“I’ve been writing about Apple for more than 15 years, and in recent months I’ve found myself looking at this company, which once seemed unique, as though it is just another purveyor of beige boxes,” Kirk McElhearn writes for Kirkville. “Naturally, they are no longer beige, nor are they really boxes. They are pocket computers, wrist computers, and more traditional laptop and desktop computers. But they’re not exciting anymore; they’re not edgy.”
“In the past few years, Apple has been gliding along on their success, unable or unwilling to make new products that make me say ‘aha!’ Yes, there was the Apple Watch, that clunky device whose first iteration contained a kitchen sink of software feature,” McElhearn writes. “Apple used us as beta testers to determine what we might want in a smartwatch.”
“And what does Apple shown us lately? Yet another iPhone, thinner and lighter, with a better camera, blah, blah, blah. (Thinner, rather than with better battery life.) And AirPods; Apple’s new Bluetooth earbuds. They are interesting devices, but you’d be hard pressed to be able to buy any, as Apple doesn’t seem to know how to manufacture them,” McElhearn writes. “So what would it take for me to see Apple in a positive light? Perhaps the company start by exercising a bit of humility… Stop saying, as Tim Cook often does, ‘we have great products coming up this year,’ when there’s not much new stuff, and it’s not really great.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The Apple Watch now – Apple Watch Series 2 and Apple Watch Nike+ with watchOS 3 – is what should’ve been released to the public originally, if Apple were running as they ran under Steve Jobs. Steve would have thrown the original Apple Watch back in Kevin’s face and told him to “get back to work,” not shipped it. (And he couldn’t even ship it in any quantity for months!)
As for Tim Cook, well, they don’t call him “Pipeline Tim” for nothing. He’s the CEO who cried wolf.
Put up or shut up, Tim.
We’ve been following Apple closely for decades, have been covering the company’s every move here on these pages for a decade and a half, and some of us have been using Apple products since the Apple II, and we’ll tell you something:
Apple could do worse that Tim Cook, but they could also do better.
Cook, for a so-called “operations genius,” cannot, for the life of him, seem to get products produced and into customer’s hands in a timely, orderly fashion. Once or twice, we can see there might be some extenuating circumstances, but this is an ongoing pattern. It’s not the work of an “operations genius,” it’s an operational failure. And, don’t get us started on Cook’s vision or on-stage charisma, or lack thereof (total lack in the latter case).
Again, Apple could do worse that Tim Cook, but they could also do better.
Now, Tim Cook will likely announce massive, potentially record corporate profits later this month and it’ll look great from the outside, but the fact of the matter is, for those results, he can largely thank Steve Jobs. Pretty much any competent CEO could’ve accomplished the same or, likely, better since a competent CEO would’ve upgraded Macs routinely, have had a far better Apple TV product available today, had AirPods in sufficient supply for Christmas, etc., etc., etc.
“Pipeline Tim.” That sticks until the vaunted pipeline actually delivers.
Until then, Apple has made a number of mistakes, all of which look like laziness from the outside, including:
• No new 4K-capable Apple TV for Christmas 2016 (this would have been so easy, it’s inexplicable and unforgivable not to have this on the market right now)
• No new iMac, Mac Pro, and or Mac mini for far, far too long
• No Apple skinny bundle(s) for Apple TV while other companies ink deals and announce launches – these customers will be tough for Apple to get back once lost, if they ever get the deals signed. (Perhaps, Tim, you need to hire better negotiator(s) who can get the ink? Or make an acquisition that reshapes the industry, causing them to line up to work with you?)
• Flagship iPhone launches without its flagship feature (Portrait mode) and is currently still only in “beta” (seriously?)
• Apple TV remote looks to have been “designed” by Steve Ballmer himself (If Steve Jobs wasn’t already dead, the Apple TV Remote would have killed him; he would’ve had an aneurysm the second the mockup was handed to him)
• No new iPads for Christmas 2016 (Even simply “refreshed” with current A-series processors would have created more sales)
These are a few of the reasons why Apple fans and investors are and should be concerned.
On occasion, Steve Jobs teased the product pipeline, too. The difference is that Steve Jobs repeatedly delivered.
SEE ALSO:
Tim Cook assures Apple employees that it is committed to the Mac and that ‘great desktops’ are coming – December 20, 2016
Why this ‘Apple optimist’ is getting nervous – December 1, 2016
Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, and Apple’s monster hits – November 25, 2016
Apple CEO Tim Cook still hasn’t introduced a mega-hit and investors are growing impatient – November 23, 2016