Jean-Louis Gassée says Apple is losing the war of words

[Rogifan]

http://www.mondaynote.com/2013/03/17/apple-is-losing-the-war-of-words/

I agree with much of what he says but I can't see Apple hiring an outside PR firm. I'm one who thinks Apple needs to provide more access to the media not less, but what Schiller did last week was just weird. Especially giving quots to the WSJ which has shown incredible anti-Apple bias.

If Apple is going to go 6 months without any new major product releases that leaves a huge vacuum that can and most likely will be filled with D&G and FUD. Especially the meme that Apple s out of ideas and can no longer innovate. Just having Cook say the pipe line is chock full of stuff isn't good enough, when people have no idea what that stuff is or when it might be released.

 

[ABCDEF-Hex]

More from Jean-Louis:

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.

Is there someone else up there we can talk to?

No, and go away or I shall taunt you a second time.

 

[bmt134]

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.

Is there someone else up there we can talk to?

No, and go away or I shall taunt you a second time.

What?

 

[thewitt]

What?

Monty Python...

 

[thejadedmonkey]

I can't disagree Apple lost control of the narrative.

 

[vrDrew]

If you watched nothing but Fox News last year, you'd be utterly amazed to learn that Mitt Romney is not now the President of the US.

And so it is with the Tech Press these days. Apple is the biggest, most profitable company in tech. Which means its in the sights of every hack and scribbler looking to make a splash.

Apple's success - or failure - won't be determined on the pages of Gizmodo, Engadget or the Verve. It won't be determined by the relative handful of tech geeks who haunt tech forums.

Apple's success will be determined by how well it does on the store shelves of the Apple Store, at Best Buy, and the cellphone kiosk. Because, regardless of what Samsung may like us to believe, the iPhone is still the gold standard by which all other smartphones are judged. Case in point, pardon the pun, but did anyone notice how the Samsung Galaxy 5 has a plastic case. Sorry, tech geeks, but the sort of upper-end buyer Apple sells to is more interested in tactile things like build quality. They couldn't give a rip about Jellybean 2.6.

Public Relations (PR) has its place in business. But its usually more about containing disaster.

 

[roadbloc]

So Apple has to revolutionise the English language now huh? Of all the things that Apple are lacking in at the mo, id say this was the most trivial. I couldn't care less how many times they use the words magical or revolutionary.

 

[malman89]

Apple's success will be determined by how well it does on the store shelves of the Apple Store, at Best Buy, and the cellphone kiosk. Because, regardless of what Samsung may like us to believe, the iPhone is still the gold standard by which all other smartphones are judged. Case in point, pardon the pun, but did anyone notice how the Samsung Galaxy 5 has a plastic case. Sorry, tech geeks, but the sort of upper-end buyer Apple sells to is more interested in tactile things like build quality. They couldn't give a rip about Jellybean 2.6.

I guess they must have something right, as the almighty Apple is releasing a plastic iPhone too: Lower-Cost iPhone Said to Use 'Super-Thin' Plastic and Fiberglass Shell in 4-6 Colors

 

[marc11]

Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.

Is there someone else up there we can talk to?

No, and go away or I shall taunt you a second time.

Just don't fart in my general direction air or I shalt run away.

On topic I think Apple made a mistake in releasing the iPad 4 so quickly as get could have used it about now as a stop gap between product launches. As it stands now we may not see anything until summer. No words in iOS 7 or osx 9, intel will not have next gen prices fur MBP until summer and mum is the word on the Mac Pro. What's left?

 

[vrDrew]

I guess they must have something right, as the almighty Apple is releasing a plastic iPhone too

I'll believe it when Apple actually announces it.

But even if Apple does make a cheaper, plastic iPhone - you are still making the mistake of comparing the current iPhone 5 (a glass and aluminum piece of affordable luxury art) with the Samsung Galaxy S4 - a feature packed piece of chromed plastic.

Its sort of like comparing a stainless steel Rolex with a Seiko: the Seiko might have more "features", but its the Rolex people really lust after.

Actually, the Rolex comparison is somewhat flawed: Apple's brilliance is that the iPhone is aspirational luxury. (Relatively) few people have the $4000 to plunk down on a Rolex. But plenty of middle- and even lower-income folks can come up with the $200 it takes to put an iPhone in their pocket. And nice as it might be, the Galaxy S4 simply doesn't have the design magic, build quality, and industrial artistry of the iPhone 5.

Someone shows up with a Galaxy in their hands? Great, they just got a shiny fake. The same person with an iPhone 5? They got the Real McCoy.

 

[boss.king]

iPhone 5 (a glass and aluminum piece of affordable luxury art)

It's a phone. It's not art. It's not luxury. It's a gizmo that makes calls and surfs the web, let's not get carried away.

 

[grahamperrin]

"When words become empty, the listener loses faith in the speaker."

I read the 2013 article following this week's discussion of Jean-Louis Gassée under Apple's Software Quality Decline.

From 2013:

"… this isn't about optimism, it's about hyperbole and the abuse of language. Saying "incredible" too many times leads to incredulity. Saying "maniacally focused" at all is out of place and gauche in an earnings call. One doesn't brag about one's performance in the boudoir; let happy partners sing your praise.

When words become empty, the listener loses faith in the speaker. …"​

From 2014, on YouTube:

Apple WWDC 2014: Everything is Awesome Super-Cut

I wonder what hyperbole we'll have from Apple in 2015 …

 

[Rogifan]

I wonder what hyperbole we'll have from Apple in 2015 …

Who knows but I'm sure we'll get plenty from the media.