Yeda, the sole company in Israel authorized to carry apple products, is notorious for its disappointing service and lacking commitment to customers. Indeed, apple's lackluster performance in Israel can be attributed in large part to Yeda's inflated prices and poor professionalism, a striking difference compared to apple's solid reputation in the U.S.
Yeda has recently hit a new low by pricing version 2.0 of its Hebrew iPod support software, iPodHE, at 49 NIS (~$12). Oh, did I mention you can get it for free if you buy your iPod through the yeda store ? But for that luxury you must pay an average of $80 extra per model.
Where's the logic here ? Hebrew support for the iPod is not a "product"; it is (just) one of the steps Yeda should be taking in order to increase the popularity of apple products by Hebrew speakers. But apparently, this is not Yeda's goal. What next ? Expect to have to pay for Hebrew support on Leopard OS X. It's only natural, according to Yeda's scandalous business ethics.
8 comments:
I don't understand what's wrong here.
Yeda developed Hebrew support and distribute the software to their clients without fee - makes sense to me.
Yeda also sell the software separately for $12 - fair price and a nice service to the Hebrew speaking community.
Buy your iPod at your favorite dealer, then buy the Hebrew support from Yeda, and you saved $68.
If you want to blame someone - its Apple, not Yeda. They are responsible for the lack of Hebrew support.
my question is this: how is the new software any different from the old version, that I already have? everything on Yeda's site looks exactly the same except for the addition of "2." It still requires "iTunes 4.7+" and nowhere do I see anything mentioned about iTunes 7's new system of updating the iPod.
Can anyone explain how iPodHE 2 works in conjunction with iTunes 7?
If I can have some kind of assurance that iPodHE, or even the newly $12 iPodHE 2, works with iTunes 7, I could finally upgrade from version 6...
I'm using a Mac.
Thanks,
Yakov.
What's wrong is that language support functionality is not a "product"; it is a core feature that should generalize across platforms and iPod types; Hebrew support is the lifeline for many users who have built up Hebrew iTunes libraries and are now being blackmailed by Yeda. Should you pay separately for your cell phone's ability to display Hebrew ? Language support also symbolizes a commitment to the consumer that I agree, apple currently lacks.
Kobi, you're confused.
APPLE is the company that didn't provide Hebrew language support on the iPod. You should write angry diatribes about Apple, a company that doesn't support their Hebrew (or many other languages, including Arabic) -speaking iPod customers. Clearly they think it's more important to add new games and expensive movie downloads than basic support for right-to-left languages. It's appaling!
Yeda is the company that, at its own expense, came to the rescue and developed a software program that enables Hebrew on the iPod.
No one paid Yeda for this, and as you note, most Israelis with iPods bought them abroad.
Software development isn't free, and Yeda has a right to charge for its software. If you don't want it, don't buy it.
It would be nice for Yeda to offer this product for free, just like it would be nice if beer, rent, and Christina Aguilera's "Back To Basics" were free. Unfortunately, though, iPodHE is not free. Live with it!
As for me, I'm more interested in how I can get Hebrew to stay on my iPod after upgrading to iTunes 7, than complaining that everything should be free.
I just tried downloading the iPodHE program and it didn't ask me to pay anything.
Unfortunately I don't speak enough Hebrew to understand the instructions.
I have iTunes 7 and a 30 GB iPod video
When I try to update the iPod it gives me an error.
I've restored my iPod and I've tried it time and time again.
I'm not sure if it's iTunes 7 or my iPod
But Yakov, don't update yet. This is infuriating to me, I have 79 Hebrew artists on my iPod and when I want to choose a song it's trial and error. If you find out anything contact me and I'll to the same for you.
Behatzlachah
Izzy
wow! i can't believe that... you're right. http://www.yeda.co.il/iPodHE/downloadsuccess.html is still live with download links, no payment asked for. stooopid yeda.
as for installation instructions, try reading this blog post: http://www.yakv.net/nextcantor/2006/09/03/getting-hebrew-on-your-ipod-a-guide-for-the-english-speaking-mac-user/
i'm going to update it if i can get the new ipod software working with the new, apparently secretly free, version of iPodHE. it would be nice if i could update my iPod firmware (games, apple store purchases) and be able to keep the hbrew a-rollin'.
I believe the installation software will ask you for your iPod's serial number and will abort if it wasn't bought from Yeda.
jeez, some of these comments really jumped on you for having the gall to claim that someone is to blame for not supporting a language in which they sell the product -- authorized selling, that is.
Are they just bitter, because I CONCUR!! You can't sell an authorized foreign product in a country and then charge for supporting the language of that country. That should be a first step to being an authorized dealer: language support.
I think the ball has been dropped in Apple's court over in Cupertino.
Oh, and Apple's are a waste here as electronics are SO expensive to begin with. All electronics. A PS3 costs 4,000 shekels (1,000 bucks) as compared to less than half in America. That's nuts!
1 thing I hate about Israel: tariffed electronics.
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