7 ms·

It's likely that the companies decided to postpone as a mark of respect to rival Steve Jobs, who passed away earlier this week. ORLY? Am I being insensit

It's likely that the companies decided to postpone as a mark of respect to rival Steve Jobs, who passed away earlier this week. ORLY? Am I being insensitive? Does anyone really think that's why they'd delay this announcement?

buro9 15y ago
Well, if it happens that it coincides with the date of the funeral +/- 1 day then you could imagine that it's not the best strategic time to make a key announcement.
- Tyrannosaurs 15y ago
  That's not a mark of respect though, that's "they want to get a load of press and think they're going to be held off the tech pages". EDIT: I think worth also noting that it's supposition that it's being delayed as a mark of respect, rather than anything Google or Samsung have said.
  - buro9 15y ago
    Yeah, I'm from the UK. We're used to seeing our politicians do just that so it taints my view of the world. They also do the reverse and use major news to bury things. Sucks to be us.
    - robgough 15y ago
      in fairness, the popular TV show "The West Wing" is practically a crash course in how to do this... so it's not unique to our government :)
      - gmac 15y ago
        Yes, see in particular http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_out_the_Trash_Day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_out_the_Trash_Day
  - hack_edu 15y ago
    With all due respect, Google IS an advising and marketing company.
  - joebadmo 15y ago
    Strategy doesn't preclude tact. I.e. press hits doesn't have to be only reason not to launch a product on the day of the funeral. [Edit: Being tactful can also be strategic, because it will be seen as, well, tactful. The problem, as you demonstrate, is that it can also be seen as strategic. But what's wrong with being tactfully strategic or strategically tactful?] I also imagine there will be at least a few top level Google executives attending.
nextparadigms 15y ago
Some rumors were saying the phone itself would ship on October 27th, even if the announcement of it was on October 11th. So the postponing of the "announcement" wouldn't affect shipping anyway.
- gurkendoktor 15y ago
  I think it would be very unfortunate for them to have the iPhone 4S and iOS5 hit the blogosphere between their announcement and launch. Does that make sense - was the iOS5/4S launch date really that secret?
darrenkopp 15y ago
I guess you missed all the posts yesterday about Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Eric Schmidt, and most likely a lot of other Googlers who had a lot of respect for Steve Jobs, so no, I do not think that reason is _that_ unlikely.
- bonch 15y ago
  Of course Brin, Page, and Schmidt were going to say nice things, as many tech CEOs have, but that doesn't mean there's any connection to a product launch. In fact, I bet it's more likely that there is some other reason but that they'd LIKE for people to think it's out of respect for Steve Jobs.
redfiche 15y ago
If they re-schedule and launch soon, I'll think it was respect. If they don't have anything for people to buy for Christmas, I'll think the product simply wasn't ready. Business is business.
cromwellian 15y ago
I'm a google employee. Internally, there has been much mourning and tribute to Steve. Our internal corporate portal contains a memorial on the front page. At a company-wide meeting, Larry again reflected on Steve. And I doubt Google is the only company doing this. Look, competitive as companies in the valley are, we are all still human beings, with a sense of respect for others in our industry, and when one so who has burned so brightly, dies so young, we take notice. The amount of cynicism displayed here is just sad.
- dlss 15y ago
  I think he just wants a new phone. ... perhaps to console his broken heart ...
- barista 15y ago
  Can't blame Google if they are trying to be publicly mourful and trying to get mileage out of it. Tow birds in one stone: time to fix those last bugs and also get good press for the delay. Well played.
joezydeco 15y ago
If you're a Cringely fan, you've noted his next prediction...please take your grain of salt before reading kthx "Running this story in reverse it’s suddenly clear why Apple didn’t introduce the iPhone 5 this week. It would have been lost in the news of Jobs’s death, killing the marketing value he would have loved. I’m sure the phone will appear in a week or two with that appearance in part to encourage the recovery of Apple shares from what is sure to be a short-term decline." Personally it doesn't make much sense (the 3GS is still on the plate). Then again, we have leaked case designs for the iPhone5 (or did we? https://twitter.com/#!/Cabel/status/121243424350412800 https://twitter.com/#!/Cabel/status/121243424350412800 )

buro9 15y ago

Well, if it happens that it coincides with the date of the funeral +/- 1 day then you could imagine that it's not the best strategic time to make a key announcement.

