

Dear Apple: We miss you. - rooshdi
http://battellemedia.com/archives/2010/04/_an_open_letter_to_apple_regarding_the_companys_approach_to_conversation_with_its_peers_and_its_community.php

======
merubin75
"Once upon a time, back before you got real popular, you used to take part in
the public square."

Really?

True story: back in the mid-90's, I worked as the Relationship Manager with
the Arizona Macintosh Users Group (AMUG) in Phoenix. This was the largest MUG
in the world at the time, and to say it was an uphill battle would be an
understatement. With Performas going unsold in places like Office Max and
acquisition rumors running rampant (Apple is going to be bought by Disney!
Apple is going to be bought by Sun!), it was incredibly difficult to be an
Apple fanboy.

Frankly, they could have added the name "beleaguered" to their name and nobody
would have blinked. Every bloody news story that ever came out about Apple
described the company as "beleaguered computer maker Apple Computer..."

Anyway, AMUG was a source of pride and optimism for the company. At least it
should have been. I can't tell you how many times I tried to call on reps at
the company for assistance and was rebuffed. I'm not talking about financial
support, either. I was asking for things like t-shirts and stickers. Simple
stuff. Apple reps treated MUGs like they were the proverbial "Cousin It" of
the family -- to be barely acknowledged, if at all.

I'm happy for Apple's success. Really. But for Battelle to claim that Apple
was somehow part of the conversation at some mythical time in the past seems
rather ridiculous.

------
shughes
Dear Apple,

Congratulations on doing well over the past few years while still maintaining
an air of marketing discipline. You could make more money by taking the high
volume, low quality route, or the cheaper JIT route. But instead, you continue
to take pride in the quality of your hardware and software.

I don't miss you because nothing's changed. Steve Jobs has always been cocky,
with the intent to have strong control over the quality of your image. But
people have built him up as the antithesis of Bill Gates and Microsoft's
revenue model, since Jobs is historically the underdog in the battle. But that
shouldn't distract from his true intentions. He's not a proponent of openness
and open dialogue. He's a proponent of high quality products and high quality
image.

Using "Dear Apple" feels very dramatic.

------
raganwald
Dear Apple:

Once upon a time, your products were brutally expensive and while your
engineering choices were sound in isolation, they were so idiosyncratic that
no industry-standard accessories or peripherals were compatible with your
hardware.

Note of shame: I once paid $3,000 for an 80MB hard drive with your logo on it.

Developing for your platform was a monumental challenge. Every tool cost money
and I remember having to pay actual money to obtain xerographed development
notes from your developer connection or whatever it was called.

I even purchased the worst product you ever made, a 1x CD-ROM player that was
actually a rebranded Phillips reject. One thing led to another and it wasn't
long before your stock cost a few dollars and Sun Microsystems was thinking of
buying you. Then everything changed.

I don't miss that incarnation of you a bit.

------
hga
" _And that makes us honestly nervous – we’ve seen what happens when large
American corporations create cultures that worship secrecy and refuse to
answer to the press. It’s not pretty_ "

Yep; I'd say that Apple is not a good long term bet unless they change this
part of their culture, which will evidently only possibly happen after Jobs
retires.

~~~
josefresco
When Jobs retires it's all over for Apple. At least the honey-moon phase we're
all in that assumes every Apple decision is a sound and wise one. When new
leadership takes over Apple will just be another Sony.

~~~
protomyth
I don't think so. Tim Cook and Jon Ive get it. They get the discipline it
takes to be a focused consumer electronics company. Sony lost its way and
while back. The big difference between 1985 and now is that the corporate
culture of Apple is different. Apple in 1985 was a train wreck that didn't get
better.

~~~
hga
It has occurred to me that Jobs has has one or more stark reminders of his own
mortality; I would hope he would have set up a good succession plan (not that
those have a great history of success).

Then again, at 55 it isn't necessarily going to be needed anytime soon. E.g.
the current situation that you describe might not hold by the time he retires.

------
pohl
If I lived in a world full of people who never had a thought that didn't come
out of their mouths, I would value most the eccentric individuals whose words
were sparse but well-considered - and those who silenly spoke through their
actions. Even if I didn't always agree with what they had to say.

------
protomyth
Dear Apple,

Rock on and don't listen to the touchy, freely Web 2.0 people who want you to
come to their conference to make them some more money. Secrecy seems to get
more talk time on major news outlets, way to save the old advertising dollars.

