apple news

advertising / apple / apple news / iPad / iPhone / iPod / microsoft / naming / observatory / steve jobs / technology — 9 Comments
2
Sep 10

Apple hits the high notes

Fans of over-analysis surely enjoyed the rumors about what was going to happen at yesterday’s Apple event. Thankfully, that’s all behind us now. It’s time to start over-analyzing what really happened. Here’s my contribution:

Live streaming. Welcome back! After five years, it was good to see you again. If this was a real-world test of Apple’s new billion-dollar server farm as some speculated, I’d give it a 95% rating. The video was fantastic, except for a few glitches. Just need one little tweak in Server #11,355. (Update: See comment below. This may have been Akamai’s technology, not Apple’s.)

The Perky Factor. Haven’t seen Steve this “on” in a while. He was enthusiastic, animated and funny. That’s entertainment.

iOS 4.1. Kudos for fixing the two unforgiveables: (1) the proximity sensor, and (2) the horrid performance on iPhone 3G. Wireless printing is cool, but I’m most anxious to try out the HDR photo feature. You haven’t gotten me to leave my pocket camera at home yet.

iPod shuffle. Feels like a “do-over.” Has any new iPod ever been larger than the model it replaced? Buttons are back. Remote/earphone combo is gone. Much, much better. Apple design leads the industry, but on occasion it does lead them astray.

iPod nano. Holy cow. Home run. Out of the park. Love it to death. Apple will sell a ton of these in the holiday season. Who among us can resist the lure? Just don’t think you slipped this one by us, Apple: Last year, all your marketing was about the cool new video feature, this year you’ve removed it. We’ll let this one slide, only because it wasn’t real video anyway (not HD) and this mini-touchscreen is just too damn cool.

iPod touch. iPhone 4 set us up for this one. It’s exactly what everyone expected: Retina display, dual cameras and FaceTime. And let’s have a big hand for the A4 chip, which is now powering iPod, iPhone and iPad. Nice and snappy.

iPod prices. Our traditional deal with Apple has always been “more features, same price.” Is it my imagination, or are these prices creeping upward? Cue Darth Vader: “I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it further.”

iPod ads. When a company gets big and successful, nobody wants to be the one to screw it up. So you begin to stick with things simply because “they work” — even though the younger, brasher version of yourself wouldn’t have thought twice about shaking things up. The new ads are perfectly fine. They’re just awfully familiar. In fact, the new touch ad (click in the image above and skip to 35:40) is virtually a carbon copy of the 2009 touch ad and the 2008 touch ad — except now FaceTime is added at the end.

iTunes 10. Ping is a huge, huge, huge addition. Until now, Apple has been more of a bystander in social media, and Ping puts them right in the thick of it. Or at least closer to the thick of it. Following friends’ discoveries and following your favorite artists is one of those “why didn’t they think of this before” kind of things. Perfect. I’m already signed up and horrifying my friends with my musical taste.

Zing! Bing! Ping! But can we talk about the Ping thing? Since when does Apple go with a me-too product name? Zing was an embarrassing failure for Dell. Microsoft is putting millions behind Bing at this very moment. Surely there’s a better word in that dictionary somewhere.

AppleTV. Huge step in the right direction, giving us access to Netflix, movies, TV shows, all those good things. $99 is a great price. Its tiny form is impressive, though in practical use not a terrific benefit. It’s still another box with cables sticking out of it. Question: what happens to my current AppleTV? It’s not like Apple to render a product obsolete so quickly. May I have a credit, please?

All in all: great show, Apple. Thank you for a fun and interesting afternoon. Just make sure you terrify the right people in the lead-up to the next show. Your secrets seem to be leaking more and more these days…

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apple news / observatory / strategy — 8 Comments
29
Jul 10

Antennagate: a love story

The most amazing thing about a Steve Jobs presentation is not what he does on stage. It’s what happens in the mainstream press immediately after. More times than not, they echo and amplify the message Steve has so carefully crafted.

Few companies can pull off such a feat so consistently. That’s because it ain’t easy. Apple puts a ton of work into creating a simple, powerful message for every event. That message then appears in Steve’s speech, on apple.com, in the press release — it’s hard to miss.

