Us and Them...
Tuesday, August 11, 2009 at 9:21AM 
The recent (current?) debacle over Apples handling of the App store seems to be waning slightly, especially following Phil Schillers response to the issues surrounding the handling of the NinjaWords application - (see Daring Fireball for the back story, I couldn't get on to the site to post a link when I wrote this post)
When it was in full force however, every man and his dog had a real downer on Apple (myself included, although limited only to a single tweet), and it did make me wonder just how much damage was being done to their reputation. It seemed every other tweet and every blog post was beating up on Apple, big time.
The problem has been that Apple have been a victim of its own success with the App store. My impressions are that it has grown too big, too fast and Apple are in constant state of catch up to put the right people and processes (and technology) in place to deal with the rapid expansion of the service. They'll get there in the end but in the meantime, they really have to manage the potential issues from day to day, and introduce some elements of damage limitation, as shown by Phil Schillers memo to Gruber.
But in reality, I don't think the impact on Apples reputation has been or will be significant in the medium to long term, at least in the mainstream.
You see, the only people to really get upset about these things are the developers and the hard core Apple fans. Your average Apple fan probably doesn't follow every twist and turn of developments in the App store, and as for the man in the street (rapidly becoming Apples new customer base), well, it's completely off their radar.
We have to realise that Apple already has a huge customer base, most of whom are not that concerned about the back story, they just want the App store to exist and deliver them new applications. So if the occasional App stumbles or is rejected, they probably don't even get to hear about it and Apple remain the purveyor of smart, shiny goods with reputation pretty much intact.
As for the current hard core fans, yes, it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth and makes us incredulous on how the same organisation that can develop such an amazing device as the iPhone (and keep it totally secret for three years), can screw up handling the App store so badly and so publicly.
I bet there are a few people in Cupertino who are wishing they could throw the switch on the next latest and greatest developments, just to take our mind off recent events.
Which leads me to the Apple tablet..... (to be continued)
Reader Comments (5)
The more people / users, the more people (majority??) start yelling and bashing when Apple refuses an app without knowing the ins and outs......
Personally I support the idea of Apple controlling what software makes it to the iPhone, for more then 8 years of using (smart)phones I never had a device that is so stable and easy to use as the iPhone.
This may be more serious for Apple than you imagine. I think that the cumulative effect of the technorati moving away from Apple, e.g., Calacanis, Arrington bodes poorly for Apple. People tend to follow the trend setters, in technology that is usually the technorati.
Today's news trend is Twitter, a giant in social media. But now that Facebook is hooking up with the tiny FriendFeed it will probably soon dwarf Twitter. Can Twitter compete against that change? We will see.
The number of Android phones is beginning to increase. Soon the iPhone will have real competition, competition that doesn't control its users like the dictator Apple. The technorati are likely to move to Android if these phones are any good.
Trends in the technology world can change in a heartbeat. Apple may be nearing that beat.
I thought the outcome of the ninja dictionary backstory was that they had not told the full version which was later told by Phil Schiller?
You omit to mention Google Voice, perhaps understandably as this involved 3 rather large parties, none of whom appear willing (or able?) to speak, not to mention the FCC intervention.
I diisagree with Richard. The 'technorati' will buy the most technically advanced device at the time and all of the people listening to them are geeks, who basically want their phones and devices to be as limited as a desktop computer and reliable as a wristwatch ideally. The greater population will use what does the job they need it to do best affordably. Otherwise we would have seen the 'technorati'' all using motorola razor phones a few years back and not treos with a stylus. I fit in he geek category, but do not imagine myself to be in the popular majority.
@Ezra
Cellphones are a fashion statement to many, perhaps most. Functionality takes a back seat to form and perception.
Remember when the Motorola Razr was cool. We maybe able to mimic that statement substituting iPhone for Razr. Apple is no different than anyone else. Their current success hinges on perception in the marketplace not functionality. If the perception changes to the negative, and the publicized technorati iPhone defections are a sign of change, than they are toast.
BTW, Molly Wood recently confessed that she too has abandoned the iPhone.