“Apple CEO Tim Cook hasn’t been shy about teasing that ‘amazing’ new products will come to market in 2014,” Shara Tibken reports for CNET. “But with the year nearly half gone — and speculation that new gadgets won’t be part of the lineup at the company’s Worldwide Developer Conference next week — the patience of even the most diehard Apple fanboys is wearing thin.”
“Well, not all Apple fanboys. ‘I’ve got a good feeling about this one,’ John Gruber, author of the popular Apple-related blog Daring Fireball, told his followers this week after Apple announced it would provide a live broadcast of the WWDC opening keynote on Monday,” Tibken reports. “Cook, who celebrates his third anniversary as CEO in August, promised several times over the past year that Apple would enter ‘exciting new product categories’ in 2014. Earlier this week, Eddy Cue, head of iTunes and the man behind Apple’s $3 billion acquisition of headphone and streaming music service provider Beats, upped the pressure by boasting that the consumer electronics giant is working on its ‘best product pipeline in 25 years.'”
“Cook is expected to talk up new versions of its iOS mobile operating system and OS X computer software features, according to people familiar with the situation. He may even shed light on new projects like home automation or Apple’s CarPlay automotive software,” Tibken reports. “Noticeably missing, however, will be demonstration of a new iPhone, iPad, iWatch smartwatch, or drastically revamped Apple TV set-top box, the people say. So with another high-profile event passing by without a new device, the pressure mounts for Apple and Cook to prove that they can still introduce a revolutionary product.”
“In lieu of new devices, Apple been bulking up its software and services. But its release of a homegrown Maps app for the iPhone was a debacle — and is now listed as one of Cook’s more notable failings. The app, designed to replace Google Maps, was half-baked when it was released in September 2012, offering misleading directions and wrong geographical data,” Tibken reports. “Cook issued an apology shortly after its introduction, saying he was “extremely sorry” for releasing a product that fell short of Apple’s commitment to users. He also fired Scott Forstall, Apple’s software chief, for reportedly failing to take any responsibility for the fiasco.”
MacDailyNews Take: As we said when Apple’s Maps PR debacle was unfolding due to Apple’s incompetent (nonexistent?) PR crisis management team: “No matter what Apple does, no matter how much better they make Apple Maps, it will now always ‘suck’ in the minds of a large segment of the population. This open letter [apology] from Cook only helps cement the idea that Maps is a ‘failure.'”
“Unfortunately for Cook, Maps wasn’t the only offering to fall flat. When Apple introduced Siri in the iPhone 4S in October 2011, it promised a virtual assistant that would learn and evolve over time. But as the novelty of a voice navigator wore off, Siri proved to be clunky, often failing to correctly understand queries. Apple continues to update and improve Siri,” Tibken reports. “Then there’s the iPhone 5C, Apple’s more colorful, lower-priced smartphone released in September 2013. Weak sales of the device, priced starting at $99 with a two-year contract, led to speculation that Apple would dump the phone. Cook has dodged questions about the 5C, but admitted during Apple’s earnings conference call in January that most people are opting for the higher-end iPhone 5S, also introduced last September, over its plastic-encased sibling.”
MacDailyNews Take: Hey, Shara, your forgot John Browett, no iMacs for Christmas, and the aborted “Mac Genius” ad campaign in your paint-by-numbers hit-piece. If your going hit-whoring, you might as well go all the way, honey.
On and on it goes in the full article – Think Before You Click™ – here.
MacDailyNews Take: So many hacks, so little time left for them to publish their hit-whorishly contrived handwringing.
• iPhone was released 5 years, 7 months, and 19 days after iPod (2057 days).
• iPad was released 2 years, 9 months, and 5 days after iPhone (1009 days).
• The average amount of time between Apple’s last two revolutions: 4 years, 2 months, and 11 days (1533 days).
• Tim Cook has been Apple CEO for 2 years, 9 months, 8 days (1012 days).
• Tim Cook will have been Apple CEO for 4 years, 2 months, and 11 days (1533 days) on Wednesday, November 4, 2015.Those who underestimate Tim Cook’s Apple are in for a rude awakening.
Related article:
So, Tim Cook , where are these game changers you keep promising? – May 28, 2014
Hoglike hit whores. A curse on them all.
Warthog hit whores.
(No warthog insult intended). 😉
“the patience of even the most diehard Apple fanboys is wearing thin.”
Where do they find these clueless bastards?
Obvious, at CNET
Don’t forget ZDNET, BGR and countless other places where the iHating Fandroids army congregate
I don’t believe I’m clueless.