Steve’s favorite technique for driving a point home on stage? Brute force. He makes his point. And then he keeps making his point. Until no reasonable person could conceivably miss his point.

The Antennagate Press Conference wasn’t like a product launch event. It was a special circumstance. For this one, Steve pounded away at two messages. One was “smartphones aren’t perfect.” The other was … well, see if you can figure it out from this video.

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apple news / strategy — 8 Comments
19
Jul 10

Antennagate: the finale?

I wouldn’t exactly put Apple’s Friday press conference on par with cold fusion, but it was something I never really thought I’d see in my lifetime. Who would have imagined Apple could ever get itself into the position where it had to call a press conference on two days’ notice?

So now we’ve had some time to absorb the event. Here are some Monday-morning reactions — hopefully not duplicating what’s been said already:

The feisty factor. At the time, I was a bit surprised at Steve’s demeanor. But I liked it. I’m sure many Apple detractors wished to see Apple’s tail between its legs, and that didn’t happen. Apple’s goal was to explain the situation, not apologize for it, and then set things right. Though Apple was by definition on the defensive, Steve was just being honest that this thing has been “blown out of proportion.” I have to agree — though it’s not like Apple is without blame.

The quick fix. Bumpers make everything okay. Kinda. As stated before, I’ve never had a problem without the bumper, and neither have the vast majority. But the bumper does solve the issue for those who have an issue. The only downside is the perception that it’s necessary for normal functionality. This is what’s out there in the world, and that’s a problem.

The permanent fix. I was surprised that there was none. As the press conference played out, I thought it was all going logically: first the background, then the temporary fix, then the permanent fix. That final step never came. This guarantees that the issue is not fully defused. But wait…

A new theory. There are only two possible reasons why Apple didn’t announce a permanent fix. One is that a fix is not feasible, given the current iPhone 4 design. The other is that Apple simply hasn’t had the time to engineer and test the best possible solution. I buy the latter. This could well be why free bumpers will only be given out until September 30th. By that time, the new iPhones may be modified with something as simple as an antenna coating. If it goes that way, the fix can be announced as an improvement along the way, rather than an emergency response to a crisis situation.

Feel the love. Steve’s badly-kept secret to effective communications is his ability to stick to a theme. He gets the theme out early and repeats it often. The theme for this event was “we love our customers.” By my count, he used the L-word 12 times. It might have seemed too sugary to some, but love being such an emotional word, it allowed Apple to put hard facts in a softer framework.

The new web page. Apple’s new Antenna page is an interesting development too. Gives everyone a chance to see that Apple’s competitors face the same issue. In this case, Apple seems to be of the belief that the best offense is a good defense. Maybe so.

The competitors. Marketing can be a chess game. Steve’s made his move, now his competitors get to make theirs. “Them’s fighting words” for these guys, and they’ve already had some nasty things to say about Apple drawing them into its “self-made debacle.” Careful with this one, boys. You may protesteth too much. More and more stories are beginning to appear confirming that this really is an industry-wide problem, and other phones do suffer from a similar death grip.

The missing fix. Steve pretty much deflected any mention of the iPhone proximity sensor problem (causing some calls to be ended when cheek touches screen) with a quick “we’re working on it.” Honestly, this seems like a more serious problem in everyday use than the antenna. I’m surprised more critics haven’t jumped on this one, and that Apple hasn’t fixed it more quickly.

Idiot alert. Every so often, someone says something so colossally stupid, it merits a mention here. Jeff Bertolucci of PC World wins the honor for his post-press conference article. In a nutshell, he says iPhone 4 is so tainted now, Apple must kill it immediately and remove every trace of it from their stores. I won’t dignify stupidity with a link (seek it out if you must), but it’s scary that articles like this exist. If natural selection hasn’t filtered out people like this by now, I fear we’re all doomed.

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apple news / strategy / technology — 11 Comments
15
Jul 10

The great mystery of Apple’s stumble

There are a few reasons I respect Apple as I do.

