“Apple is inviting staff to vote for one of 20 different ‘community themes,’ a list of worthy projects ranging from using technology to boost environmental sustainability to empowering the elderly,” Ben Lovejoy reports for 9t5Mac. “One of the projects is geared to making Apple products more available to those who would not normally be able to afford them.”
“The internal document references Apple’s approach of ‘a thousand no’s for every yes’ and says that votes will determine which themes go forward into further development and testing,” Lovejoy reports. “One of the themes is ‘Increase Access to Apple Products When They’re Out of Reach.’”
Lovejoy reports, “Apple does already support some schools and community projects with free or discounted equipment.”
See the full list of the 20 themes in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Which one of the 20 “community themes” would you choose?
Product management by popular vote, it the predecessor to design by committee. This does not bode well.
You missed the point. This is not design by committee, but only about the choice of community (pro bono) projects.
Good God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At least read the first damn sentence of the article before launching into your petulant complaining!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Faster horses!
Do you think Steve was polling his employees for ideas?
No being flippant. Honest question.
Tim is not Steve. Tim should do things his way.
Sure, Apple has never succeeded as well with Cook. Better than Steve Jobs, right?
Yes because Cook & Jobs should have identical management styles and we should stay stuck in a Jobs era frame of mind until the end of time and not adapt with the times (oops, as Jobs would have done).
I wish Apple was “stuck” with Steve Jobs rather than “stuck” with Tim Cook. Steve Jobs was vastly more passionate, visionary, daring, and intelligent than Cook could ever dream of being.
Still pining and self-flagellating away for Abe Lincoln too? People die, culture moves on. Perhaps you should too.
it’s theater, and to further madden competitors about AAPLs strategic direction. Their 5 year plan is already on a wire. the product pipeline is a Loooong one at Apple. Community / outreach / education is all window dressing for the domestic audience
If this has to do with products then this is the end of Apple.
However, I think this is about projects which, in my mind, is different. May still be a waste of resources but not the same as “designing by committee”.
On the other hand, you do get much more out of employees if they have some input.
If you read through that list, it is simply community service efforts.
Anyone who thinks this has to do with future product design is crazy and is only jumping to absurd conclusions.
And the winner is ………… Find a new C.E.O.
Such as?
Every day, a new opportunity to laugh at the folks who still believe ‘Change Is Good!’ – – NO. Good change is good. So suggest a good change, as opposed to just change. Obviously.
So who would be a better CEO for Apple than Tim Cook? I have never seen anyone make any decent suggestions. Please don’t bother saying ‘Elon Musk’ as he clearly has no ambitions to do any work but his own. Working at Apple would be nothing but distraction from his POV. Obviously.
I can’t understand the general reticence to name a successor to Tim Cook. I’ll take a stab at it. Since you asked.
Scott Forstall. He was as “Apple” as anyone in the leadership ranks. He and Steve Jobs were kindred spirits, but with complementary skills and ideas. Scott craved the job of CEO, and would have done well in that capacity because he was managerially qualified, technically overqualified, and just as maniacally driven as Steve (and known to drive others just as hard to do their best). In my view, the only reason he isn’t the CEO right now is because Steve felt that Apple owed much more to Tim Cook’s contributions in supply, production, and inventory management than to Scott’s formative software innovations. Steve didn’t want Apple to lose the crucual competitive edge Cook had honed; he feared Cook would walk if Forstall or Ive were named CEO, so he named Cook instead and crossed his fingers.
But Steve can’t have forseen that the mutual dislike between designers Ive and Forstall would create a dilemma for Cook that has haunted Apple ever since. After Cook’s Solomon-like decision to cleave the baby in two, Scott departed under a jury-rigged scandal over Maps and Ive was given Caligula-like powers which he proceeded to exercise starting with iOS 7. According to all but the most besmitten observers, it has been downhill all the way since then. According to my unofficial tallies of MDN comments (usually a balance of fans and anti-fans), alienated fans have created a new third category that echoes the calls of trolls and bigots for Cook’s dismissal.
None of this is good. Apple’s Board of Directors seem enthralled by uniformly impressive P&L statements and oblivious to issues of product quality and innovation. One wonders what kind of catastrophic collapse would waken them to the idea that another visionary at the helm, like Scott, could do better than Practical Pig in fending off the wolves.
Scott Forstall wasn’t actually dumped from Apple. I’ve never understood the slow departure. I thoroughly understood his need for experience OUTSIDE of Apple in order to offer some growing-up opportunities (the eternal human pursuit) and different perspectives. Steve Jobs certainly required the same at the point where he wasn’t quite thrown out of Apple. (He resigned, for those who’ve been told otherwise). I’d very much enjoy having Scott back at Apple and kicking some of the clearly LAZY and INCOHERENT nonsense going on within the company.
Meanwhile, the meme that Apple is somehow ‘FAILing’ and Tim Cook is to blame for this meme – – Thoroughly ridiculous to the point of indicating sickness in the perceptions of the meme mongerers. Apple’s profits continue to be the envy of ALL other companies.
That said, am I sick of Apple’s current fumbling and bumbling, the mess they’ve made of OS X and the inherent insecurity in their enterprise developer security certificate system, their near total ignoring of 3-D GUI concepts, the absurd drive for thinness over battery life, ad nauseam… YES. Apple has some serious self-repair required RIGHT NOW if not yesterday.
It would be great to have Scott Forstall kicking some internal Apple butt back into shape. Make Apple deserve the Mother Ship. Right now, that big ass ring seems more a statement of ego than accomplishment and invention.
‘herself’ is a man.
FYI
Do you know the word Consortium? There are actually several operating here, and you may be amongst them.
Many are missing the point. This is not a survey about future product design. This is a survey about community themes…in other words, ways that the company employees can reach out and help the community. Just read through that list…it should be obvious, if people weren’t looking for another way to whine and complain.
And yes, it is entirely reasonable for a company to ask employees about which community service efforts they would most like to participate in.
Steve Ballmer
Thanks, I needed that! 😂😅😝
And if the ‘worthy projects’ stink, you can always pass the buck and blame the ‘community.’
Nah. He’s the go to choice for those wishing to assuredly self-destruct a company from within. And those who love jumpy, repetitious, sweaty, balding men monkey boys who can’t raise any enthusiasm in a crowd to save their lives.