“For Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs, being a secretive control freak never means having to say you’re sorry. While Jobs mocked Microsoft for years as the software giant struggled to crank out its Vista operating system, Apple’s puckish founder avoids getting the same treatment by keeping the rest of us in the dark about most of his product plans,” Brian Caulfield writes for Forbes.
“Then all of a sudden, Jobs started picking up the ugly habit of making promises–and breaking them. Wednesday’s slip: inviting the press to a March 6 event where Apple will talk about its iPhone, and presumably release the software development kit for the iPhone, something Apple originally said it would do by the end of February,” Caulfield writes.
MacDailyNews Note: March 6th is six days after the end of February. Six days.
Caulfield continues, “Apple seems to have a problem keeping on schedule with the iPhone. Jobs unveiled the smart phone in January 2007, but didn’t begin selling it until June 29, in part because the phone had to get through the very public process of getting clearance from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. Apple hit that deadline, but had to delay the release of the latest version of Apple’s OS X operating system, Leopard, until October so developers could grunt out the iPhone.”
MacDailyNews Take: What you’ve just described, Brian, is Apple having zero problems keeping on schedule with the iPhone.
Caulfield continues, “So what’s going on? Part of the problem could be that while Apple has pushed into new markets, it spends much less on research and development that its rivals. While Microsoft and Google each spend more than 10% of their sales on research and development, Apple just spends just 2.56%.”
MacDailyNews Take: What you’ve described above, Brian, is a indictment of Microsoft, not Apple. Where’s the innovation at Microsoft? Zune? Vista? Big Ass Tables? Apple —BusinessWeek’s 2007 Most Innovative Company (for third consecutive year!) — gets so much more bang for their buck, it’s a wonder that Microsoft shareholders aren’t marching on Redmond demanding to know where all of that money is really going. What’s Ballmer doing, burning Franklins by the railroad car to heat the buildings?
Caulfield continues, “Jobs could be stretched thin as well. On Monday, Morgan Stanley’s Kathryn Huberty pointed to a jump in Apple’s airplane expenses as a sign the Apple CEO is logging long hours on the Jobs Jet, Apple’s Gulfstream IV. Huberty read it as a bullish sign, hinting that Jobs is trying to hustle up distribution deals for the iPhone and deals with Apple’s suppliers. Missed deadlines, however, also suggest that the strain may be starting to show on Jobs, Apple’s taskmaster.”
MacDailyNews Take: Six days, Brian, six days. Are you really serious?
Caulfield continues, “Jobs, a leader who made innovation seem so effortless for so long may finally be starting to show some pit stains from the effort. For a company for whom seeming cool is everything, that could become a problem.”
As with the excerpts above, nothing of value is in the full article, Think Before You Click™, here.
Talks about showing some pit stains! Caulfield takes the prize by working so hard to fabricate enough poppycock to shame Lincoln Snacks. All of that for six days. Six days. Forbes, if they want to be taken seriously, should go get themselves some real technology writers.
Contacts:
• Brian Caulfield, Forbes.com Senior Technology Writer:
• Forbes Letters to the Editor:
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Judge Bork” and “Mike in Helsinki” for the heads up.]
Caulfield is either an idiot, shorting Appl or both. My guess is both.
Is he Holden’s grandson?
Well he’s not having much fun today if he’s shorting AAPL.
FYI, Time Capsule is shipping.
http://www.macworld.com/article/132286/2008/02/timecapsule.html?t=234
What about Microsoft? They miss dates ALL THE TIME. And, now, supposedly, they have a critical security flaw in Windows Mobile? And no one reports this?
Ampar –
Qapla’ batlh je!
I second reikiwes’s comments.
It may be only six days, but the whole invitation seems to try to redirect the focus to the “roadmap”… as opposed to a deliverables SDK on March 6. I think MDN should ical thier own comments on this one. I really have a feeling the first release (non-beta) will be pushed out months.
And while the writer goofed in their explnation of the Leopard delay as an “iphone” delay, there was a very real 6 month delay in the release of Leopard. THAT was his point, which is valid. MDN can pick on his stupid little error, but the underlying point he is making is valid.
Apple does seem to be spread pretty thin in the last year. This doesn’t mean I’m an Apple hater. It just seems pretty obvious to me. They delayed thier OS release, they delayed the Apple TV 2.0 release, they are potentially delaying the SDK past its already late 6 day window, they constantly push other releases (such as time capsule) to the absolute last minute. These all seem like signs of too high a workload at Apple HQ.
There will be no SDK (or only a partial/limited one) is my prediction. There will be some goodies though. Exchange/Notes support probably and maybe some games. I wouldn’t expect a full SDK until WWDC. I hope I’m wrong but that’s the way it feels to me right now…
@MDN:
Stop ignoring facts about Apple’s problems meeting deadlines just to bash Microsoft again. The fact is, Apple delayed Leopard, AppleTV Take 2, and the iPhone SDK, unless it comes out tomorrow, will be delayed by 6 days or perhaps several months, if rumors are accurate. Apple, being a growing company with more product lines, is running into problems meeting deadlines.