Corny as it sounds, the biggest one is that they believe in “doing the right thing.” In my experience, other companies believe they share this value, but frequently confuse the right thing with “the most cost-efficient thing” or “the least controversial thing.” Apple focuses on the customer experience and makes decisions accordingly — even when the cost is high.

That’s the Apple I know. It’s also the Apple that, for reasons unknown, has taken the last few weeks off.

The good news is, there is now a press conference set for Friday morning. We can safely assume Steve will explain what’s happened and tell us how Apple is going to set things straight. It’s important to note that this is being billed as a press conference, which is something I’ve never seen Apple do before. That means they’ll be taking questions from the assembled press, and those questions are sure to be pointed. This is brave, but also necessary. By their own action and inaction, Apple’s “got some splainin’ to do.”

I’m confident that sanity will be restored. The bigger question is, how did sanity slip away in the first place?

Personally, I cannot imagine that Apple — or any company — could possibly design antennae in such a radical way without being aware of what happens when a human hand bridges the gap.

My theory is that Apple did what they’ve always done so well in the past. They looked at the total product design and made the tradeoffs necessary to create the best possible iPhone. What they gained by this design — a 24% thinner phone that gives most users better reception — seemed like a good tradeoff.

In hindsight, of course, that seems terribly naive. Apple attracts way too much scrutiny for such things to go unnoticed. They created a lose-lose situation for themselves. It appeared that they either didn’t have a clue about antenna engineering or they tried to slip one past us. This wasn’t just an opening for the anti-Apple crowd — it was a disappointment for Apple customers used to the pursuit of perfection.

Anyone looking for evidence that Apple knew about the flaw from the start would point to Exhibit A: the bumper. A few designer cases aside, Apple hasn’t dabbled too much in cases before, yet bumpers were a part of iPhone 4 from the start. This could be perfectly innocent — it just looks suspicious given what’s happened.

So why didn’t Apple handle this better? Why would their response be an open letter (not written by Steve) that reeked of a company avoiding responsibility? For those experiencing dropped calls, the display of bars is hardly the issue. A software fix alone seemed laughably inadequate, and terribly un-Apple.

Why didn’t Apple do what they’ve done before? Steve personally responded to the original iPhone pricing fiasco by offering $100 gift cards to those who overpaid in the first three months. Why didn’t they offer iPhone 4 buyers something as substantial?

Personally, I believe lack of “substantial” has been the hold-up. That iPhone 4 open letter was their attempt to calm the torch-carrying masses at a time when they literally had nothing substantial to offer. The engineers hadn’t yet solved the design issue for future iPhones. Bumpers were back-ordered, so Apple couldn’t even reasonably suggest them as a fix. They may well have gotten themselves into a situation where there wasn’t a viable “right thing to do.”

But Steve has one power that few CEOs have. He can make things happen, even if they don’t seem possible. So I believe all the pieces are now in place for Apple to respond as we wished they would have responded earlier. I expect them to get back into to the right-thing business on Friday. It will be expensive, probably involving $50 gift cards or free bumpers to those who’ve already bought — and a no-questions return policy for those about to buy. Obviously it will also involve a plan to address the design flaw in manufacturing.

The great shame of this is that iPhone 4 is an amazing bit of technology. I have experienced no reception issues with mine. It’s one of those devices that makes me happier every day. Despite the feeding frenzy in the mainstream press and blogosphere, there is no iPhone 4 user revolt. People aren’t flooding the Apple Stores to get their money back. What we have is a huge number of happy customers being bombarded by stories telling them they shouldn’t be so happy. I’m not sure there’s any parallel in consumer product history.

I don’t mean to downplay this. The iPhone antenna issue is a problem that needed fixing yesterday. But there is an art to turning negatives into positives, and Apple is pretty good at it. I hope Apple sees this as another opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to customer satisfaction — and another opportunity to do the right thing.

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apple news — 4 Comments
8
Jul 10

Don’t tell Steve Ballmer…

Coincidence or conspiracy?

I had a fun little surprise when I tapped out Steve Ballmer’s name in my iPhone Mail app, which then offered to auto-correct for me.

It only works when you use lower-case letters. But still, it’s a nice little touch.

