For a company that’s so brilliant at marketing, it seems to have absolutely no clue about crisis management
– David Pogue of The New York Times
MobileMe sounds like a major failure. Apple gets a lot of things right. This is not one of them.
UI Nightmare
Palm developer Steven’s Creek Software vomited out this app for the iPhone/iPod Touch.
The question is: will this app be “accepted” by Apple for inclusion in the AppStore or is UI design going to be a deciding factor in which apps get in and which don’t?
As leery as I am of having one gate-keeper giving the thumbs up or the thumbs down to every app I would be just as leery of having to wade through crap like this to get to the good stuff. Time will tell …
Update: pilkycrc says “no”
Original linkage, as well as the screenshot of this train wreck of a UI, courtesy of Mr. John Gruber.
Anchored
Michael S. Rosenwald at The Washington Post creates the inaugural post on his new blog “The Financial Lobe” and he addresses an issue that I wanted to address but did not have time or, probably, experience to address: why it is that a $199 iPhone sounds like a better deal than a $399 iPhone when, if you look at the total overall cost over even as short a time as a year, the average iPhone 3G consumer is going to pay at least $20 more than those that bought the original. It’s a good read and raises some excellent points but I think it still falls short in some ways.
An Incomplete Analogy
As far as Mr. Rosenwald’s restaurant analogy is concerned (read the article and you will understand what I mean), I think that it misses the mark a bit. The situation he refers to assumes that the restaurant patron is sitting down already, scanning the menu for a dish he or she prefers. At that point one is a bit of a captive audience. You’re hungry, you’re there and I am assuming that there are few people, once they decide they are going to eat at a restaurant, who are going to get up and leave because of prices. They are, instead, going to look for some menu item that will fit their budget. There are more people that will be willing to walk out of an AT&T store because they are, maybe, unhappy about how much they are going to have to pay for their phone and contract, iPhone or not.
The Cost of Entrance
Furthermore, even though I am happy that someone addressed this subject I still have a problem with the current popular analysis. I think Mr. Rosenwald’s article continues to place the consumer into the role of the unwitting victim of marketing manipulation. It assumes, I think wrongly, that the consumer is being played as they blindly fall prey to their iPhone lust. I think that, for the most part, those that choose to buy the most recent edition of Apple’s seminal phone effort, having eschewed the first edition, are not victims of marketing but instead are making a conscious decision based on the cost of entrance.
I would like an iPhone. I have wanted one since they came out. I think that I could, indeed, justify the monthly expense of owning an iPhone if I could just afford to get one. $600, even $400, was a steep amount to shell out all at once simply to gain entrance into the iPhone market. $199? Now that I might be able to do. And even though it is going to cost more, over time, to own the phone, that increased cost is going to be diffused, paid in small increments over a long period of time and that, my friends, is alot easier to handle than one large chunk of cash, shelled out all at one time, just to save $20 per year. Yeah, Mr. Rosenwald — and everyone else who has followed this same line of thinking — I am indeed thinking about utility.
I was thinking, while I was watching the keynote (via liveblog), that If anyone was the victim here it was Apple and maybe, now that some time has passed, even more so, AT&T. First, it is entirely possible that Apple came to the conclusion that there was no way they were going to reach their sales goal for the iPhone while retaining such a price premium and, so, slash the price they did. Planned at the birth of the iPhone or not, they realized that for the iPhone to explode in the U.S. market, the price needed to come down.
Second, AT&T has flatly stated that their profits, and therefore their stock price, are going to take a bit of a hit now that the decision has been reached that the iPhone is going to follow the same subsidization model every other phone they (or anyone else, for that matter) offer follows.
I am not saying that there are not some people out there blindly throwing themselves at the new iPhone but I also don’t think that the bulk of the people that are excited that the latest iPhone is cheaper to acquire than the old one was, are just brain-dead receivers of magical marketing signals. I think they we deserve a bit more credit than that. In fact, we may just deserve the credit for the presence of a $199 iPhone in the first place. Maybe.
Once again, thanks go to Daring Fireball for the link.
If sales drop because potential iPod Touch buyers opt for a $199 iPhone 3G instead, don’t expect many tears from Apple executives.
– John Gruber
From “WWDC 2008 Miscellany” on Daring Fireball
More on the Thin Man
Despite the fact that there have to be many talented people toiling away behind the doors of 1, Infinite Loop, there is no denying the importance — both symbolic and real — of the man in the mock turtleneck when, a week after Steve Jobs appeared on stage looking, by all accounts, dangerously thin, there is still a profound interest in discovering exactly what, if anything, is going on with his health. indeed, even after a statement by Apple’s PR department that the culprit was just a “common bug”, the investigation continues in ernest. To wit, Fortune’s “Apple 2.0″ blog has a post on the results of an investigation into the possibility that Mr. Job’s gaunt appearance is a not unexpected result of the type of surgery he underwent to remove a cancerous tumor from his pancreas a short time ago.
