“At the moment, I admit, it seems absurd to criticize Apple. I even cringe when I read my own stuff. It’s not easy to go against the grain, particularly when you’re doing so vis-a-vis a company you love, respect and spend a ton of money with while it continues to power ahead as the cheapest stock on the market,” Rocco Pendola writes for TheStreet.
“Because it lacks credible competition, Apple faces few external threats that we know of. Of course, that’s the tricky part about external threats; you do not necessarily see them coming. Great CEOs have to act, in part, like Hollywood producers, dreaming up seemingly unthinkable alternative scenarios to the status quo,” Pendola writes. “They must see the writing on the wall. But, again, the human experience teaches us that when you’re the graffiti artist, you’re often blind to it. Coupled with the task of managing after Steve Jobs, Tim Cook appears to be in an impossible situation.”
Pendola writes, “If you can blame Jobs for anything, it’s that maybe he hired ‘B’ players who he thought were ‘A’ players. When the decision to drop a feature as popular as Google Maps happens too soon, it’s a sure sign that the ‘B’ players have too much power. When this occurs, you worry less about Strategic Inflection Points; instead, Tim Cook needs to be on the lookout for a Bozo Explosion. Without Steve Jobs to consult, Apple has to figure out whether to eat crow and crawl back to Google’s door or take more heat as it attempts to mitigate this not-so-small disaster. Meantime, it furiously works to perfect something that never would have made it past Steve Jobs’s desk in unfinished form.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Rocco is the very definition of “one-note.” Learn a new one, Rocco, you monotonously insufferable bore.
Steve Jobs wasn’t perfect – by a long shot. Who do you think invited Eric Schmidt to sit on Apple Board — and that was after being burned so badly by Bill Gates! Jobs made the same mistake twice.
Tim Cook isn’t perfect, either – nobody is – but Cook’s not killing Apple Inc. because they made a clunker ad campaign and failed to prepare Maps properly (data-wise and PR-wise for the obvious threat of a FUD campaign).
[Thanks to MacDailyNews readers too numerous to mention individually for the heads up.]
I wouldn’t write this guy off so soon. I LOVE Apple and am a stock holder/graphic designer using Apple computers for 20 years so I’m in for the long haul. What Tim Cook doesn’t have is Job’s stubborn tenacity for perfection. It drove people insane but it did get them to think outside the box, to get it RIGHT the first time… or near it. I’ve been watching Apple since Steve left us way too soon and having reason to believe I will be getting rid of mots of my Apple stock within the next year or two. The reason is a change in marketing philosophy that really irks me. The change from Google Maps I think is a huge mistake. I LOVE Google maps and Apple’s version is so far from being better its giving people the wrong message. The emphasis on sales rather than customer experience in Apple Stores worldwide is Tim Cook’s lack of “vision” Steve had form day one…its the customer stupid! The release of anything beta, like half baked SIRI is a long term change in how Apple deals with integrated software, not all mind you, and how it cares what people think…they’ll buy it anyway. SIRI was a game changer for Apple’s control for the living room, transportation, enterprise and it was released way too soon. What else will they let out that will erode their quality image in the long term?The TV advertising, post Job’s, is so off the mark its bewildering. Apple’s genius look awkward at best and it portrays the customer as fumbling idiots. I Love Apple and I just don’t see the sustainability post Steve Jobs. Its the customer stupid!
Rocky Pendejo is such an assh*le…
I was really bummed when maps could not properly give me directions to my place of work. Google 5 years ago could not either until I submitted a map fix.
However, when I needed to make a delivery the following day to a place i’ve never been, I was pleasantly surprised when my ios6 gave me the correct address while my friends android running google maps had him 15 miles off course. I guess people expect apple to never make a mistake.
I wrote previously to say quality control remains job one. I like the effort to distance from google. But…… Please do not sacrifice quality and perfection especially on things not seen by customers. Also monitor quality control especially on your Chinese suppliers or else you go the way of defective mass produced units.
It’s always fun to read the MDN View and comments. Given how so many iOS users are unwilling to recognize that Android has been getting better, the hardware jumps ahead of Apple in features and benefits and Google is making it more of a true competitor with Jelly Bean.
Its easy to bury your head in the sand, but conventional wisdom says “keep your friends close, but your enemy’s closer” its each to switch from Android to iOS, or iOS to Android or Windows Phone to iOS if you are looking at features, benefits and what matters to “you” as the individual user.
I have switched between OS’s over the last 12 months, I just felt the iP4S didn’t cut it for me so I sold mine and waited for what I knew would be the real upgrade worth getting the iP5 and I was right, mind will be here in a few days. I just wish I hadn’t wasted an upgrade last year on the iP4S, I did and I don’t regret it.
Asimismo, scale back el depósito de colágeno pulmonar.