“For Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs, being a secretive control freak never means having to say you’re sorry. While Jobs mocked Microsoft for years as the software giant struggled to crank out its Vista operating system, Apple’s puckish founder avoids getting the same treatment by keeping the rest of us in the dark about most of his product plans,” Brian Caulfield writes for Forbes.
“Then all of a sudden, Jobs started picking up the ugly habit of making promises–and breaking them. Wednesday’s slip: inviting the press to a March 6 event where Apple will talk about its iPhone, and presumably release the software development kit for the iPhone, something Apple originally said it would do by the end of February,” Caulfield writes.
MacDailyNews Note: March 6th is six days after the end of February. Six days.
Caulfield continues, “Apple seems to have a problem keeping on schedule with the iPhone. Jobs unveiled the smart phone in January 2007, but didn’t begin selling it until June 29, in part because the phone had to get through the very public process of getting clearance from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. Apple hit that deadline, but had to delay the release of the latest version of Apple’s OS X operating system, Leopard, until October so developers could grunt out the iPhone.”
MacDailyNews Take: What you’ve just described, Brian, is Apple having zero problems keeping on schedule with the iPhone.
Caulfield continues, “So what’s going on? Part of the problem could be that while Apple has pushed into new markets, it spends much less on research and development that its rivals. While Microsoft and Google each spend more than 10% of their sales on research and development, Apple just spends just 2.56%.”
MacDailyNews Take: What you’ve described above, Brian, is a indictment of Microsoft, not Apple. Where’s the innovation at Microsoft? Zune? Vista? Big Ass Tables? Apple —BusinessWeek’s 2007 Most Innovative Company (for third consecutive year!) — gets so much more bang for their buck, it’s a wonder that Microsoft shareholders aren’t marching on Redmond demanding to know where all of that money is really going. What’s Ballmer doing, burning Franklins by the railroad car to heat the buildings?
Caulfield continues, “Jobs could be stretched thin as well. On Monday, Morgan Stanley’s Kathryn Huberty pointed to a jump in Apple’s airplane expenses as a sign the Apple CEO is logging long hours on the Jobs Jet, Apple’s Gulfstream IV. Huberty read it as a bullish sign, hinting that Jobs is trying to hustle up distribution deals for the iPhone and deals with Apple’s suppliers. Missed deadlines, however, also suggest that the strain may be starting to show on Jobs, Apple’s taskmaster.”
MacDailyNews Take: Six days, Brian, six days. Are you really serious?
Caulfield continues, “Jobs, a leader who made innovation seem so effortless for so long may finally be starting to show some pit stains from the effort. For a company for whom seeming cool is everything, that could become a problem.”
As with the excerpts above, nothing of value is in the full article, Think Before You Click™, here.
Talks about showing some pit stains! Caulfield takes the prize by working so hard to fabricate enough poppycock to shame Lincoln Snacks. All of that for six days. Six days. Forbes, if they want to be taken seriously, should go get themselves some real technology writers.
Contacts:
• Brian Caulfield, Forbes.com Senior Technology Writer:
• Forbes Letters to the Editor:
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Judge Bork” and “Mike in Helsinki” for the heads up.]
Forbes just had to write something today… anyway, c’mon Apple Fanboys and girls, start the bashing!!!!!!!
Forbes hates Apple.
People at Forbes hate Apple.
Forbes has NO IDEA how to make money.
nuff said.
Yeah, and that’s why the stock is up 6% so far today
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Wow, this idiot was staring too long at Ballmer’s pits!
Hit-whoring articles like this one paint a bizarre picture that Steve has no one working for him. Is he also flying the jet?
He’s just trolling for hits on his site. Shameless. Move along, these are not the droids your looking for.
6 days, maybe Stevo had a calendar conflict with dentist appt, maybe that date was already reserved, who cares, it’s only 6 days, not years.
@ Ampar,
He’s also filling up the jet’s tank by taking a pee… ;-o)
Really though…..six freakin days?? This guy whoever he is…is a moron! No, really. What kind of shoddy careless azzzz reporting is this? He calls himself an analyst? He is obviously reporting negative on purpose. I mean he must be. Trying to compare Vista’s several YEARS beyond deadline development to Apple’s six days…..imbecile!
While much ado over 6 days is nothing, El Jobso wouldn’t give them the opportunity for negative publicity if he just padded deadlines a little (ie. telling the world March when the internal deadline is February). If you ship by the internal deadline, great, everybody loves to see things early. If you slip, you still have plenty of time to catch yourself up. Underpromise and overdeliver.