Oh, those rascals in the iPhone software group…

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apple news / strategy — 10 Comments
6
Jul 10

An open letter back to Apple

Dear Apple,

Thanks for the open letter last week about the iPhone 4 antenna issue. You know I’m a lifelong supporter, and I wish nothing but the best for you. So please take this in the helpful spirit in which it is intended:

That letter was pretty dreadful.

I’m not talking so much about the content. It’s more the way you presented it — which I found very out of character for a company normally so adept at PR. Your choice of words affected how your fans and detractors think of you. And with both groups, you raised far more eyebrows than you needed to.

First, I was surprised that Steve didn’t write this letter personally, since it’s hard to imagine a topic more worthy of his attention. And then the way you tell the story just feels kind of amateurish.

Apple's own words lead directly to stories like the NY Post's

We have discovered the cause of this dramatic drop in bars, and it is both simple and surprising. Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong.

It’s a bit disconcerting to hear that you’re surprised and shocked. You get major points for honesty — but demerits for unnecessarily shaking our confidence. Surely you could have laid out the same facts in a far more positive way, without being shocked at your own misunderstanding.

This mistake has been present since the original iPhone…

Now you call it a “mistake,” and get into how iPhones have been falsely displaying bars since the beginning of time. You make yourself sound bumbling, which I know you are not. Unfortunately, putting it this way leads directly to headlines like the one pictured in this post.

We’re also making bars 1,2 and 3 a bit taller so they will be easier to see.

When I first read this line (not on your site), I was convinced your letter was a hoax. It actually made me laugh. This is purely cosmetic, and has nothing to do with the problem. Better to have just built this into the software fix and let it be received as a nice touch later.

It’s not like you haven’t been here before. You’ve always gone out of your way — sometimes at great expense — to turn negatives into positives. Remember when you faced a customer revolt over the $599 pricing on the original iPhone? Steve wrote an open letter, lowered the price to $399, gave out $100 Apple Store certificates to early buyers — and you ended up enhancing your image as a result.

Sometimes history is a very good thing to repeat. In this case, a letter from Steve could have cured all. He could have told us how iPhone 4 has broken all sales records, and the vast majority of owners are in love with it. He could have explained how the antenna design actually improves reception for most, and enabled you to make the phone 24% thinner. He then could have told us how a very small percentage of people are experiencing issues — but any percentage is unacceptable to Apple. To address the mistaken perception, Apple is now adopting AT&T’s newest standards for displaying bars in the software. And since the problem disappears entirely with a Bumper or any case, Apple will be giving Bumpers to any customer who requests one. It would be a hell of a lot cheaper than giving out $100 Apple Store certificates.

Done this way, CNN wouldn’t be reporting that Apple has “raised more questions than they answered.” The NY Post wouldn’t be talking about Apple admitting it had been “misleading customers” since 2007. A hundred bloggers wouldn’t be turning Apple’s own words against them. The episode would be behind us, and Apple would once again be praised for “doing the right thing.”

If only.

Oh, and by the way, no need to send me a Bumper. My iPhone 4 is doing just fine, thanks.

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apple news / naming / technology — 9 Comments
9
Jun 10

Welcome, iPhone 4

Despite the lost prototype fiasco, I thought the iPhone 4 intro was still pretty darn interesting. Guess there’s a bit of a difference between Gizmodo ripping the cover off and Steve Jobs walking us through the features. Some quick reactions to the phone, the event and the marketing:

A4 processor. Thank you! If iPhone performance = iPad performance, I will be euphoric.

24% thinner. Excellent. I hereby cease secretly envying my son’s iPod touch.

FaceTime, the technology. Totally love it. Dual switchable cameras and no-setup software are so very Apple. And tremendously cool.

FaceTime, the video. Anyone notice that Apple seems to be getting sappier as it gets bigger? I miss the edgier stuff. Whatever, maybe I know too much about how ads get made for my own good. Since the phone isn’t shipping yet, I assume we’re looking at actors from central casting getting misty-eyed on cue. But that’s just me.

iPhone 4, the video. Polished and professional. But, as noted in the past, these launch videos have become formulaic. Same cast of characters, familiar hyperbole. Wish they’d stray just once to prove it can be done. Apple = creativity.

