4 ms·

I think it is pretty refreshing for an executive to be self critical and admit big mistakes. Sergey sounded authentic in that interview. Scott Forestall was ax

I think it is pretty refreshing for an executive to be self critical and admit big mistakes. Sergey sounded authentic in that interview. Scott Forestall was axed for Apple Maps, but seriously, you rewrite a Maps service from the ground up from scratch and race to release it in iOS6, of course it's going to be beta quality for a long time, since these things take time to mature. I highly doubt the decision to include it in that state was solely Scotts. I like to see companies admit major strategic mistakes as opposed to pretending everything is awesome for all time. (and no, Tim Cook's letter was a kind of non-apology, only a single sentence really admitted any mistake 'We fell short of our commitment')

nacs 12y ago
Agreed on the admitting mistakes part but mentioning Scott Forstall as an example doesn't follow. From what I've read, Scott Forestall was fired less for the issues in the Maps application and more for his refusal to sign any sort of apology afterwards for its shortcomings. I'm sure there were other internal factors for his firing but his refusal to publicly admit a mistake was a significant part.
- cromwellian 12y ago
  Maybe he felt he didn't need to apologize because he was forced to rush and release in iOS6? What if the following conversation happened internally: Scott: "Maps is not ready" Cook: "Maps must ship as part of iOS6, it's the headline feature. We are committed to this time table." Scott: "But there are lots of issues, lots of bugs." Cook: "Fix as many as possible before release, but we are shipping." Then, after the fiasco, he is asked to apologize, wouldn't you feel that the people who didn't take your advice should be the ones to apologize?