“Apple’s PR approach to the reporting of ‘error 53′ in the last week has been poor at best,” Ewan Spence writes for Forbes. “Following The Guardian’s coverage of the issue, Apple has released a handful of bland statements about security, fraudulent parts, hoping these will be enough to declare the issue closed. Meanwhile, the anger over Error 53′s root cause, Apple’s approach to customer repairs, and a lack of a cost-effective solution has been building online unabated.”
“The technical reasons for Error 53 have been partly lost in the conversation. Apple has a strong case for taking action to lock down a smartphone that has had its secure elements breached,” Spence writes. “There are technical reasons for two of the elements that caught my eye (why the lock-down only happens during the update process, and why the error message is so cryptic). Charles Arthur goes into exquisite detail on The Overspill, so I’ll direct you there for the full details.”
“But it’s not the technical issues that I find the most intriguing part of the story – it’s how the story has created its own myths, what the story says about Apple’s attitudes to users, and the question of Apple’s PR response,” Spence writes. “Apple traditionally has been a very secretive company, leaving its products to do the talking, but in the case where the product is saying all the wrong things (or people are interpreting what the product is saying in a negative way) then the artistic void should be put aside and clear facts should be released that acknowledge the situation, explain what has happened, and extend a solution.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple PR drops the ball. What else is new?
SEE ALSO:
Apple under pressure as lawyers pledge action over ‘Error 53’ iPhones – February 9, 2016
‘Error 53’ fury mounts as Apple software update kills some iPhones ‘fixed’ by non-Apple repair shops – February 5, 2016