The Glitch. It’s a shame, but meaningless in the end. Once, when Bill Gates publicly suffered a horrible tech problem on stage, we agency mischief-makers turned it into a 30-second ad for Apple. Steve wasn’t interested. “This stuff happens to all of us,” he said. Let’s see if the courtesy is returned.

Renaming the OS. In a post back at launch time, I thought it odd that something called iPhone OS would power things that weren’t phones. That mismatch is indicative of the thinking in effect when the moniker was selected. This was just a no-brainer — with three i-devices running the same OS, the new name is perfect. iOS forever.

Retina Display. Can’t wait to see it in person.

5-Megapixel Camera. Pixels aren’t everything, but all the camera improvements together should bump up the quality nicely. I may actually start using this camera.

iMovie. I love surprises. iMovie for iPhone was a good one. In glorious 30fps 720p. Well done.

Unified Mailbox. Good lord, what took you so long.

Folders. My app screens had become agonizingly complicated. Much appreciated.

iBookstore. Will please many, but not me. I’ve tried to read on an iPhone and it’s too damn tiny. If the gods meant us to read on iPhone, they would never have given us iPad.

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apple news / strategy / technology — 5 Comments
3
Jun 10

Steve @ D8: even better than email

You know, it was really good to see Steve Jobs take questions at D8 on Tuesday. Not because he elaborated on interesting topics (which he did) — more because he did a pretty good job of being human.

It’s one thing to see glimpses of the real Steve in his responses to customers’ emails (and the simple fact that he answers emails at all). But this was far more revealing: an informal conversation with a guy most people know only from what others write about him.

Watching these videos won’t make you Steve’s best buddy. However, his off-the-cuff remarks will definitely give you a greater appreciation for what makes him tick.

A few of my own reactions to his remarks:

The thrill factor. I felt all warm and fuzzy when Steve mentioned how thrilled he was to receive an email from some guy in the UK who’d just bought an iPad and thinks it’s the coolest thing he ever brought home. This is the real Steve. He loves knowing that people love his products. Ask Michael Dell what gives him the biggest thrill.

Apple values. Steve took care to point out that Apple’s values haven’t changed over the years. I know this is true, and I know this is what makes Apple’s success different. They are not easily sidetracked, and they don’t know how to compromise. They will actually spend more to get something right. You probably know how rare this is.

The lost prototype. When the iPhone prototype went missing, Steve said he had received advice from people he trusts to the effect of “let it slide.” After careful thought, he decided he couldn’t let it slide. He’d rather quit. This is compatible with the preceding point about Apple’s values. When you let one thing slide, there will always be another and another — and pretty soon you’re making “okay” products instead of great ones. Thank you, Steve, for having conviction.

The publishing revolution. Talking about iPad’s potential impact on publishing, Steve says he doesn’t want to see us “descend into a nation of bloggers,” that the world needs great editorial. Hear, hear. Not to trash my blogging brothers, but honestly — man cannot live on blogs alone. (Whoops, two male references in a single sentence.) Editorial is hugely important.

Retiring the PC. I agree 100% with Steve’s assessment of the future for iPads and PCs (meaning non-Macs and Macs). As iPads and other devices mature, the need for PCs will fade. Those with vested interests in PCs will indeed become “uneasy” with this, and that’s putting it nicely. No doubt Apple and Steve will be attacked mercilessly for pushing things ahead — and no doubt they will be proven right in the end.

The We factor. Okay, I do have one bone to pick. Talking about how the tablet idea actually came before the iPhone, Steve broke the cardinal rule of teamwork: “Always say we, never say I.” He took an awful lot of credit there with comments like “I saw this,” “I thought that” and “then I decided” leading up to these decisions. I’m sure he’s technically correct — but in the past he has gone out of his way to be we-oriented. Watch it, Steve.

