“Apple’s announcement that it is discontinuing its AirPort product line wasn’t exactly a surprise. As we noted earlier, Bloomberg reported back in 2016 that Apple had disbanded the team responsible for its wireless routers, and we first spotted the company selling third-party ones,” Ben Lovejoy writes for 9to5Mac. “But while it isn’t a surprise, I do think it’s the wrong decision – and a particularly ill-timed one.”
“Apple was one of the first companies to recognize that accessing the Internet had become the primary reason for a consumer to buy a personal computer,” Lovejoy writes. “Apple is also all about the ecosystem. Devices and services that all work together seamlessly. Routers – while not a sexy product – were part of that end-to-end Apple experience.”
“I recognize the economic argument, of course,” Lovejoy writes. “These days everyone gets a free WiFi router from their ISP. Probably a relatively small number of people bother to buy a separate one, and only some of those buy an Apple one. But there are six counter-arguments.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Either Apple has some perfectly secret grand plan that they are perfectly executing* or they are (mis)managed by people swimming in hundreds of billions of dollars who are nonetheless and inexplicably making shortsighted beancounter decisions.
Listen, we’ll survive and even thrive with eero mesh WiFi systems. Just like we’re doing with non-Apple displays.
Besides coasting along reaping (some of) what Steve Jobs hath sown (and blowing away more than we’ll ever know with missteps, lateness, incompleteness, lack of product, lack of focus, laziness, woefully languishing products, misplaced priorities, etcetera), Apple is doing a fine job in one area:
Teaching us to purchase products and fall in love with brands other than Apple.
Anyone who thinks Apple CEO Tim Cook and his cavalcade of VPs are doing a great job does not understand Apple Inc. or what is happening. They only see the profits which are merely a portion of what they should be if there were competent management in place who were focused on what they should be focused on: Delighting the customer, not their office door handles.
As far as Apple goes, it was a different company every few years from the time I joined in 1984. There was Steve [Jobs] — an elemental force — and then there was no Steve. There was John [Sculley]. He was pretty good, but the company grew so fast and started getting very dysfunctional. And then on downhill. — Alan Kay, April 2013
Tim Cook fired Scott Forstall and aligned the executive staff so as to have peace… which is to say there is no conflict. Executives aren’t competing with each other any more. And, Tim’s message was loud and clear: “Don’t bring me conflict.” — Bob Burrough, January 2017
*You know, because a company that ships and markets a “smart” speaker based mainly on sound quality (which they have to do because they squandered their prodigious lead in personal assistants long ago) without the basic capability of stereo-pairing is executing perfectly.
SEE ALSO:
Apple makes yet another short-sighted decision: Apple has discontinued a product that it should have made a cornerstone of its home automation and entertainment ecosystem – April 27, 2018
Apple pulls plug on AirPort Wi-Fi router business – April 26, 2018
Where is Apple’s AirPower? – April 25, 2018
Why can’t Apple keep their products up-to-date? – April 10, 2018
Why is it taking Apple so long to update the Mac Pro? – April 10, 2018
Apple’s latest announcements about the modular Mac Pro really ramp up expectations – April 6, 2018
Apple needs to stop promising new products and start delivering them – April 6, 2018
Apple: No new Mac Pro until 2019 – April 5, 2018
Apple reiterates they’re working on an all-new modular, upgradeable Mac Pro and a high-end pro display – December 14, 2017
Why Apple’s promise of a new ‘modular’ Mac Pro matters so much – April 6, 2017
Apple’s cheese grater Mac Pro was flexible, expandable, and powerful – imagine that – April 6, 2017
More about Apple’s Mac Pro – April 6, 2017
Apple’s desperate Mac Pro damage control message hints at a confused, divided company – April 6, 2017
Who has taken over at Apple? – April 5, 2017
Apple’s embarrassing Mac Pro mea culpa – April 4, 2017
Who’s going to buy a Mac Pro now? – April 4, 2017
Mac Pro: Why did it take Apple so long to wake up? – April 4, 2017
Apple sorry for what happened with the Mac Pro over the last 3+ years – namely, nothing – April 4, 2017
Apple to unveil ‘iMac Pro’ later this year; rethought, modular Mac Pro and Apple pro displays in the pipeline – April 4, 2017
Apple’s apparent antipathy towards the Mac prompts calls for macOS licensing – March 27, 2017
Why Apple’s new Mac Pro might never arrive – March 10, 2017
Dare we hold out hope for the Mac Pro? – March 1, 2017
Apple CEO Cook pledges support to pro users, says ‘we don’t like politics’ at Apple’s annual shareholders meeting – February 28, 2017
Yes, I just bought a ‘new’ Mac Pro (released on December 19, 2013 and never updated) – January 4, 2017
Attention, Tim Cook! Apple isn’t firing on all cylinders and you need to fix it – January 4, 2017
No, Apple, do not simplify, get better – December 23, 2016
Rare video shows Steve Jobs warning Apple to focus less on profits and more on great products – December 23, 2016
Marco Arment: Apple’s Mac Pro is ‘very likely dead’ – December 20, 2016
How Tim Cook’s Apple alienated Mac loyalists – December 20, 2016
Apple’s not very good, really quite poor 2016 – December 19, 2016
Apple’s software has been anything but ‘magical’ lately – December 19, 2016
Lazy Apple. It’s not hard to imagine Steve Jobs asking, ‘What have you been doing for the last four years?’ – December 9, 2016
Rush Limbaugh: Is Apple losing their edge? – December 9, 2016
AirPods: MIA for the holidays; delayed product damages Apple’s credibility, stokes customer frustration – December 9, 2016
Apple may have finally gotten too big for its unusual corporate structure – November 28, 2016
Apple has no idea what they’re doing in the TV space, and it’s embarrassing – November 3, 2016
Apple’s disgracefully outdated, utterly mismanaged Mac lineup is killing sales – October 13, 2016
Apple takes its eye off the ball: Why users are complaining about Apple’s software – February 9, 2016
Open letter to Tim Cook: Apple needs to do better – January 5, 2015