That said, Steve Jobs is not responsible for meeting the deadlines. He’s not writing code. While everything comes back to him, and he’ll take the heat (before passing it on, if he hasn’t already), I think this is a symptom of a larger problem at Apple: Perhaps there is not enough money spent on R&D;, as in the form of good employees to produce the products in the time required.
I also think that Leopard has had significant problems which should not have been part of its initial release. Syncing is a major issue, and other items have not been as polished or worked as they should. I hope this is not a sign of things to come.
“Apple hit that deadline, but had to delay the release of the latest version of Apple’s OS X operating system, Leopard, until October so developers could grunt out the iPhone.””
This has NEVER been proven to be true by anyone. Never. It was speculation on blogs and somehow has managed to turn into fact.
“Morgan Stanley’s Kathryn Huberty pointed to a jump in Apple’s airplane expenses as a sign the Apple CEO is logging long hours on the Jobs Jet, Apple’s Gulfstream IV.”
Um, i guess the whole “Jobs is now the top shareholder in Disney” thing has been forgotten.
“Before you get high and mighty about “just being 6 days”, you MIGHT want to make sure that there will be an actual announcement in 6 days.”
There will be an announcement in 6 days.
Besides WTF do you care?
“Analyst” what is the qualifications for this job? I work as a Sr. IT “Analyst” a 6 figure job that I have to show results. This guy just gets to make up shit and write about it. Hell I can do that from the beach…with beer in hand!
“I also think that Leopard has had significant problems which should not have been part of its initial release. Syncing is a major issue, and other items have not been as polished or worked as they should.”
And Vista didn’t?!? It’s development process was at least 3x longer than Leopard’s and it had at least 3x more problems when it was initially released. Apple’s so called problems meeting schedule are miniscule by comparison to their competition at MS.
Lurker_PC –
GhIj qet jaghmeyjaj!
Wow. All this nonsense direct from the grasping at straws department of the let’s make a mountain out of a molehill club.
Apple is evidently 6 days late announcing the iPhone SDK. Oh, the humanity!
If this were the worst problem that can be drudged up regarding Apple, we shareholders would be truly blessed.
The reality is that Apple is firing on all cylinders and has been for quite some time now. Anybody who would cite this delay, or any of the others that have been bandied about in some of these comments either isn’t really paying attention or has a hidden agenda.
Brian must be a real sadist, he can’t be a happy person. And for you Mac haters, who ever said Apple is perfect but at least when there is a delay it is to assure the product is good for release. Sure Leopard was delayed but when it did come out, WOW. Here, he makes 6 days sound like years, what a loser. Unlike the multiple weeks/years from MSFT that in the end did not help because the released version still sucks.
I think everyone can agree that the point of the article about the chaos caused by a SIX day delay is pretty stupid. Must have been a slow news day at Forbes.
However, let’s all be honest here. Apple has suffered delays in many of its products. I fully expect the iPhone SDK to be delayed far more than six days. But, and this is a big but (not a big butt like Balmer has), Apple’s products generally come out finished and polished. In other words, they work and they are very, very good. Therefore, I never mind waiting for an Apple product to be released, even when it is delayed, because the I know the final product will be a great one.
Now, let’s talk about that MS delay in releasing Vista……
guys it is six whole days! some people create whole universes in that kinda time!
rotflmao….
I’m with ChrissyOne – I’ve been to raves that are just getting started after 4 days and the hangovers always last for more then 6 days afterwards.
I bet Brian is hoping to short sell some Apple stock with the absurd drivel.
While I think the article sounds ridiculous, it does bring up a good point:
Why is Apple making more promises now than in the past? And why is it breaking those promises? No matter how slightly, almost all the promises Apple has made in the last year and a half have been broken.
There aren’t a lot, but it’s exponentially more than they’ve ever had before:
Leopard, Apple TV 2.0, iPhone SDK
I can’t think of any more now, but there might be another one or two.
I would rather Apple not tell us anything and come out with stuff when they’re good and ready, and not be disappointed when the promised release date comes and goes without anything…
That said, I love Apple and think almost all their products are worth waiting for. I would even wait as long as PC people wait for MS stuff.
Maybe they needed the extra six days to set up and organize the press conference and media event?
MPC says “awesome if we could learn to speak another language in those little bits of downtime.”
I’d be thrilled if my students would just learn to speak English coherently. (At least those who were born in the US, the others speak better English already.) And if they could write correctly, too, I’d have heart palpitations. Although, I guess it’s too much to expect. After all, they’ve only had 14 years of schooling before I see them.
Microsoft’s 10% R&D;goes on lawyers and marketing folks working out how to rip consumers off more money for the more junk. Google’s goes on fitness centers and free stuff for their geeks, sure hasn’t produced much any good for a few years.
Forbes, Fortune and other mags for the wannabe wealthy have too much invested in MS, Nokia, NBC etc to welcome Apple’s advance, they can’t dump all their MS etc shares overnight.
Lateness is a shill the weak use to beat the strong, it’s good to be on time but better to be right. This isn’t mission critical stuff. This isn’t five years late and still a beta (Vista).