Evans’ six great Apple failures:
• The Hockey Puck Mouse
• The G4 Cube
• iPod Hi-Fi
• FireWire
• Apple Pippin
• Steve Jobs’ irreplaceability
Full article, with Evans’ reasoning behind each of his choices, here.
MacDailyNews Take: The Hockey Puck Mouse certainly was a design failure. We’ll go along with the iPod Hi-Fi and Pippin, too. But, FireWire is “a failure” that “the company should never have been part of?” Puleeze. And, the G4 Cube likely helped Apple learn important design lessons that were later put to use in a variety of very successful products, including the Mac mini, MacBook Air, iPods, and iOS devices. We don’t consider the G4 Cube as a “failure” in anything but unit sales (and this was mainly due to its price). The machine worked as advertised and, because of its stunning design, it also turned a lot of eyeballs Apple’s way at a time when not so many were looking at Apple at all. And nobody is irreplaceable. When Jobs is no longer Apple CEO, things will change, but that doesn’t mean that Apple won’t be able continue to lead the tech world (especially since most of the tech world seems rabidly intent on copying whatever Apple does). It certainly helps ease our minds that Apple now has extremely competent people like Tim Cook in place and ready to go.
What an idiot! FireWire a failure? This guy has obviously never done anything with a computer other than word processing and downloading porn. And the cube a failure? That was an awesome design, in its convection cooled beauty!
I still use a hockey puck mouse to this day!!! I have about 5 back-ups also!
I luv me some firewire also, still hate that iPods no longer support it 🙁
I agree with MDN take. The hockey puck mouse was a failure because to broke a cardinal rule of industrial design, it put form over function. In a way, the new magic mouse is similar for a lot of people, I just find the thing to low in my big hand to be of any use.
Agreed. But iff the charging connection was located at the head (not tail), it would have been far more useful as a wired mouse. Yes, it was a form over function issue. Well, whose design was it?
Note to self, do not move Mac-nuggets cheese…
I still use a hockey puck mouse too and have backups for when this one finally failsl. It fits my hand better than any other (and I’ve tried them all).
Firewire a failure? Sure, it lost to USB in the marketshare war, but it not only tremendously useful, but still viable in a small segment. Still better than USB, too. A superior technology that is still relevant today.
I didn’t mind the round mouse. It wasn’t great, but I had no problems with it. However, I know most people hated it.
I would add epic failure CEO John Scully to this list, for almost single-handedly scuttling Apple in Steve’s absence..
Nobody is irreplaceable that is true, however there are those whose intrinsic value to a company is immeasurable. Steve Jobs is such a person. If it weren’t for him, a site like MDN would not be possible since there probably would not be an Apple to discuss any more. Apple fanboys would be relegated to the irrelevance of “remember when.” I fear the day when Steve Jobs is no longer CEO as we’ve seen what the world looks like without him and it wasn’t pretty.
Yeah, I liked the hockey puck mouse, too. Very comfortable to use.
where can I buy that “product or event”: Steve Jobs’ irreplaceability ?
Hockey puck mouse? Worst mouse anyone ever made.
Pippin? I never personally touched one, but by all accounts, not a good idea.
Everything else on his list? Pulease –
Even the iPod hi-fi. It did what it was advertised to do and did it well when there was nothing like it on the market. Sure, it doesn’t exist now, but only if you don’t count the hundreds of clones from Logitech, iHome, Bose, Altech Lansing, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera… Consider it a reference design showing the other companies how to build a new class of accessory.
As far as SJ is concerned, if he wasn’t one of a kind to begin with, every company could do what apple does. Unfortunately, there is only one Steve Jobs. How can his vision, drive, passion, intelligence, charisma, wisdom, etc be both what created Apple, and somehow one of their great failures?
FireWire was and still is better than USB!
Firewire dwindled in the market, eventually, because an inferior technology (USB 2.0) was “good enough” for most people.
However, in the early part of decade, Firewire gave Macs:
• the ability to download video clips off a video camera
• the ability to sync with iPods at speeds considered ridiculously fast at the time
• the ability to use large storage devices seamlessly
If you’re old enough to remember how painfully slow USB 1.0 was, Firewire was a vital part of the “Digital Hub” strategy. It had a good, and necessary, run.
Still using FW 400 with my videocamera, and FW 800 for backups!
@ Mac-nugget
Was that supposed to be English? Also, “to” and “too” are two different words in the English language.
