Alex Salkever, Technology editor for BusinessWeek Online, has issued a public apology to Apple CEO Steve Jobs. An excerpt:
Dear Steve,
You probably remember an exchange we had back in January, 2004. You had just introduced the new iPod mini at Macworld. I wrote a column opining that the mini was too pricey — only $50 less than the iPod — and destined to flop in much the same manner as the ill-fated G3 Cube.
You then wrote me an e-mail asking that if my assumption of a mini flop proved incorrect would I publish an apology. ‘Of course!’ I replied. Well, the mini is not a flop. In fact, it’s a hit. I can’t deny it. So, here’s my apology, Steve. The mini is no Cube. I was wrong, and you were right.
Full article here.
Haha – that’s funny. (And noble!)
that was refreshing and well written. i don’t understand why people thought it was too expensive to begin with…. it wasn’t meant to compete with the ipod, but the expensive flash players. So, it wasn’t too expensive, it was the basically the same price with much more storage, ease of use and style
G3 cube?
Boy, won’t Steve AND Alex be embarrassed when the truth comes out that Paul Thurott is right, and there have actually been no iPod mini sales at all!
very brave!
boeing-
why is it brave to admit your wrong?
are we a culture that is so ashamed of being wrong? admitting your wrong is admitting you have room to grow, and are. what’s wrong with that?
From: Follower
“Boy, won’t Steve AND Alex be embarrassed when the truth comes out that Paul Thurott is right, and there have actually been no iPod mini sales at all!”
Not true. There are acutally 2,775 iPod minis out there that have been “sold”. There were more but Steve horded a bunch for a photo session and never returned them. Like fruit cakes, the mini’s are being passed around from person to person for a weeks use at a time.
the real news is.. if steve actually gets this apology and even knows who mr. salkever is… pffft.
how many analysts thought the ipod mini would flop..
here’s the kicker.. I actually saw a stream on cnet saying “Apple must have KNOWN the iPOd mini was going to sell out instantly.. why didnt they make more of them!?”
Fuckin Hypocrites..
brett: “are we a culture that is so ashamed of being wrong?”
Yes, we are.
Boeing was right. It does take some courage to admit wrong in our society, and no doubt in other societies too.
This is especially so in corporate culture, where being wrong can be one of the deadly sins.
are we a culture that is so ashamed of being wrong? admitting your wrong is admitting you have room to grow, and are. what’s wrong with that?
A question that might reasonably be asked of George W. Bush in the light of our failure to find the WMDs he was so certain Saddam was aiming at us.
A 747 jet loaded with fuel is a weapon of mass destruction. I’m so tired of all the Gore supporters who are still sore at losing.
Businessweek can admit that it’s wrong.. but Thurrott can’t. What a crazy world.
That was a classy thing to do.
There was no G3 Cube. It was a G4!!!!
ED – That’s funny! I love the way the Bush supporters will distort reality to justify their beliefs. This is truly classic. Iraq has 747’s loaded with fuel, so the president didn’t really misslead us. WTF?
Yup. Those planes that slammed into the Twin Towers were full of Iraquis. NOT. They were Saudis, the same country which the Bush family has had cordial relationships for 30 years! Also, FYI Al Gore did not really lose the election if you count votes. More Americans voted for him then Bush, Final popular vote totals were:
Gore – 50,999,897
Bush – 50,456,002
George W. was SELECTED by the Republican Supreme Court because a Republican Elections Official allowed a confusing
ballot to be used in a heavily democratical Palm Beach County. Pat Buchanan got votes that people thought were be cast of Al Gore. No matter. We have a president that never heard the term “The Buck Stops Here”. He never takes responsibilty for anything that goes wrong. Denial is a very right wing trait.
My pontificating is over.