But following Apple since the California garage 1970s insurrection days, yeah, getting a little concerned.
This a developers conference. What don’t people understand?
That’s too complex a concept for the CNET crew.
“and speculation that new gadgets won’t be part of the lineup”
“Cook is expected to ”
“Noticeably missing, however”
Just nuthin’ like making stuff up and having raving, bombastic reactions to said fantasies.
People forget.
As far as I’m concerned I use maps everyday and it’s a nicely crafted minimalist maps app.
I do t give a damn if it doesn’t show traffic and all that other fluff. The whole fun in driving is the unexpected and not knowing where the traffic is.
Regarding WWDC though, I do hope they show at least 1 new piece of hardware – and please no big deal about minor iPhone or iPad stuff.
I must admit I’m beginning to think that they will never announce a totally new line of products.
I want them to announce something cool and for me to say “I’m getting that!”
Maps does not show traffic? Mine does, maybe you live in the sticks or something. I travel all over the western states and see traffic status on all major roads.
Maps does not show traffic in the UK.
Say what? Just checked and plenty of traffic info/coloured lines on M25 at present. It might not show for lessor routes/smaller roads but definitely does for motorways & A roads. BTW, maps only gives the dotted lines etc if there is slow/snarled traffic or incidents. My daily commute is between Reading & Croydon & I always consult both G. maps & Maps before hitting the motorways. Maps is usually more accurate because G. Maps’ traffic info is not always live data & often is based on historical data/patterns. Plenty of times I’ve driven on M3 which G. maps shows as slow traffic but there isn’t any in reality. Whereas Maps is more accurate if somewhat not as quickly updated. The only reason I use G. maps more is because you can zoom in/out with a single finger (one & half tap & hold, then move finger up or down to zoom out/in)
No traffic shown in Scandinavia or Northern Europe. There are people using Apple’s in other parts of the globe than USA also 😉
“…maybe you live in the sticks or something…”
I like this kind of nearsightedness, nothing exists outside of Cupertine/USA, just bushes and uncivilized neandertals! ;-).
Well, we Europeans and our forfathers/formothers have been living on this “stick” called Europe for a few thousand years now, not what you can say about California, which is just a toddler in comparison. Just saying.
Oh, there’s plenty of sticks here in California – even some places where you can’t get voice service!
I’m sorry to hear that, hope you will get out of there soon 😉 They got a lot of radio stations on the outside now with lots of beautiful songs, even lovely birds singing you could listen to from your stick. I think you would really like it!
Those are some of my favourite places, no maps, Ahhh, to just get lost and discover nature and some peace
“I want them to announce something cool and for me to say “I’m getting that!”
It ain’t happenin’.
…..yes we can…. after the WWDC 😉
yeah, hope and change.
I agree, MDN is wrong about Maps and no amount of repetition will change that. In one sentence, MDN describes them as hacks, and in another MDN uses the “debacle” content to support MDN’s long held gripe.
Look, MDN, you have a pretty good track record when it comes to predicting the future with respect to Apple and associated consumer electronics hardware and software. But Apple Maps has quickly evolved to become pretty darn good and you are one of the few still griping about it. Quit quoting yourself and move on already.
KingMel, MDN’s position on Maps is that it is a perpetual blot on Apple’s reputation because of the circumstances of its initial release and the failure of their PR to contain the oil spill. MDN is not wrong there.
Scott Forstall went to the guillotine for it. ‘Mistakes were made.’
By contrast, Siri’s introduction went swimmingly, with the ‘beta’ label sheltering her naïve excesses, and Apple promoting her endearing ‘personality’ through ads and pop media. Consequently, Siri does not show up in the ‘bad Apple’ blogger checklists the way Maps does—and always will.
Actually it’s not your place to explain what MSN or Botvinnik have expressed in their writing. They are quite capable of doing same. At least you didn’t used $12 words where 50 cent words are all that is necessary. At least thanks for that.
Let the two of them challenge me instead of an anonymous hall monitor laying down the rules.
Well now isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black? Hall monitor? Perhaps you should read your own posts? What initiated my comment was your original post explaining their comments. I doubt they need your help? Or your explanation of what they really mean! Take your own advice. Stay in your own backyard and mind your own business. Even if you are a superior being. Isn’t that correct?
I shall follow your suggestion. The cacti in my back yard are so much more forgiving.
No, don’t follow Drone’s suggestion. I didn’t think you would either 😉 Rudeness is never a suggestion it will never be more than it is, rudeness.
