Writers Block Live

Burnt Toast and Cool Cats

Mike Evangelist — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 08:36:22 +0000

There was a period, 1996-1997 if memory serves, when I single-handedly did all the North American tech support for a new CD burning application called Toast. I was retained by a small German company, Astarte, when it became obvious that their German support staff could not keep up with the growing Toast user base.

They sent over a Care package with a CD burner*, a load of blanks, and the software. We set up the phone line and in no time I was fielding calls. Most Toast users didn’t have email yet, so the telephone was the primary lifeline for users. Being a longtime Mac user, and having written several user manuals for complex Mac products before, I was able to get up to speed fast, and had little trouble helping users with the basics. But when it came to the more esoteric CD burning stuff like power calibration errors, lead-out errors, ISO image tools and so on, I had an emergency hotline to the guy who knew it all: the creator and lead engineer of Toast, Markus Fest. Whenever I was stuck, I knew he’d have the answer.

(sitting in the Munich airport, waiting for my flight home…so writing may be interrupted anytime.)

*At the time I didn’t even own a CD burner, as they were still quite expensive.

I Really Wish I Knew Steve Jobs Better

Mike Evangelist — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 01:29:54 +0000

I suppose it’s fair to say I know Steve Jobs; at least more than most people know him. I’ve been in meetings with him, I’ve been chewed out by him (more than once), I’ve had lunch with him, and I’ve even been in his house. But it was all ‘in the line of duty’, and didn’t give me the kind of insight into how he thinks that I wish I had today.

Because today, like the past two days, I’ve been trying to figure out what really happened with the iPhone price cut, and the subsequent outrage that led to Steve apologizing to us early-adopters. Was it planned from the beginning, and carefully orchestrated (as has been suggested by many commentators)? Is Steve some kind of evil genius who plans these things out seventeen moves in advance, with no regard for how it affects his loyal customers? Or was is a simple case of Apple/Steve underestimating the backlash and then doing the right thing? I want to know as a marketing professional, and I want to know as a long-time Apple observer and Apple fan.

As I’ve poured over some of the countless articles and forum posts which have appeared since Wednesday, I’m unhappy to find that the cynics do make some valid points. I’ve also reached back into my memory bank to find any clue or scrap of evidence which might help illuminate this problem.

What I Think I Know

I know from experience that Steve is a very smart guy, and more importantly, he has surrounded himself with very smart managers and advisers. It’s almost impossible for me to believe that they did not at least discuss the possibility of a user backlash to the iPhone price cut. Phil, or Greg, or Tim, or Peter would have -definitely- raised the issue.

As Steve pointed out in his letter, he gets emails from customers whenever anything is not right; and he reads them. Even if his trusted advisors were too insulated from the real world to know there would be a backlash, Steve had to realize it himself. He gets hundreds of emails over much smaller ‘issues’ than this. I have to believe he’d expect a flood over something this big.

During my time at Apple, I was involved in several situations where it was necessary for Apple to attempt to balance the expectations of existing customers, potential future revenue, and costs. In all cases, the decisions were weighted heavily towards what was ‘right’, with what was cheapest or easiest given far less weight.

There is some precedent at Apple for giving something back to early adopters. Specifically, Aperture initially sold for $499. A few months later the price was reduced to $299 and everyone who bought it for the original price was given a $200 store credit. However, the Aperture situation has some key differences compared to the iPhone. Aperture 1.0 was slow and buggy and really not ready for prime time. The people (me included) who shelled out five hundred bucks for it felt cheated. The iPhone, in contrast is a great product and most of the early customers absolutely love them.

Since the announcement of the price cut, Apple’s market cap has taken an $11 billion hit. One of Steve’s key responsibilities as CEO of Apple is to attempt to protect shareholder value. If he thought that the price cut would anger customers to the point of impacting the company’s goodwill in the market, and affecting the share price, yet didn’t make a plan to deal with it, it would have to be considered gross negligence.