The G4 cube was ahead of the curve. Apple saw that people and tech were moving away from PCI cards, and that Firewire/USB would be the interface of choice. However, Apple expected that all sorts of devices would be available for the Cube, like Firewire audio interfaces, Hard Drives, etc. And they simply were not there……until about 6 months after Apple cancelled the Cube.
People pan the Cube cause it’s not expandable, etc, etc. It’s no different than iMacs that were being made at the time…..I loved my Cube until it died in 2008……..
Computerworld headquarters here I come!!! Prepare for an ass-whopping!
Oh, yeah, September 5th will mark the 10 year anniversary of when I bought my Cube.
ericdano,
I mourn your loss.
i have a Cube still, running as a file server on my AE. it’s only 100bastT but good enough for smaller stuff. like my music collection.
Forgot to say that she’s still running – cranking through Folding@home proteins as I type this. Surfs the internet pretty well, too – if ClickToFlash is enabled (which it always is).
I would probably still be on a Windows machine if not for the Cube. Someone else liked it too as the broke into my house to get it :>(
Strongly disagree.
I still have G4 Cube, it’s a thing of beauty.
I loved hockey puck mouse, I have a small hand and it was just perfect. I wish it was an option these days.
I easily fell in love with the Cube. It was stunning to look at and I used to pull the inside out, just because it was cool. It is going to be my favorite Apple machine of all time. Not a failure at all.
I think the real failures were the non-Jobs machines. Macs that were in beige. Those were failures.
I’ll defend the hifi indefinitely. I bought one, use it as a my “home theatre” speaker with the optical cable. I live in an apartment and don’t want/wont’ get a surround system. Something that a) sounds great and b) looks nice that also doesn’t need a receiver is pretty awesome.
The thing has lasted through MANY long weekends at a cottage, through the rain, dropped, etc etc. Would love to buy another one.
Hey Nuke, even for downloading porn, FW is great. You want to back up your smut, after all.
Puck mouse: twelve years ago;
Cube: ten years ago
iPod HiFi: four years?
FireWire: alive and kicking ass;
Pippin: pulease, that was in 1995 and Apple’s CEO was Michael Spindler, the Performa Man;
Steve Jobs: better having Sj than Michael Dell who only thinks he is irreplaceable
Any company that does not fail at something is not trying hard enough to be successful at anything. It always boggles the mind why anyone spends that much time focusing on some of Apple’s products that did not perform as expected in the marketplace, instead to laud the great successes. A truly innovative company will always push the envelope to be successful and in so doing will experience a bit of failure along the way. Companies that play it safe (Dell) will always produce mediocre copycat products, and thus their products would be less likely to be considered failures because the expectation of the marketplace of those products is so low to begin with.
I really liked the hockey puck mouse, but I understand why other people didn’t. It was also great for kids.
FireWire can only be considered a “failure” because Apple was not aggressive enough in marketing it over USB. The licensing fees were too high, so PC manufacturers went for the much cheaper USB, especially when USB 2 came out.
Looks like Apple learned its lesson from FireWire though, as H.264 is going to be cheap/free to fight off its competitors.
My son is still enjoying his Hi-Fi that I bought for him at half price when they were discontinued.
They were great at THAT price.
I still plan on getting a Cube to use in the guest room for light use and music streaming.
I have 2 Lacie 1TB hard-drives and an old EyeTV 200 daisy-chained with FireWire.
I also hook it to my HD-DVR to import movies.
I also have a hockey puck that is a back up for my back up mouse.
If I saw a Pippin cheap, I would buy it just to see how bad it was.
I have no clue who Steve Jobs is….
The hockey puck mouse was a design defect. The cube proved that you could design a functional and beautiful desktop machine. Tim Cook stepped up to the plate when Steve was ill and did a fabulous job. He gives me the confidence that Apple will survive if Steve gets hit by a bus or decide to retire at some point.
They shouldn’t call it “failures” but “less successful’. I mean, it is not like Windows Vista that you inst Billions on it, or the Zune or the “Kin” phone that they were pull out of the market faster that than introduce them.
I liked The Hockey Puck Mouse, firewire is great for external HD (faster than USB), scanners, and cameras.