Ditto.
I understood/understand MDN’s position, hannahjs, but I take exception to it, as described. The general public tends to have a very short memory. The problems at the beginning of Apple Maps are forgotten by most. Only MDN, diehard Apple-haters and Android fans, and a few others remember or care what Apple Maps *used to be.*
KingMel, you are taking a broader view and, on reflection, one wiser than mine.
It is all too easy to get caught up in petty bugbears on tech forums, and I am as guilty of that as anyone. I appreciate your raised finger of restraint.
Most companies would give anything to have a ‘failure’ like the iPhone 5c.
Maps – Most users use the default option and since Maps is that I’m sure it is widely used without significant issues anymore. If we are honest about it, most Apple software have teething issues. Maps was instantly compared to GoogleMaps that has evolved significantly over the years.
5C – According to the last earning release the 5C was doing well. Apple aim was not to use it to take over market share. Rather to provide a reduced cost iPhone that squeezes the competitor into the lower tier market. The press and analyst always forget that Apple’s success is achieved by owning the high end market and then capturing the next tier down.
Every company gets things wrong at some time or other. What is important is how they react to it and how frequently the FUs are. Apple make some mistakes, learns and fixes them. Look at other companies like M$ and they are FUing all the time and never fix the root problem.
The conference will focus on software. BUT I would love to hear Tim say “one more thing”.
” BUT I would love to hear Tim say “one more thing”.”
It ain’t happenin’.
So you prognosticate, botvinnik. You may be right…after all, this is a Developer’s Conference and not the primary Apple venue for major, new hardware product announcements.
However, based on the tone of your recent posts, this is just another one of your baseless shots at Apple (or anyone else who dares to disagree with you. You have been around long enough for people to recognize your cognitive skid marks.
‘Cognitive skid marks’ — so good. I want to use that sometime 🙂
So sad that so many self centered teeny boppers drool over “Really Cool” trivia. The important innovations needed are those that are not “Really Cool” …meaning they are intended to help grown ups. Health maintenance – – blood pressure, blood sugar, pulse rate, LIFE SAVING IS REALLY COOL — DOODS!
absurd… is a consumer electronics company not the Mayo Clinic.
Ad absurdum is your saying also. Not the Mayo Clinic, not either Music Hall, Tv station, Cinema Theatre, Scanning company, Radio Station, X-ray company etc etc, even though we use our iPhones as such sometimes in the Mayo Clinic and other Clinics around the world.
Measurements of health data does not make Apple into to a Clinic this or that or a Tv station though you can watch Tv stations on it. It’s just the measurements we (some of us) hope Apple is going to announce and just a few of health measurements possible, not the interpretation of them nor the whole lot.
So, the name is not Apple nor Mayo Clinic, it is iHealth 😉
I hope you can discern the difference between listening to Led Zeppelin and being examined by a physician.
Did you think you were going to be examined by the iHealth apps, really ;-). That’s the difference I was trying to refer to…. measurements are not the same as doctors examination and ergo bad reference to Clinics, Mayo or Apples.
By the way, Led Zeppelin was one my favorites and I am a physician. So, what is your excuse? 🙂
no, you’re not.
haha, yes, both an old fan of Zeppelin and a MD. Botvinnik, you should really listen to “Dazed and Confused” by Zeppelin 😉
I now who I am. I that I am but you surely are not Михаи́л Моисе́евич Ботви́нник
Karl, botvinnik is clearly stating that Apple has strayed from the consumer electronics path that made them so successful. He speaks for those who are dubious of ‘new product categories’ that are no more convincing than Microsoft vapourware.
In the great chess game of business and life, it’s Apple’s move…and the gallery are agog…is a mating move in the offing, or have they blundered badly?
no, you are not a physician.
Hannahjs, I’m not so sure you are right in your interpretations of botvinnik’s agenda or worries, nor that Apple has gone astray from their consumer electronics path. I think not. Apple has been tremendously successful in the making of new product categories for the last decades or so. No mistake about that. And also Apple is not a one man’s company anymore, that idea or image is passé.
There is almost no discipline today that has not been more and more affected by computing, from fine arts to the natural sciences, enabling creativity, enhancing skills and exploring new horizons. That’s exactly what Apple has been doing, showing us new horizons (product categories) enabling us to be players in it and hopefully the next category will include health sciences :-). That’s not Apple going astray, rather going deeper into peoples lives, connecting or combining the consumer electronics path and our most valuable assets, our lives and health. That would be the ultimate marriage between the computing sciences, fine arts and live sciences. That would rather be the highest achievement, not going astray, to their consumers.