Products as “packages.” Everyone needs to appreciate what Steve said about product design. With every new product, Apple has to pick and choose which technology to include. Going with the cheapest or most popular is a very Dell-like thing to do. Apple instead seeks out the technologies that have the most life ahead of them — and Flash didn’t make the cut. Abandoning Flash surely wasn’t an easy decision. But then losing the floppy drive wasn’t either.

Let the customers decide. As Steve points out, it’s up to the customers to decide if Apple has put together the right package of technologies. If they don’t like it, they won’t buy it, and then Apple would have to rethink its decisions. If it sells like hotcakes, then they must have gotten it right. I think this is the only real answer to the critics who feel varying degrees of outrage over Flash, App Store approvals or whatever. If Apple has made some gruesome mistake, they’re going to pay for it. Chances of that happening: slim.

Good seeing you, Steve. Let’s do it again soon.

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apple news / observatory — 4 Comments
27
May 10

Microsoft: reality sinks in

If you’ve been following the adventures of Microsoft and Apple even casually for the last 10 or 20 years, yesterday was a day of almost unimaginable importance.

Apple actually passed Microsoft in terms of market capitalization.

Market cap is more of a theoretical measure, as it’s based on stock prices that vary by the second — but it’s still beyond huge. Apple is now the second most valued corporation, trailing only ExxonMobil.

Despite Apple’s innovations for 20 years, there was always the harsh reality that they were the upstart, not nearly as “important” in the world of technology as Microsoft. This now officially changes.

What a big day for fresh thinking. Quite dramatically, Apple has now proven that innovation pays. In the past ten years, Apple’s market cap has increased ten times — while Microsoft’s has dropped 20%.

Even if you’re just in it for the money, which some technology companies seem to be, Apple’s business model is infinitely more compelling. With a brand that allows them to collect a premium on their products, Apple makes more money by selling fewer products.

If Microsoft feels a little stung by this development, imagine how Dell must feel — now dwarfed by an Apple valued more than ten times as much.

It’s kind of amusing that Apple’s overtaking of Microsoft happened on a day when the AAPL stock price actually dropped. It’s just that Microsoft’s stock price dropped even more. This is like winning the pennant at the end of a long season because the other team lost. But it is a big win, and it’s the result of all that hard work over such a long stretch.

Microsoft just seems terribly lost these days. It’s almost enough to make you feel sorry for them. But not quite.

While Apple vs. Google fight it out in mobile, Microsoft doesn’t even have a first-row seat. Windows Phone 7 is forever coming soon. Zune is Zune. And last week, the top two guys in Microsoft’s Entertainment & Devices division “retired,” resulting in more involvement from … Ballmer.

This is the same Ballmer who one day after his company fell behind Apple in market cap, says that Microsoft is “executing well.” He hides behind Microsoft’s profitability — which remains obscenely high — but I can’t imagine he can hide there too long.

Given Ballmer’s performance these ten years, the torch-wielding villagers can’t be too far behind.

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apple news — 7 Comments
6
May 10

The price of Apple’s fame

When I went to work on Apple’s advertising long ago, I was surprised how every little thing we did was so overanalyzed by journalists and critics.

When I went to work on Intel’s advertising many years later, I was surprised how few people gave a damn what we did.

Well, that’s the way notoriety works. Apple is exciting, Intel is… Intel. People don’t exactly hang on its every ad.

Apple benefits tremendously from this. But it also pays a price — because everyone’s an expert out there, and the Internet rewards writers for covering controversial topics. Or making up the controversies themselves.

Case in point: tonight I was reading this article in the New York Times by Nick Bilton, titled Has Apple Lost Its Cool? Okay, you sucked me in with that one. But then I get to the reasons why Apple is “under fire,” including this one: Steven P. Jobs has been criticized for his terse responses to customers who ask questions about Apple products.

Geez. Shame on Steve for talking to his customers. Last I checked, people were kind of stunned and amazed that he actually takes the time to answer customer emails. He’s been informative, even compassionate. The real reporters over at the New York Times even wrote an article about it just a few weeks ago. Worse still, when you click the terse response link, it takes you to a blog where the poster and all the commenters are discussing the content of one of Steve’s emails—but not one of them is complaining about it.

Shoddy.

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