The sooner people realize that you just can’t please everybody no matter what, and that it’s human nature to have an opinion, the happier people will be. Including this article on MDN is a far cry from helping MDN be a neutral site… But its a start. Buzz from different opinions is good. I still find, though, there’s far too much speculation on this site rather than sticking to the data. Apple needs to be secretive not only for SEC and competition reasons, but also timing of when to spin the stock price. I could be wrong in all of this but it’s just my opinion.
The Cube was only a failure in sales, due to its high price and the fact that the Powermac G4 was more expandable at a lower price. The machine was still an engineering marvel and a design triumph for Apple, and the lessons learned from its creation more than paid for the energy that went into it, and more than made up for its lack of sales.
I forgot to add that I own two Cubes, one as a parts machine (on display on my bookshelf); the other as an otherwise silent music server. Every so often I’ll switch the monitor over and play around with it, even if Leopard runs a bit slow on it (LeopardAssist is your friend)…
Wow, no love for the iPod HiFi. Well I love mine and I thought I was an excellent bit of kit!
I still have my hockey puck and use it occasionally just for old time’s sake – had no probs at all with it.
The iPod Hi-Fi was a bit crap, and even managed to look like a cheap knockoff of a bit of furniture I designed waaay back in the 1970s for goodness sake!
Mind you, even the gorgeous B&W Zeppelin doesn’t do it for me as any all-in-one lacks the wide-open sound stage of true stereo.
In that respect I prefer my good old Soundsticks, which sound better and better as the years roll by…
I use FW 800 exclusively for file transfer. No USB comes close. Working PS files from an external hard drive, even FW 400 is faster than USB 800. USB speed varies and hits their advertised number rarely.
I have a hard time looking for a g cube to buy as a keepsake
FireWire is by far the oddest choice for inclusion in this list. FireWire was very successful when it came to providing a very fast protocol for the iPod when it first came out. The difference between FireWire 400 and USB 1.1 was dramatic (400mbs versus 12mbs) and was much less processor intensive and better in pretty much every conceivable way.
But specs aside, FireWire *enabled* the iPod to be a much better product. FireWire was also adopted by video manufacturers and enabled quick and easy importing tied to Apple’s video software (from iMovie to Final Cut Express/Pro). And this happened to coincide with the introduction of digital video. For a long time in the new era of digital video, FireWire was a MUST have. It wasn’t until disk/flash recording took off that FireWire became a “nice to have” feature.
And FireWire also enabled many other things for a few years that no other protocol at the time was capable of…fast connectivity to external devices such as CD/DVD burners, hard drives, etc… and the ability to boot externally as well as boot in target mode.
I can’t imagine what the Mac platform, iPod, or digital video would’ve been like without FireWire.
Sure, the sun is setting on the protocol. USB 2.0 is good enough for many applications and for most people. Much less video capturing is being done. And more importantly, newer technology like Light Peak will be coming out soon, but FireWire is one of those things that belong more on a list of “what saved Apple” than this list of failures.
I have to disagree on the HiFi. I have one and it is one of my prized possessions. It sounds awesome and looks great too. I’d be very sad if anything ever happened to it.
The iPod HiFi doesn’t belong on this list either.
I could see it on a “least successful” list. Apple didn’t spend a lot of time, money or resources developing or promoting it. My guess is that it turned a small profit for the company.
More importantly is that it raised the bar for what the iPod could be docked to. People noticed. Other products were introduced. Competition quickly took off. There are now tons of options in this area where at the time there wasn’t much.
It did its job. It worked. And people who bought it were pleased.
@The Mac That Roared
English is my second language, how many langages to you speak?
It’s a sign of Apple’s great success that this moron could only come up with six and had to include “iPod Hi-Fi” on the list. Might as well include “iPod Socks” too. And “The Hockey Puck Mouse” was a part of the original iMac, which saved Apple and was a great success, not a separate product.
Also, “Steve Jobs’ irreplaceability” is not even a product (or an “event”). Why not also include “John Sculley’s mismanagement” or something about the other unremembered CEOs before the return of Steve Jobs?
What about the Taligent failure? Apple III? Lisa? He couldn’t even come up with a decent Top Ten list…
Here goes MY list:
– Apple III
– John Sculley
– Microsoft and the original Mac
– Taligent
– Copland
– Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh
I guess that’s about it. A mouse can’t be a “great” failure, give me a break. It’s replaceable and it doesn’t make a huge impact.
Firewire?!?!? Firewire?!?!?!