And now to interrupt this political weeniefest:
This is the e-mail I sent to Alex Salkever today:
—-
I commend you on your willingness to admit your mistake! But…
“The Sony Walkman didn’t truly take off until it dropped below $200…”
That was nearly 25 years ago. According to the Inflation Calculator at: http://www.westegg.com/inflation/
“What cost $249 in 2003 would [have] cost $103.01 in 1980.” and
“What cost $249 in 2003 would [have] cost $147.41 in 1985.”
“Heck, if you drop the price to below $200, I’d buy a mini myself.”
Sounds like you need to get with the times and get yourself an iPod!
The key to Apple’s price point is right in your story. “Hitachi is shipping only 200,000 drives per quarter.”
That’s the key component cost of this product, and Hitachi isn’t going to lower their prices under these conditions unless Apple has an alternate vendor to turn to, which they don’t right now. They have a buttload of R&D costs to recapture on the Mini and at least catch up with demand before we’ll see a price drop, so just get yourself an iPod Mini and “hang the cost.”
—————–
If only the Cube had a G3 it may have been cheaper and thus, a sucess. Wishful thinking, I know, but I do wish that Apple and its customers would give it another chance.
It is good to see Business Week’s tech editor admitting to a wrong prediction. It gives his publication more credibility which is lacking in most of the media.
R&D costs for the mini were, well, minimal. Most of the necessary product development had already been done with the standard iPod.
Listen, we knew they HAD WMD, we have pictures of weapons along with photos of hundreds of dead children. Unfortunately, most liberals think like Windows folk and say, “They must have never had it”, despite all evidence to the contrary. What we as sensible Mac folk should be saying, knowing that we have satellite photos of their existence, is not “I can’t see it, so it doesn’t exist” but “We have proof they exist, SO WHERE ARE THEY NOW?!?!?!?” We know Libya’s nuclear program happened to be financed and most likely belonged to Saddam, so why is it such a stretch to believe the truth that there were indeed WMDs and the weeks between the anouncement of war and the actual fighting occured, they were simply shipped to Iran and Syria, who I am sure were glad to take them. Remember, even the drivers of the trucks full of Sarin gas that was meant to literally ROCK the Kingdom of Jordan say the Sarin came from Iraq. Sheesh, come on guys. Stop allowing hatred to blind you.
……g4 cube
suck it non-believers!
Someone said:
“I actually saw a stream on cnet saying “Apple must have KNOWN the iPOd mini was going to sell out instantly.. why didnt they make more of them!?”
simple answer: What better way to create product momentum and hype? Hype it up..release a small amount of product knowing it will sell out..watch the good reviews come in and let the press blather about how hard they are to find and build even more sensation. Pretty effective if you ask me..
NEWS UPDATE!
Steve Jobs gets into food fight at Palo Alto restaurant!!
http://www.mac360.com/index.php/mac360/more/apples_jobs_reals_glaser_meet_debate_fight_at_macarthur_park/
Hahahahahaha.
“Listen, we knew they HAD WMD, we have pictures of weapons along with photos of hundreds of dead children.”
Last we knew they had WMD was 1992. Since then no inspector has found any current weapons of mass destruction. That includes hundreds, perhaps thousands, of US inspectors (in the Army and Special Forces), moved from the front in Afghanistan to useless duty in Iraq.
The dead children were from an earlier era, back when Ronald Reagan prevented the UN from condemning Iraq for chemical warfare. Chemical warfare wasn’t so important then — after all the US was more opposed to Iraq’s enemy Iran than it was to WMD. (That’s called irony.)
Iran is still a much scarier enemy than Iraq in the Middle East.
“A 747 jet loaded with fuel is a weapon of mass destruction.”
Then we should do the logical thing and fire Patriot missiles at international arrivals. That was about the stupidest statement I’ve read on this forum, which is saying a lot. Attempting to deflect criticism of this Administration’s misuse of our intelligence assets with such an asinine assertion would be laughable, if it weren’t so tragic. In future, stick to talking about what you know, which obviously isn’t much. I’m totally sick and tired of the bizarro off-topic political rants on this forum.