’t let this whole thing get out of hand. GM, however, said “hey, man. It’s not our fault we built this system based on an archaic and cheap, but useless technology just so we could get some phone numbers and cheap service costs from the nation’s largest carrier at the time….” (or something to that effect).

Apple didn’t do anything wrong. There are at least a couple hundred thousand people who disagree with me (including my business parter), but the fact of the matter is that they have every right to adjust to the market; this is exactly what they did.

They chose a pain point when they started the sales cycle and it went over just fine. People were so enamored by the clever technology that it made the purchase justified. So why isn’t it still justified? Because, of course, Steve decided he wanted to make sure that his goal of a million by Christmas was fulfilled and the only real way to do that was to cut the inflated price and “go for it”.

The other side of the equation is the side that’s actually the more irate: the ones who bought the 4GB model. To be fair, there were two reasons why people bought this model:

• Supply and Demand — The 8GB model was sold out on the day they decided to make their purchase and said, “Heck with it. I’m gettin’ a 4!”
• Pricing — This one is pretty obvious, and these are the ones who should be re-thinking their decision.

The $100 store credit is fantastic. They’ll give you the credit, Mr. and Ms. Irate, and you’ll go barging into their store and do what? Purchase more stuff. Not $100 worth of stuff. More than $100 worth of stuff. Brilliant.

While you’re there, pick me up some new ear buds.

The fallout isn’t bad and, to be fair, and to quote my friend Carl, “They would have forgotten about it in a week, anyway”. Yup. They probably would have.

Apple didn’t need to give out a store credit. Neither did Sony after I bought that $355 DVD player many years ago. (The price eventually went down to $74 at Wal-Mart.)

Just about anything you buy has the price risk associated with it and you should probably beware of any purchase situation. But, above all else, once you get it home and it gets a scratch, be smart.