4 ms·
This new trend of Apple "communicating" their "plans" is really... unsettling? It has the same sort of un-appleness to it as the announcement at WWDC of a produ
by cmyr 13y ago
This new trend of Apple "communicating" their "plans" is really... unsettling? It has the same sort of un-appleness to it as the announcement at WWDC of a product with no release-date: just sort of not something we've seen much of, previously.
This sort of communication seems more unambiguously good, though. Not sure if this counts as backtracking, but it's certainly a new degree of 'transparency' (or 'not complete opacity') and I think it's refreshing.
I guess there's actually a bit of previous from apple for this sort of thing, such as their open letter about the iPhone 4 antennas, or about Foxconn etcetera. Still this feels a bit different.
- k-mcgrady 13y ago>> "the announcement at WWDC of a product with no release-date" If you're referencing the Mac Pro, that one made sense to me. People have been complaining about the lack of an update for a long time and Apple was probably losing people to Hackintosh/other platforms. An announcement helps slow that loss. Also developers are likely one of the main groups the Mac Pro is relevant to so it makes sense to announce that they are working on it at WWDC. Also didn't they say 'later this year'? That's not too different that what they do every year with iOS (coming this fall).
- girvo 13y agoI thought the also did it with the iPad Mini Retina? I'm probably wrong though
- CodeWithCoffee 13y agoIt's also no different to what they've done in the past when they are launching a brand new product; the first iPhone was announced about five months before its release.
- hyperpape 13y agoThat was because of FCC regulations: they had to apply for licenses that the public would find out about. It hasn't happened with any subsequent iPhones, which have all been announced with < 1 month lead time (I think 1-2 weeks was normal).
- gsnedders 13y agoAlso the Mac Pro ceased being sold in the EU from the 1 March (it didn't comply with some EU regulation that came into force — with years of warning — that it trivially could have been made compatible with), so given they had ceased selling it in one major market it would've seemed reasonable to conclude they didn't care about it (and arguably they don't — if they can go without selling any Mac Pros in one of the largest markets in the world for almost a year).
- hyperpape 13y agoDon't forget Final Cut Pro (http://daringfireball.net/linked/2011/06/29/apple-fcpx http://daringfireball.net/linked/2011/06/29/apple-fcpx). It seems to me as if Tim Cook basically believes that Apple's secrecy about products is a good idea, but is also pragmatic and is willing to be open about screwups/future plans when he thinks it will pay off.
- masklinn 13y ago> open about screwups/future plans when he thinks it will pay off. I'd talk about "ongoing" plans here, considering history (iMovie and FCPX) it's likely the plan was "rebuild from a cleaner slate" all along, but it's good seeing it actually spelled out for once. Might have been better if they'd spelled out a bit earlier, but at least users are not left completely in the dark and praying for salvation as they were with iMovie '08.
- sbuk 13y agoAre we seeing the first shoots of Tim's Apple? A little less guarded about software roadmaps is a welcome change.
- coob 13y agoWow they really can't win can they. "Unsettling" if they communicate. "Intransigent" if they don't.