Known as The Whipple Procedure, apparently it significantly rewires your digestive system, can make it difficult to manage your weight and can even cause aversion to certain foods.
Maybe what Mr. Jobs needs is an old Italian grandma. “Steven, you’re so skinny! Eat, eat!”. That’ll take care of it.
"Steve Jobs's Appearance Grabs Notice, Not Just the IPhone" (@ WSJ via DF)
I was wondering how long it was going to take until someone mentioned this.
All you people who bought your iPhone to improve your personal and business productivity, let me tell you — those days are over
–– Macworld Editorial Director, Jason Snell
Yes, gaming has come to the iPhone/iPod Touch. Jason Snell is liveblogging from Apple’s 2008 WWDC keynote.
A New Word?
Has Ellen Lee, in the process of writing, in the San Francisco Chronicle, about today’s expected iPhone announcement, invented a new word?
It’s Coming
WWDC! Yay! by Gernot Poetsch © & John Siracusa’s WWDC 2008 Keynote Bingo board
The next best thing to Macworld for Apple geeks has got to be Apple’s annual WWDC. A few years ago the conference, held every year at San Francisco’s Moscone West (site of last years’ Macworld admission fiasco – god I hope it’s not a repeat of that nasty scene), flowered into a second venue – joining Macworld – through which Apple regularly introduces new hardware and software.
This years’ near sure bet is the much rumored 3G iPhone but there are other possibilities being thrown around as well. It seems Apple always has something up it’s sleeve. I am sure this year will be no different.
The keynote will begin at 10:00 AM on Monday, June 9th. I am sure there will be some sort of live coverage, weather it be various sources liveblogging the event or a video stream (more likely, it will be the former) but there is usually a video of the event posted on Apple’s website the day after if you prefer to catch “His Steveness” in action, live, tossing out his reality distortion field into the audience … and beyond. One thing is for sure: don’t expect to be able to access Apple’s website from around Noon to, say, 1 or 2 in the afternoon.
Apple now sells two thirds of all computers in the U.S. that are sold via a retail outlet and cost over $1000. Yeah, two-thirds. (via Daring Fireball)
The Highway Analogy
This CNET article (via Gruber), about a grand plan, by Microsoft’s ad division, to open the flood gates (even further) and place ads on every device (even the Zune! … a personal device.) and service Microsoft owns, points to one of the main, and I think, under-appreciated differences between the Mac and the PC user experience.
With all it’s bubbles and windows constantly popping up every minute, telling you how vulnerable your computer is unless you get this or that upgrade or the gobs of nagging entreaties for trial software and their subsequent pushes for you to buy said software at the end of the trial period that you probably don’t remember signing up for because it was probably automatically done for you, using a PC can feel like slowly creeping down an L.A. freeway during rush hour frustrated by the molasses-like drip of cars slowly going nowhere and assaulted left and right by a plethora of garish billboards asking you to buy this, that or another thing. Every manufacturer of third party piece of shit software wants a piece of your attention on the PC. The PC is an advertisement venue much like a fashion mag: 99% ads, 1% content.
The Mac, on the other hand, feels tranquil by comparison; like cruising down a country road with the top down on a clear, sunny day. No nagging. No warnings of impending doom. Just you and your computer ready to sit down and get some shit done.
As Apple’s products get more and more popular and ubiquitous, more and more people are going to want a piece of the pie. Will it be a challenge for Apple to keep it’s user experience as simple and clutter free as it is currently? I don’t know, but I think Apple, with how much control it insists on wielding over the look, feel and behavior of it’s devices, is in a unique structural and philosophical position to do just that.
If you’re risk-averse, if you use your phone for mission-critical purposes, if you’re currently running for president, you might want to wait a little while. The amount of time being proportional to you[r] level of risk aversion and/or the number of delegates you have.
–– The Macalope in “iPhone 2.0 FUD-o-rama” (via Gruber)
Think about that — in just nine years, the specs that then described Apple’s top-of-the-line desktop computer now describe their phone.
–– John Gruber of Daring Fireball “BlackBerry vs. iPhone”
Seems to be a fair bit of confusion -- even among the interested parties -- as to what sort of deal Microsoft and NBC have cooked up regarding what sort of technology hocus-pocus Microsoft has agreed (or not agreed?) to perform in return for getting the rights to distribute NBC's TV shows. This is all verrry unprofessional. (via Daring Fireball)
IDG’s Divine Comedy 2008
Chart of Dante’s Hell…Moscone West at the Bottom
Every year, when Macworld comes around I am always both underwhelmed and overwhelmed at what I see. There are always disappointments. Things you hoped to see do not materialize but things you never imagined show up and delight you as you slap your forehead wondering why you didn’t see this or that feature, device or upgrade coming.
Apple giveth and Apple taketh away. Apple giveth movie rentals but Apple taketh away by giving only a 24 hour viewing window (I’m sticking with Netflix for now, Steve). Apple giveth the world’s thinnest laptop but taketh away the combo/Super drive, removable battery and easily upgradeable RAM. Apple giveth the same applications to the Touch that the iPhone has had since it’s inception (the Touch truly is an iPhone without the phone now) but taketh away by not rolling out a storage increase.
