AirPower: a fiasco beyond imagination
If there was a Beginner’s Guide To Corporate Screwups, surely it would explore the tried-and-true ways for companies to shoot themselves in the foot.
Release buggy software. Fail to protect customer data. Run a bad ad. See your CEO arrested. So many possibilities!
But AirPower is not your stereotypical screwup. It’s something far grander. Never in history has Apple announced a product, gone silent about it for 18 months, and then killed it before it ever shipped.
At least it proves that Apple can be a true innovator in the area of self-immolation.
“Freedom to fail” is actually a liberating thing, essential to the Apple culture. In an internal meeting, I once heard Steve Jobs defend Apple’s large cash reserve by saying, “It gives us the freedom to jump as high as we want. If we fail, we will always have solid ground beneath our feet.”
Unfortunately, AirPower isn’t the “liberating” kind of failure. It’s just shocking and sad.
Bad planning? Bad vision? Bad strategy? Bad engineering? I don’t know exactly what to call it, but I’m pretty sure it starts with the word “bad.”
Even Apple’s statement about the end of AirPower was a failure. For some reason, Tim Cook let it fall to Senior VP Dan Riccio, whose emailed explanation concluded, “the future is wireless and we are committed to push the wireless experience forward.”
A limp defense from a company that just failed so publicly to push the wireless experience forward.
Some have defended Apple, explaining that in the end, physics simply made AirPower impossible.
Naively, I expect Apple-level engineers to have a pretty good grasp of what is possible and what is not—and to have that grasp long before Tim Cook goes onstage to announce the product.
If the engineers had their reckoning with the laws of physics a bit sooner, Apple wouldn’t be shipping those wonderful new AirPods in a box that shows off the amazing new AirPower. (A little icing on this cake of embarrassment.)
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Apple in this position. After the cylindrical Mac Pro was unveiled with fanfare, it actually did ship—but remained virtually unchanged for years. Apple finally explained that its design was running up against the laws of physics, as new technology was heading in a different direction. Now we’re in a protracted wait for a pro-level replacement.
There is no good way to look at the saga of AirPower. Eyes have rolled, jaws have dropped, and we can only wonder how on earth Apple could ever put itself in this position.
There are but two possibilities. Either Apple engineering truly believed it could build the product and discovered the awful truth later—or Apple knew that the technology wasn’t yet feasible and gambled that the engineers would ultimately work their magic.
If it’s the former, Apple engineering made a terrible judgment. If it’s the latter, Apple management made a terrible judgment.
So, Mr. Cook, it’s time to make sure this never, ever happens again. You acted quickly to fire Scott Forstall after the Maps fiasco. Please find the culprit in this AirPower Caper and at least give him/her a good whipping, Steve Jobs-style.
Unless you’re the culprit. In which case, well … let’s talk about that another time.
OMG! Calm down.
Engineering is harder than writing, marketing, or politics. REALITY INTRUDES!
Hardware engineering is hard. Engineers always have to be perpetual optimists, “We can solve it!”
I think it is great that Apple chose the egg on the face when they just could not make it work instead of going the Samsung way – ship that shit!
Nobody was hurt by this.
I think Apple’s brand was hurt though. It’s strange. They seem to be releasing some innovative products and services but Apple Card and this thing are real disappointments as far as being compelling or competitive.
Could you imagine if this would have happened during Jobs CEO period?
Exactly. As I said in another comment here, we can be 100% sure that Steve would have gone nuclear over this. It detracted from the Apple brand, which was one thing Steve never tolerated.
A fiasco? Really? Aside from tech journalists and Apple newshounds, I doubt anyone will notice. This is an extreme overreaction.
Woah… reading your blog post seems like if Apple was betting the farm on the AirPower, the next generation of infinite energy. But it isn’t. There was nothing really special about the AirPower to warrant this kind of sensationalistic response. They fucked up. Yep. But, hey, there is far worst… like this butterfly keyboard on all MacBook. This, I would understand your exasperation.