Hey Brian Baby! I got your pit stains right here:
[Sniff] Smells like Zune Tang™…
— Hano
MDN, you know as well as I do that it could very well be much longer than 6 days. Go read the invitation again.
I think it’s VERY important to remember that the invitation to the event states clearly there will be INFO about the SDK. NOT an SDK. There is a very REAL and DISTINCT possibility that there will be NO SDK on March 6th, just information about it.
In that case, the “it’s just 6 days” doesn’t cut it. There are rumblings all over the net there there will actually be NO SDK on March 6th. Just an information session.
Before you get high and mighty about “just being 6 days”, you MIGHT want to make sure that there will be an actual announcement in 6 days.
“Blah blah blah Gulfstream. Missed deadlines, however, also suggest that the strain may be starting to show on Jobs, Apple’s taskmaster.”
also reads: “Speculation that speculation suggests more speculation, Apple’s taskmaster.”
That is absolutely ridiculous. We are talking 6 days…..not 6 YEARS like Microsoft. Honestly, the way the numbers work, microsoft should be 5 times as innovative as Apple. Yet, they are five times worse! How can that be??????
though the writer is an idiot (six days! he must be joking) unfortunately at march 6th apple will probably not give out the sdk but will be talking about the roadmap to that sdk, including a beta in best case. in june at wwdc there will be the final version which makes it a delay of a little bit over 3 month. i coudn’t care less but i don’t like the trend i see here: apple makes promises it can’t keep. 1000 movies anyone?
Oh my iiiiiii’s!!!!
Eye didn’t take MDN’s advice and clicked before thinking.
Seriously – the average rating from 13 reviewers is 1.5 stars out of 5 stars. And everyone seems to be rightfully critizing the author.
And the author didn’t stop with Apple – “No one is concerned some geeky would-be iPhone developer will have to wait an extra week to start writing his handheld Klingon-to-English translator for the world’s iPhones. “
Peace.
the article reeks of resurgent payola
Someone has to replace the beleaguered music execs!
Who better than “journalists” to step up to the plate.
To quote from the invitation:
“Please join us to learn about the iPhone software roadmap, including the iPhone SDK and some exciting new enterprise features.”
Nothing in the invitation states there will an SDK released on March 6th. It’s says they have some information about it.
May be a bit more than 6 days, folks!
i don’t care if Steve was out on a drinking binge for 6 days… Apple has the best tech products – period! Steves the man.
So, if Apple says nothing, they are blamed for being too secretive. And if they do speak up about future products they must be falling apart if those products are late? And by late I mean – maybe a few months at the outside – not half a decade, right?
So what if the SDK isn’t ready ON March 6th – how does that affect my use of my iPhone today? Right. 1 year from nobody will care (or remember) that the SDK wan NOT AVAILABLE on March 6th. Sheesh.
@reikiwes
Yes, its based on yet more speculation but… But word is they will release something on March 6th most likely a beta. Hey, a beta is fine for me…or at least for some developers to start working on it for some cool applications. Further speculation suggests that the final version will debut in June at the WWDC.
Also, beyond all that plane travel, word is that Apple is planning to announce a whole slew of wifi mobile devices based on the ipod touch. Its going to be an exciting year for Apple. I
…and only 4 *working* days. Sheesh… I’ve had hangovers that lasted longer.
Mac+: If he’s peeing jet fuel, then they’d better reconsider the company barbecue.
ralph from berlin: You couldn’t resist!
Lurker_PC: majQa’ ! ! !
If the SDK that comes out in SIX (6) days is in fact a beta version, then you can’t hold on to the “it’s only 6 days” defense.
Besides, Jobs did promise February and not “I promise that 6 days after February” the SDK will debut.
—
That said, I hope the SDK allows developers to add functionality Apple was unable or unwilling to add from the get-go.
– Video recording
– Voice recording
– Flash (maybe not such a big deal for most)
One thing I think would be cool that I haven’t seen talked about:
Translation
It’d be awesome if we could learn to speak another language in those little bits of downtime.
For that matter, they could add learning tools such as a higher math calculator/grapher, atlas/world map, this day in history, etc.
… worth an extra 6 day wait!
Apple postpones a media event 6 days… a real killer.
Microsoft lets Vista slip 6 years… no problem.
THe shills are shining!