Firewire is the very arterial conduit via which I earn my ridiculous government salary…and by ridiculous I mean: that which is held up to ridicule..and by held up I don’t mean like at gun-point…and by gun point I don’t mean like that little nobule by which one lines up their target..and by target I dont mean like Walmart’s retarded cousin..not that I have anything against retarded cousins..as a matter of fact….
FireWire is far from a failure. USB is the failure, but the market when with anyway. Let hope Lightpeak doesn’t suffer the same fate.
I have a G4 cube that never worked as advertised. Constant shutting down and restarting by itself. Nobody could ever fix it for me.
Love the design, too bad it didn’t work as a computer. –
@Jon000 How much you want for that?
OMG the guy didn’t even mention the Performa. It wasn’t Steve Job’s fault but it was awful. No criticism of Apple is complete without it.
This thread’s probably exhausted now, but for what it’s worth, my Hi-Fi kicks butt. Got it for a little over $220 on an open box return. Even with the latest slim, trim offerings from the likes of Logitech and iHome, the Hi-Fi pumps out more powerful sound and range than anything else nearly 4 years after its introduction. I only wish it came in black. White looks a bit odd on the bookshelf.
Am surprised no one has mentioned the Newton. I still have mine and it wasn’t suffering from “the jaggies,” I’d still be using it today. My one regret about the iPad is that it doesn’t suffer a stylus or handwriting input gladly.
Meant to type: if it wasn’t suffering from “the jaggies”, I would be using it today….
Does anyone remembers “Newton”
I still use and love Firewire. Don’t understand in what way it’s a “failure”.
Funny, I’ve been thinking about buying a G4 Cube just to have it around and soak up the simplicity of the design. AND, after reading this article and the subsequent comments I went on ebay and bought a hockey puck mouse! Goes to show you, with Apple even the so called “failures” enjoy an afterlife that the likes of Dell, HP, etc can only wish for.
Firewire great, USB bad.
I also admire the cube in my office (sitting beside the half dome Mac). I use it only for Music and people still comment on the design after all these years.
For me, one failure at Apple was the iBook motherboards! Not to mention the present MacBook keyboards. Maybe not a failure, but I just don’t like those keyboards, have two MacBooks.
What about an all time best success (in terms of quality product) Mac? I vote for PowerBook Pismo – best Mac I have ever used!
Love my Hi-Fi, got it at a discount. I just think Apple didn’t want to bother with a easily saturated market. High end speakers cant really compete with the cheapies who sell something competent for 100 bucks.
Firewire is great. Still use it, thanks anyway.
Disagreed highly on the iPod HiFi. I’ve used mine everyday since it came out and still enjoying it. And FireWire a failure?! Ah, no.
G4 Cube Introduced: August 2000: TEN years old yet still commanding $900 – $1200 on ebay.
http://www.apple-history.com/?page=gallery&model=g4cube&sort=date&performa=off&order=ASC
Some failure, eh?
I would say these and other “failures” are simply expanded R&D efforts.
Here are a few more “R&D” experiments:
Apple Lisa
Mac Office
QuickTake Camera
A/UX
Taligent
Nubus Cards
I would say these and other “failures” are simply expanded R&D efforts.
Here are a few more “R&D” experiments:
Apple Lisa
Mac Office
QuickTake Camera
A/UX
Taligent
Nubus Cards
I would say these and other “failures” are simply expanded R&D efforts.
Here are a few more “R&D” experiments:
Apple Lisa
Mac Office
QuickTake Camera
A/UX
Taligent
Nubus Cards
I would say these and other “failures” are simply expanded R&D efforts.
Here are a few more “R&D” experiments:
Apple Lisa
Mac Office
QuickTake Camera
A/UX
Taligent
Nubus Cards
I would say these and other “failures” are simply expanded R&D efforts.
Here are a few more “R&D” experiments:
Apple Lisa
Mac Office
QuickTake Camera
A/UX
Taligent
Nubus Cards
I would say these and other “failures” are simply expanded R&D efforts.
Here are a few more “R&D” experiments:
Apple Lisa
Mac Office
QuickTake Camera
A/UX
Taligent
Nubus Cards
I would say these and other “failures” are simply expanded R&D efforts.
