Nice essay from Ken Segall (long time creative director who worked on the Think Different campaign, came up with the iMac name) about the fallout from Bendgate.

To me, the story isn’t that Apple created a sub-standard product. Because it didn’t.

The real story is that all these people were so quick to believe that Apple had screwed up in such a monumental way — and then joyfully helped blast this “news” into the public consciousness.

You know the story, watched it play out over the last few days. Will it impact iPhone 6 sales?

If you’re familiar with this blog, you’ve probably heard me talk about the importance Steve Jobs placed on getting customers to love Apple. He wanted every part of the customer experience to strengthen that love — from the advertising and in-store experience to unboxing, enjoying the product and getting support when needed.

By doing so, he would ensure that customers would (a) buy more stuff, (b) evangelize to others and (c) stick with Apple when unforeseen problems arise. He understood that such things were inevitable, even for a company like Apple.

History proves that Steve was 100% correct. Despite the intense media blasting, Apple customers did not defect because of Antennagate or Mapsgate. It’s pretty obvious that there will be even less damage from Bendgate.

This rings true. If Bendgate accomplished anything, it was to raise awareness of the iPhone 6 Plus. Apple’s brand has tremendous critical mass. Like a massive mountain range, it would take great force, sustained over a long period of time, to cause any lasting damage.