“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