In terms of impact this isn’t much; few of the public knew or care about it. But it’s an example how size and bureaucracy have changed the company.
+1
The fact that people are not upgrading their 4 years old laptops because of the butterfly keyboard is the real fiasco.
Hello. In your blog article, you include me as one who moans “doom and gloom” for Apple. To that I say (1) you don’t know me very well, and (2) my history with Apple has made me a lifelong supporter. I too am amazed how the doomsayers get Apple wrong time after time.
That said, I don’t blindly support Apple. I believe in “tough love.” I think customers have a duty to be honest about what Apple does right and wrong.
I don’t believe Apple is doomed because of the AirPower fiasco. I agree that they were not “betting the farm” on this product. While this incident will have zero impact on Apple’s future, It does represent an internal failure. You may not see this as a big deal, but I can assure you that Apple does. Steve Jobs’ DNA is (and should be) at the core of everything Apple does. It was Steves who famously said “Real artists ship.”
If Apple was any ol’ company, none of this would matter. But Apple is a world leader in the innovation business, probably the most watched company on earth. AirPower represents a disturbance in the force. It isn’t normal. Apple has never, ever made a mistake like this before, so It’s hard to say “nothing to see here folks” (in my opinion).
I usually avoid getting into the “What would Steve do” thing, but I make an exception here. Steve would have been livid—not because of the future impact of this failure, but because Apple failed so publicly, which damages the Apple brand. He might even have a public hanging, as he did with the mobile.me team. He was enraged that a group of Apple people could damage the brand in that way.
The AirPower story will quickly fade. However, for those who love Apple and its values, who root for its success, it was a bucket of cold water. Not because it was an unforgivable sin—because it was so “not Apple.”
On the subject of the butterfly keyboard. Keep in mind that failure comes in two flavors—objective and subjective. I don’t like the butterfly keyboard either, but this is a subjective opinion. Many (inexplicably!) say that they love it. Complaining about it is a good way to show your tough love. Other failures are absolute, not a matter of opinion. Apple broke its innovation promise with AirPower, just as they broke their innovation promise with Mac Pro.
Thank you for your response Mr. Segall. I know more about you than maybe my blog post let it seemed. That being said, my hope is that you are right: Apple does see that as a big deal internally and that they are taking appropriate actions. Maybe they won’t do it the way Steve would have done it though. But it was a strange episode (a too long one) in the history of Apple.
On this butterfly keyboard, another fiasco, I’m not refering to this design a being a divisive one (it is) like iOS 7 was.Or you love it or you like it. I’m referring to the very profound design flaw that makes people angry because their keyboard are repeating letters or keys are stucked and they need to bring it back for a (costly I might say) repair (for those who can skip using a real computer for one or two or more weeks). And this on a 2500$ computer. And what is Apple doing ? They looked like the yound child who doesn’t want to admit his mistake.
Okay, sorry I misinterpreted your point about the keyboard. Personally, I have begrudgingly accepted the new design, only because I wanted a new-generation model. I still miss the “old” keyboard, which was a delight for the writer in me.
My keyboard has performed flawlessly. I do see the continuing complaints from users, and I also see Apple’s official comment that “a small number of users” are experiencing problems even with the new design.
Honestly, it’s hard to tell which side is exaggerating. There are tons of people who jump on Apple for every perceived wrong, and Apple has a habit of downplaying negative news.
In one sense, it reminds me of the “Antennagate” scandal, when critics relentlessly slammed Apple for a flawed iPhone antenna design. Steve Jobs said that only a small number of people experienced the problem. Given how that issue faded so quickly, I think Apple was more correct than the critics, who fanned the flames as much as they could.
So basically, my position is—trust no one!
My personal criticism stops at the feel of the keys and the horrible clicking that makes people give me funny looks in the coffee shop. I kinda hate both “features.” But has Apple actually corrected the initial design flaw? I really can’t tell.
