Are Apple Becoming Lazy? :: Media Lightbox Blog

Are Apple Becoming Lazy?

Posted 4th August 2010 by Daniel

Following on from our recent Apple related blogs such as Jailbreaking The iPhone: Pros & Cons and iPhone OS 4.0: The Media Lightbox Review, I have decided to take a look at Apple’s approach in recent times and consider whether or not they have started to slack now that they have become so big.

Many would argue that Apple are now right up there with Microsoft after years of being in their shadow and producing a magnitude of hard work to get there. They have saw a huge rise in fortunes since the introduction of the iPhone and iTunes, which have produced a positive knock on effect for the rest of their products. In recent times however, they seem to be bringing a lot of bad press their way, after a build up of mistakes that have happened around the same time that may harm their credibility.

The main talking point at the moment is of course the iPhone 4. Just the mention of the name will spark conversational debate between almost anybody with the most controversial aspect being the loss of signal when held “the wrong way”. It was noticed almost instantly, and became a real problem when users realised it was due to a hardware error and not a software one. For a company as big as Apple and a product as huge as the iPhone, it seems incredible that this problem wasn’t discovered in testing before release.

In terms of usability, placing the antenna in such a place is bizarre to begin with. Further evidence that Apple had slipped up on this particular topic came when Steve Jobs was asked about the problem to which he replied, “Just avoid holding it in that way”. Obviously this wasn’t greeted with positive reaction as it’s not something you would say about a product that costs more than £500 to purchase outright. Finally they came to their senses and allowed owners to obtain a full refund or receive a free case which helps users avoid contact with the problem area to maintain signal.

Even before the phone’s release though there were problems, when a prototype for the iPhone 4 was discovered in a bar after one of Apple’s employees had accidently left it there. Photos were soon all over the internet displaying the device in all its physical detail months before Apple had planned on releasing any information.

On top of this, an online Jailbreaking tool has come to the surface named JailbreakMe which operates on the iPhone 4 and iOS 4.0. It has made jailbreaking even easier by offering the ability to implement the jailbreak simply by visiting the website. Problems have also risen through Mobile Safari which allows hackers to infiltrate the iPhone via a bug in the way PDF files are downloaded.

It’s clear to see that Apple have been at least a little lacklustre in their efforts in recent times, but perhaps they have got to the stage now were it barely matters due to the level of success they are having. It is, however, surprising to see from a company that has been so careful in the past. But perhaps it just goes to show how hard it is to keep things under wraps the bigger you get.

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Categories : Industry News, Opinion, Product News, Reviews

http://www.medialightbox.com/blog/ Media Lightbox

Hi Mark
Thanks for your views. MS have been guilty of taking their eye off the ball in the past, but Apple have avoided it for the most part up until now, which is why it’s so strange to see them stray off in the manner they have. I shall comb over the blog as I have noticed a few errors myself!

Thanks again for the feedback.
Mark

Good article, thanks for posting. I think its indicative of all software companies that success breeds contempt. MS is a case in point. Also, sorry for pointing this out, but your grammar is poor in some places. Keep up the good work though.
Damo_jm

I arrived at your article from a LinkedIn group post. I hate to sound critical but given that the importance of social media and value of a blog when done right, I hope that you can take this as constructive criticism, much like the previous poster.

There are quite a few grammar issues that stick out upon first reading. In addition, the better use of punctuation could make the article more readable. Given the previous poster's comments I would not have made these but on top of that I think you should be very careful about the modification of the Apple logo without approval. Companies go through a lot to get their logos protected and then popularised. Most do not take kindly to third party adding their own touches to suit their needs. If your blog is to become very popular, it probably would be best to avoid making it stand out in a negative way – particularly when you are attempting to highlight what you deem to be flaws in their approach to business. On that note… you really need to have a solid conclusion to make; for me the points were valid but are very little more than a couple of points…
http://www.medialightbox.com/blog/ Media Lightbox

Thanks for the feedback Damo. All feedback taken on board. Many of our staff are Apple fans so we had a discussion last week about how Apple seem to have taken their eye off the ball.
Obviously it's still a hugely successful and profitable company. But they have built their reputation and brand on being a company that cared about its' customers first and foremost. So we were as surprised as anyone to hear Steve Jobs almost trying to dismiss the antenna problem. Aesthetics and usability have always been a big factor in Apple's success, so if they can sort out their product testing procedures we can all look forward to more great products.