But, in my book, the biggest disappointment I have with this years’ Macworld had nothing to do with equipment or software. Indeed, my biggest disappointment had nothing to do with Apple, the company, at all. My biggest disappointment was with an activity. An ostensibly simple activity, one of the most basic activities one participates in at a Macworld Expo: getting a badge. Yes, simply getting a badge. No, hold up, let me modify that a little. Because it really was not an issue, with many people, with getting a badge at all. Many people had received theirs in the mail before hand. Really, the biggest disappointment was in getting a badge holder. The one that goes around your neck. The one you need, regardless of weather you already have your badge or not, to get into the expo. Getting a badge and/or badge holder at the opening day of this years’ Macworld Expo was a royal pain in the ass.
I have been going to Macworld for eight years and I have never, never, had as much trouble simply getting into the event as I did today. IDG took what was a relatively painless process and turned it into a nightmare. What must have been hundreds of people stood outside, in the cold, of Moscone West with no idea when they were going to be able to get their badge holders and therefore when they were going to be able to head back over to Moscone South (the site of this activity since I have been coming to Macworld) to wait for the Expo to open. The corner of Howard and Fourth was spilling over into the street with people who were left hanging in limbo with no information and getting more and more frustrated and angry by the minute. When the doors opened after what was, for many people, a good hour and a half wait, the scene didn’t improve. The doors were opened into the comparatively (next to Moscone South’s, that is) miniscule lobby at the same time the Keynote (also taking place in Moscone West, upstairs) ended. Now two streams of people converged. It was not a pretty sight.
The ugly scene. Photo by macinate @ Flickr
A mob scene. Maybe 5 people behind a counter around ten feet in length for hundreds of people. People were packed together. There were dividers where the organizers thought people might have been able, under more organized circumstances, to line up around but they might as well have not even been there for all the use they were. The most disorganized mess I have ever had the displeasure of being a part of and the worst prelude to a Macworld Expo I have ever been through. What could have been exciting was simply frustrating. To their credit the poor people behind the counter handled the situation with aplomb. Kudos to them. By the time I made it to the floor the bad taste in my mouth had dissipated slightly but this is no way to run an Expo, IDG, no way at all.
UPDATE (1/16/08): Today, back at Macworld, I was having some trouble getting my MacBook to connect to the official Macworld hotspot. I must have approached ten official looking Macworld people about my problem – none having an answer for me – before I was sent to IDG’s office on the second floor of Moscone West (flashbacks!). While I was waiting to talk to the person behind the counter the woman in front of me began, very forcefully, complaining about the events of yesterday mentioned above. She was incredibly angry. She had obviously paid more than I did to get in to Macworld and she was appalled at what she considered the “inhumane” treatment she received from IDG in being made to wait even longer than I did. Right there with ya sister, that’s all I have to say.
The woman behind the counter listened to her complaints patiently, in fact she displayed much more patience than I would have been able to muster in her situation. She also had some insight into the matter. That was that the north hall – the hall in which registration, in past years, was taken care of – had been rented out by another entity and so was not available to IDG. I had heard this before and it sounds entirely plausible as a reason we had to trek over to Moscone West to get our badges this year.
The situation that resulted is still inexcusable but at least, unofficially anyway, I have some sort of explanation to what was a bad situation. Let’s hope that if the same situation presents itself to IDG again next year they are more prepared.
Oh yeah, and my wireless issues were solved. By the woman complaining about yesterday. Serendipity.
John Gruber of Daring Fireball links to a piece in the New York Times, by Katie Hafner, on Apple’s chain of retail outlets. In his post he focuses on the use of the pat descriptor “The Apple Faithful” as being a tired, overused and inaccurate way of describing both the past and present Apple consumer. I couldn’t agree more.
In a portion of the NYT piece that focuses on Apple’s liberal policy on using it’s in-store computers, though, lies what has to be the best part of the article by far:
Unable to afford a computer, Ms. Jade, 25, began cadging time on a laptop at the Apple store in the SoHo section of Manhattan. Ms. Jade spent hours at a stretch standing in a discreet corner of the store, typing. Within a few months, she had written nearly 300 pages.
Not only did store employees not mind, but at closing time they often made certain to shut Ms. Jade’s computer down last, to give her a little extra time. A few months later, the store invited her to give an in-store reading from her manuscript.
Those 300 pages became Almost 5′ 4″: Confessions of an Unconventional Model a self-published memoir. How cool is that?
There is of course, a blog and a podcast by Ms. Jade as well.
Yes, I can…the evidence is on the page you are reading right now.
But I can’t add new categories and I cannot scoll down the list of categories. One can”t, of course, upload any files either. In addition, there are not any formattig options. I wonder if I can link.
Maybe, once Apple opens up the API for it’s mobile version of OSX some enterprising Wordpress user will create a native Wordpress app. Until then…