Apple should be commanded for not releasing product when it deemed really no benefit to consumer.
They didn’t kill the product because they deemed it would be of no benefit. They announced it because they thought it would be of great benefit, and then killed it only because they found it impossible to deliver on the promise.
you’re exactly correct, Ken. I’m astounded at the sheer quantity of people unable to understand the central point you are making and, instead, assign wrong headed goal posts to your direction (betting the farm on air power, physics is physics, etc…).
so many who have responded here are utterly clueless that the central point is not that they failed to achieve their goal of publicly releasing air power… but instead: how they publicly posted it’s impending availability before making sure it was viable. Then… addressing their failure in an embarrassingly childlike fashion. At least that’s my take on what you’re saying.
Hi, I wasn’t expecting a keynote from Apple to announce this cancellation either nor a full press release. I think they wanted to stay low profile. But, who knows how internally they are treating this problem? Neither of us do know this information as far as I know. My whole point here is that the MacBook keyboard flaw is by an order of magnitude much troubling than the AirPower because they keep shipping this shit. Period. That is troublesome and this is not the Apple I love since 1980.
you’re still missing the point.
Tim’s the leader – before he had a product, before he’d seen it, touched it, critiqued it, sent it back, had it re-designed and then finally approved it, he announced it to the world.
That is a big worry.
The Macalope points out that this is not the first time Apple announced/teased a product and then didn’t deliver. One was 3Ghz PowerBooks and the other was open standard FaceTime – both under Steve Jobs. This is actually a relief for me because even if our memories are short, this AirPower tease is not unprecedented.
I’m a big Macalope fan. Thanks for the pointer, because I hadn’t seen his article on this topic. To be honest, this was the first time I’ve felt that the Macalope was bending over backwards to defend an obvious error. He seems to shrug it off by saying AirPower was not a major product and Apple “barely spoke of it until last week.” Uh … Apple’s silence was actually part of the problem. They let customers hang for 18 months before admitting they couldn’t bend the laws of physics.
These two examples really don’t show precedent. (As if precedent would make the AirPower caper any more acceptable.) The vision of 3GHz processors and open-standard FaceTime would have been upgrades to existing products. To some number of users, this was disappointing—but the products themselves continued to be functional and useful. (An understatement, given the advances actually made to FaceTime.)
AirPower is in a class by itself. It was a sexy new product offering new functionality, publicly announced along with a general timetable for delivery. This wound was 100% self-inflicted. I haven’t yet heard a rationalization that changes the facts—the AirPower announcement was unforgivably premature, and contrary to the Apple brand.
Yeah you raise some really valid points on the difference between this and the other two. I do agree the Macalope bent over backwards however those two incidents were still relevant if not comparable in magnitude. It is a worrying sign – Apple is in the imagination delivery business and some relatively recent incidents like this, Airports express/extreme, the stand alone monitor gap, and the MacPro design are worries for me. They became famous for removing a successful product to replace it with an even better one. But now, this is not happening as much.
Agreed!
Hi Ken —
Since we are talking Apple flubs, I’d love to get your point of view on the Services Keynote. It’s been bugging me, ever since it happened.
It’s my judgment that Apple has always been great, amazing, at making the CUSTOMER the HERO of the story.
And I have to admit it disturbed me how, at this presentation, Apple made Hollywood the hero.
Apple does amazing when it says, “You are the hero of the story. We are here to help you by selling you equipment to facilitate your journey to being creative and creating a great world.”
I really left this presention with “Applaud for us, and for Oprah, and for all these amazing content creators who are making new shows, boy do we all love them, they are such heroes.”
I’m not saying “Apple Doomed!” or anything like that. But this moving the “hero” role from the customer to Hollywood seemed really incongruous to who Apple is.
Would appreciate your opinion. Was something ‘off’ about that?