Tyrannosaurs 15y ago
That's not a mark of respect though, that's "they want to get a load of press and think they're going to be held off the tech pages". EDIT: I think worth also noting that it's supposition that it's being delayed as a mark of respect, rather than anything Google or Samsung have said.
- buro9 15y ago
  Yeah, I'm from the UK. We're used to seeing our politicians do just that so it taints my view of the world. They also do the reverse and use major news to bury things. Sucks to be us.
  - robgough 15y ago
    in fairness, the popular TV show "The West Wing" is practically a crash course in how to do this... so it's not unique to our government :)
    - gmac 15y ago
      Yes, see in particular http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_out_the_Trash_Day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_out_the_Trash_Day
- hack_edu 15y ago
  With all due respect, Google IS an advising and marketing company.
- joebadmo 15y ago
  Strategy doesn't preclude tact. I.e. press hits doesn't have to be only reason not to launch a product on the day of the funeral. [Edit: Being tactful can also be strategic, because it will be seen as, well, tactful. The problem, as you demonstrate, is that it can also be seen as strategic. But what's wrong with being tactfully strategic or strategically tactful?] I also imagine there will be at least a few top level Google executives attending.

nextparadigms 15y ago

Some rumors were saying the phone itself would ship on October 27th, even if the announcement of it was on October 11th. So the postponing of the "announcement" wouldn't affect shipping anyway.

gurkendoktor 15y ago
I think it would be very unfortunate for them to have the iPhone 4S and iOS5 hit the blogosphere between their announcement and launch. Does that make sense - was the iOS5/4S launch date really that secret?

darrenkopp 15y ago

I guess you missed all the posts yesterday about Sergey Brin, Larry Page, Eric Schmidt, and most likely a lot of other Googlers who had a lot of respect for Steve Jobs, so no, I do not think that reason is _that_ unlikely.

bonch 15y ago
Of course Brin, Page, and Schmidt were going to say nice things, as many tech CEOs have, but that doesn't mean there's any connection to a product launch. In fact, I bet it's more likely that there is some other reason but that they'd LIKE for people to think it's out of respect for Steve Jobs.

redfiche 15y ago

If they re-schedule and launch soon, I'll think it was respect. If they don't have anything for people to buy for Christmas, I'll think the product simply wasn't ready. Business is business.

cromwellian 15y ago

I'm a google employee. Internally, there has been much mourning and tribute to Steve. Our internal corporate portal contains a memorial on the front page. At a company-wide meeting, Larry again reflected on Steve. And I doubt Google is the only company doing this. Look, competitive as companies in the valley are, we are all still human beings, with a sense of respect for others in our industry, and when one so who has burned so brightly, dies so young, we take notice. The amount of cynicism displayed here is just sad.

dlss 15y ago
I think he just wants a new phone. ... perhaps to console his broken heart ...
barista 15y ago
Can't blame Google if they are trying to be publicly mourful and trying to get mileage out of it. Tow birds in one stone: time to fix those last bugs and also get good press for the delay. Well played.

joezydeco 15y ago

If you're a Cringely fan, you've noted his next prediction...please take your grain of salt before reading kthx "Running this story in reverse it’s suddenly clear why Apple didn’t introduce the iPhone 5 this week. It would have been lost in the news of Jobs’s death, killing the marketing value he would have loved. I’m sure the phone will appear in a week or two with that appearance in part to encourage the recovery of Apple shares from what is sure to be a short-term decline." Personally it doesn't make much sense (the 3GS is still on the plate). Then again, we have leaked case designs for the iPhone5 (or did we? https://twitter.com/#!/Cabel/status/121243424350412800 https://twitter.com/#!/Cabel/status/121243424350412800 )