Here are a few more “R&D” experiments:
Apple Lisa
Mac Office
QuickTake Camera
A/UX
Taligent
Nubus Cards
Didn’t you have a keyboard or screen refresh failure somewhere?:-)
@John000,
That was a well documented problem with the first run of the Cubes. I called Apple and reported my problem. They said they had never heard of it and to call back a few weeks later. I did call back and they told me that I was the first person to report it and that others had followed suit. They overnighted me a shipping box, I overnighted it back to them at Apple’s cost, it took them one day to fix it and then another overnight back. I was without my Cube for only 3 days – that’s what I call customer service!
I think your warranty may have run out by now.
FireWire? Couldn’t capture from my DVX without it. The HiFi? Still the only audio dock I use at home and friends and family are still impressed with it’s output and design. Sigh.
I can’t believe the list of Apple failures didn’t include the deletion of matte, anti-glare screens from the entire range of Mac’s except for the 15″ and 17″ MBP’s.
The people that need matte screens include:
– the percentage of the population that is susceptible to eye-strain and migraine headaches from the glossy screen;
– graphic artists
– photographers
– people who use their Macs in bright sun-lit areas
We’re not saying matte screens are for everyone — but there should be a choice.
If you’re in desperate need of a matte screen on your iMac, you might add your petition to the growing list at http://macmatte.wordpress.com/comment-page-1/#comments
well, firewire is failed. why don’t people admit it anymore? if fireware was successful, why don’t we see more that on mac or PC today? it has been totally replaced by USB. USB is role. whoever mentioned here something that firewire is not failed, those of you are totally idiot to understand technology faster trend. if you think you are right, just explain me why firewire port is not used for PC even mac or portable device anymore today? can you explain why USB 3.0 will replace the whole USB 2.0 faster (not necessary to explain firewire obsolete)? what you say doesn’t make any sense. what Apple invented is not all successful idiot!
Edward, is English your 2nd or 3rd language?
MM- GIVE IT UP. I was in a best buy the other day, and nearly every monitor and laptop on display (NOT including the Apple section) was Glossy…….. I don’t see you petitioning HP Dell or Acer…..
Oh, and I have two fully functional cubes with matching ADC monitors, speakers, and keyboards.
@ R&D:
I agree partially.
Apple Lisa can’t be called a failure. It was a commercial flop, but it was a revolutionary computer, ahead of its time, but in an era with low computing power.
Nubus Cards… I don’t know. In an era where pretty much everybody was inventing new buses (MCA anyone?), it wasn’t much of a crazy idea.
I’d say Taligent was a major failure, since nothing came out of it. Taligent ended up being irrelevant, pushed nothing forward.
“We’ll go along with the iPod Hi-Fi…”
Halt! iPod Hi-Fi was not a failure! iPod Hi-Fi was the tool for the Apple to show what the partners could do (should do). When the partners finally realised what to do with the iPod line of products Apple discontinued immediately iPod Hi-Fi (because Apple loves partners that are alive). iPod Hi-Fi was a demo case for the parners! Nothing else. Now iPod Hi-Fi’s are worth more money that they costed.
The cube lives on and it is nowadays called Mac mini.
FireWire is not a failure. It still lives strong till it will be replaced by the Light Peak.
Steve Jobs is always in the heart of Apple no matter what happens to him. Everybody in the Apple knows what to do because of him.
“The Hockey Puck Mouse” = hickup.
“Apple Pippin” = We don’t care anymore, because we have iPod Touch, iPad, iPhone and tomorrow so many more cool things.
Newton = iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch+we will see…
Microsoft Bob, Windows Vista (+all of them)..
Too long list to continue.
Android, Wave, Google…
Nevermind…
I still have my iPod HI-FI. I have it sitting on a bookcase with a plant on top of it. Haven’t used it in years… but it still keeps my place looking Appley
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
I’m surprised the Newton didn’t make the list. That was a bigger failure than Firewire.
I love my iPod HiFi. It sounds fantastic even at lower volume. Looks great and compared to other systems out there, wasn’t even that expensive.
@BobH- that page needs an update. Cubes are actually going for $125-$200 these days, depending on condition. I snagged two for $130. Now, maybe down the road…
Hockey Puck Mouse –agreed that was a hand killer.
Cube – great product. I have one, have a friend still using it as a server. It’s still fast and reliable.
Firewire – love it. It’s damn fast.
Steve – ah. The good and the bad of having an influential genius at the helm. Would rather have had him there and someday feel the loss than no had him and all products his high standards and future vision has brought us. I hope by the time Steve is not CEO that someone smarter than John Scully takes his place this time. Choose wisely grasshopper.