Rumors about what Apple is going to do or what they should do doesn’t make it Apple’s vaporware. The supposed vaporware is just in the mind of the maker, the pundits/bloggers/tech writers etc, not Apple’s. And about worries about badly blundering Apple I agree there is a long time “something great happened”, but that doesn’t mean that they have have been deeply asleep and stopped innovating. I think you and botvinnik could agree with me on that. I kind of like botvinnik’s provocating chess-playing style with words, even when he takes “the other” side of things. But, that does not necessarily make him right in any way and I don’t think he wants that either, and because of his provocating chess-playing style and different side takings the consequences for him is that he has problem trusting others that they are not trying to play/deceive him.
But, as we all know botvinnik is no Михаи́л Моисе́евич Ботви́нник, master chess player 😉
“botvinnik is clearly stating that Apple has strayed from the consumer electronics path that made them so successful”
I wonder how many times others have made similar declarations about Apple’s major product innovations. A convenient fitness/health monitor or an integration of home systems is not any more of a straying than a phone.
And so, Karl, great post. Well said. (Except for one quibble re… even when he takes “the other” side of things. Does he EVER not take the other side of things? And always in his ‘This is The Truth’ manner, frequently accompanied by obscenity and insult.)
Karl, I appreciate your skilful dissection of the issue. It is as though attending you in surgery I laid a scalpel in your hand and observed a deft stroke of excision.
hannahjs, botvinnik clearly states lots of things on this forum. It does not make them true.
Apple iOS devices are used in many different ways. Apple struck a deal with Nike some years back. It is reasonable to view additional health monitors as a natural extension of that initial foray into physical fitness. And, as pointed out by Dr. Karl Snow, Apple iPads are widely used in the medical industry. I have had MDs use iPads to display x-ray images and other medical data.
You can explain/defend botvinnik if you please. That’s your choice. But most of the time he is just being a highly contrary ass with an omniscience complex.
Only save the productive. What we really need is a good plague that affects only the stupid, Too many takers doing nothing but leeching off the dwindling number of makers nowadays.
That’s what the Google auto-driving car is for.
Used Maps extensively last weekend; worked perfectly.
And for turn-by-turn directions. Much better than any GPS alternative out there. It even led me through some small, old school back allies in downtown Philly that I never even knew existed and got me to my destination WAY quicker than I would have thought given the traffic at that time of the day.
…BlahBlahBlah… The usual ‘OMG No Hardware At WWDC!!!’ crap.
The same old clue: WWDC is a S O F T W A R E developer conference.
Someone broke the DUH Limit again! You get a ticket, Shara Tibken who reports for CNET!
(Kudos to listcatcher!)
I’m not clicking on that drivel….let’s see, I’ve got the best laptop, best phone, best tablet money can buy, apple stock is killin it, and apple still owns most of the premium markets that matter. I will have an iWatch when them damn thing is ready!! silly “journalist”…
Ps maps works great too
ditto
No kidding on “ditto”.
Apple remains the company that everyone looks to for ideas – in computers, phones and tablets.
Evidence, you say…
– Look at the photos of before and after the iPhone. Nearly all other phones look like iPhone clones.
– Look at the corresponding photos for tablets.
– Look at all the Air clones. The Air’s design is not some kind of natural and inevitable evolution of computer design. It’s a product of Apple’s brilliant management and staff.
No other computer or phone company, in recent history, changes industries like Apple. No other company is copied like Apple.
ditto
all under Steve Jobs, not the current nitwit impotent homo.
I really don’t need to know this, botvinnik, but how did you find out that the current nitwit is impotent?
I did not know, along with other things, that you are a little light in the loafers yourself. How else would you have this info?
impotent |ˈimpətnt|
adjective
1 unable to take effective action; helpless or powerless: he was seized with an impotent anger.
“But boss, Apple hasn’t said anything yet.”
Publisher: “I don’t care, write something, anything like our competitors, but get a news story out there or you are DEAD MEAT on the unemployment line!”
I have faith in Jim. I am betting the farm on a revamped ATV with SDKs for everyone. This is the perfect time to do this because it involves the developers. Remember when they opened up the iPhone up to developers it was at a WWDC? This time lightning will strike twice!!
Uh who said there was no new products? Do you really think we would believe this B.S.? Maps works just fine by the way and Siri is constantly improving. So nothing to see here, move along.
With no exciting news to deliver, Shara Tibken has to make up stuff up to fill his month ad revenue quota