Conclusion
Considering these points, I just can’t buy the idea that Steve and company deliberately delayed the announcement of the rebate to see if they could ‘get away with it’, thereby saving a lot of money. It seems far more likely to me, although still difficult to understand, that Steve was advised by his inner circle that there might be some backlash, but not enough to worry about. So he chose to go ahead without any sort of gesture of appreciation for the early adopters. Only after the announcement when the switchboard lit up with unhappy customers, and forums everywhere were flooded with vitriolic posts, did they realize the error they had made.

To their credit, they acted swiftly to set it right. Even though it will cost Apple at least $50,000,000. Or that’s what I’d like to believe.

On the other hand…maybe it really was all planned in advance and it won’t cost them that much anyway, as everyone will use their store credit to buy a new iPod, and the drama of the delayed announcement will make those users even more loyal Apple customers.

I’m so confused. I wish I knew Steve well enough to ask him. But I’m not sure anyone knows him well enough for that.

What do you think?

OK, I’m back.

Mike Evangelist — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 00:26:18 +0000

I’ve been to hell and back the past several months, but things are beginning to stabilize…at least enough that I feel I can start writing again. Time will tell, but I’ll try.

Site Registration Re-opened

Mike Evangelist — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 00:20:02 +0000

Some time back I was forced to close registration for this site, due to the huge wave of ‘fake’ registrations being made by spammers (in advance of their attempts to post comment-spam). It pissed me off so much, I just said ‘fuck it’ and shut the whole thing off. Well, I’ve mellowed a bit, and decided to try it again.
I also reactivated the email contact form so you can reach me directly.

Steve Jobs Speaks Out on DRM

Mike Evangelist — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 19:27:14 +0000

Apple just posted an article written by Steve Jobs, describing the DRM situation with iTunes, as he sees it. It’s a fascinating read:

www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic

So out of character for Steve and Apple to provide explanations like this, when they are usually so tight-lipped. I find it refreshing.

The DRM Lunacy Continues

Mike Evangelist — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 16:55:44 +0000

There’s an article on ZD Net this morning exposing a ridiculous new DRM schemes that’s being pitched to movie studios for use on standard DVDs. It makes the discs unplayable on Windows computers. That ought to go over like the proverbial ‘turd in the punch bowl’.

Here’s the dirt:

Protect DVD-Video - A slap in the face for PC and Media Center owners

Plays for Sure - The Big Lie

Mike Evangelist — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 16:14:00 +0000

I think this statement from Amazon’s UnBox website tells the whole story:

If your device is Plays for Sure compliant it may work…

May work…the mind boggles at the way Microsoft gives their products names which embody the exact opposite of what the thing does. Play for Sure, Windows Genuine Advantage, Windows Defender…doesn’t it make you feel all warm and fuzzy.

PS
Unbox looks to me to be another ill-conceived and half-hearted effort by the big studios to get people to pay higher prices for lower quality and less flexibility. Oh ya, give me some of that please.

Bummer. Tera Patricks Dies of Cancer.

Mike Evangelist — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 19:55:23 +0000

I was saddened to read today that Tera Patricks, of www.mac360.com*, passed away after a long fight with cancer. My heart goes out to her friends and family.

I always enjoyed her approach to Mac journalism, and will miss her wit and style.

*looks like her site is down right now, due to intense traffic.

Today’s Thought on DRM

Mike Evangelist — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 03:04:01 +0000

Building 50-foot walls just creates
a market for 52-foot ladders.

HD Boycott Update

Mike Evangelist — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 18:55:42 +0000

The boycott of the new HD disc formats that I proposed back in February has gotten a lot of press coverage; which is just great. But now that the silly machines are actually starting to be sold I think it bears updating.

My view is simple: the movie studios are seeking to drastically curtail or even eliminate the concept of fair use. They are doing this by pressuring the hardware companies into implementing DRM technology which is much more rigid and secure than any that has come before. AACS is the primary DRM technology, and it is downright nasty. Even worse the studios will retain control over how and where you can play your movies even after they have your money. Check out the HD Boycott page for much more information, and just say no. I know we all want better image quality, but this is not a good way to get it.