We should consider selling our stock, because it was only a matter of time…
Critics have questioned how long Apple could hold up WITHOUT the leader who crafted the company in his vision.
And now we know.
This week’s apology from Apple indicates more than a minor screw up or a chink in the armor for the near trillion dollar company, it’s representative of the huge paradigm shift that has taken place at Apple.
It is now painfully obvious that Apple CEO Tim Cook is not Steve Jobs. The press release disguised as an apology tells us all we need to know:
At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment.…we wanted to provide our customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps. In order to do this, we had to create a new version of Maps from the ground up.
Translation: we tried to re-invent something without the help of our visionary and failed miserably, so it’s back to the drawing board while the product that we hyped as our greatest invention ever fails to live up to the original that you can now unlock practically for free via ebay.
It’s now apparent that without Steve Jobs at the helm, mistakes are okay for Apple, as long as they are followed by an immediate and somewhat genuine apology.
But how many apologies did Steve Jobs ever offer? How many times did he ever release a product that was blatantly inferior to its predecessor?
“I have received hundreds of emails from iPhone customers who are upset about Apple dropping the price of iPhone by $200 two months after it went on sale. After reading every one of these emails, I have some observations and conclusions. . .
We want to do the right thing for our valued iPhone customers. We apologize for disappointingsome of you, and we are doing our best to live up to your high expectations of Apple.”
And this one…
“Yesterday Apple and its carrier partners took pre-orders for more than 600,000 of Apple’s new iPhone 4. It was the largest number of pre-orders Apple has ever taken in a single day and was far higher than we anticipated, resulting in many order and approval system malfunctions. Many customers were turned away or abandoned the process in frustration. Weapologize to everyone who encountered difficulties, and hope that they will try again or visit an Apple or carrier store once the iPhone 4 is in stock.”
Job’s apologizing for a product being so popular it literally ran out and dropping the price of said product are hardly in the same class as a statement that blatantly admits to the INADEQUACIES and LACK OF VALUE of an actual product.
We can only assume Hern believes a man who admits to being unfaithful is in the same class as a man who apologizes for running out of roses to give his wife…
Despite the shrug of fanboy’s shoulders, the latest Apple apology is literally unlike anything we have ever seen from Apple, and just so happens to come at the same time they released what seems to be one of their worst products ever.
Coincidence? Overreaction? Or perhaps Apple fans are just preparing themselves for more apologies of the same nature in the near future.
Wall Street, perhaps the group that matters most, seems to realize Tim Cook’s apology is the harbinger they’ve been looking for. Steve Jobs is officially gone and the “five year plan” has been siphoned into two and it’s finally time to sell (Apple stock went down 2% Friday).
Like we said, we all knew this day would come, this is no longer Steve Job’s Apple but a company still riding the wave of the commercial success he created, using its overwhelming influence on mindless consumers to garner interest in it’s products.
For the first time in recent memory, that influence has failed in conjunction with the performance of their products and Apple is now forced to step up and re-invent themselves without Steve Jobs – their apology hasn’t given us confidence to think that is possible.
“While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.”
Translation: Thanks for spending hours in line waiting to purchase our inferior product, while we get our house in order, feel free to take your business elsewhere and do come back when we’re finally ready, which may or may not be ever.
The fanboy’s will call it an overreaction, but the latest spewing can’t be confused for a mere hiccup.
Apple has had one of the most unbelievable rides in the history of capitalism, reading the apology from the seemingly vacant office that was once held by Jobs, we can now safely assume they are quickly returning to join other mortal companies amongst the American system.
The question now is, will Apple face a deafening crash only this apology allowed us to see coming or will the continued meteoric rise of Google and stable consistency of Microsoft push Apple aside into a calmer landing that we casually ignore.
Paul Nyhart – who has written 891 posts on The Jace Hall Show.
Paul Nyhart is the Head Editor and Writer of JaceHallShow.com covering everything from game reviews and previews to the cultural impact of video games.

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