I don’t think Apple really wants to keep its customers from finding abortion services using Siri, the voice-based automated assistant built into iPhone 4S’s. Has been more than a month since the problem was reported on CNN, and Apple has been remarkably obtuse on the issue, making statements that deny intent, deny culpability, yet at the same time seem evasive. It’s time for Cupertino to learn a lesson in damage control.
Visit any Apple store and you’ll see it. Those Apple kids in their t-shirts are friendly and helpful and good at their jobs but don’t you get the sense that they’re drunk on Apple-Aid? They know what they can and can’t, will and won’t do for you and for all the tattoos and Converse sneakers they aren’t going to go a millimeter over that line. And then there’s their sense of time — AppleTime — which is different from yours and mine, have you noticed? They live in the zone, while we’re just visiting. This is fine when things are going beautifully and customers are lined-up down the block, but how well does it work when things aren’t going right, like in this Siri situation? Badly.
Apple comes off looking insensitive and smug. They blamed the problem on Yelp, its supplier of local business data, which could well be correct, but Apple never said "and we’ll fix it right away." Then they blamed the problem on Siri being in beta. I didn’t know that, did you? Siri is part of IOS 5, is that in beta? I didn’t know that and I suspect most of the folks at Apple didn’t know that. In fact I might even go so far as to wonder if it is even true? Blaming beta software for bad performance is Google’s bag, not Apple’s. That was a stupid PR move and stupid PR moves happen when companies panic. Which suggests a leadership vacuum of sorts at Apple. With Steve Jobs gone, the company has told itself and told the world that it won’t try to second-guess Steve’s ghost — no asking “what would Steve do?” But what happens if they don’t have a ready answer to the question “What should Apple do?” I think that’s what we are seeing here.
Ironically Apple appears to have fallen into this very abyss. They are so caught up in their own process of information and damage control that the actual problem with Siri doesn’t appear to matter to them. Their statements suggest things will improve soon. This is an example of AppleTime. Why should it take that long to fix? It shouldn’t and it won’t, but Apple appears to not want to empower us by communicating honestly. They want to surprise us by fixing it yet don’t respect us enough to explain the plan.
Their first thought is to dissemble, not to accept responsibility. They seem to think solely about how this abortion incident could hurt them, not how it could be a chance to show Apple’s character — a chance to have character. Everyone appears to be too busy to try to actually fix the problem. Maybe after 16 years Steve forgot his own lesson, but I’m guessing that if he read this post he’d get it right away. And Steve would learn from it, because he was one guy who wasn’t afraid to admit when he was wrong.
After 34 years at IBM, Apple is beginning to look very familiar to me...
Posted by: Rich The Mongoose | January 23, 2012 at 03:55 PM
Who is the spokesperson for Apple? Who is the face of Apple? Tim Cook will never be that person. They need to get somebody to step up. That’s the issue. There’s no human we can look to and award our trust or hold accountable.
Posted by: Nine Yarder | January 23, 2012 at 03:58 PM