Scott Forstall's Departure

Anyone who followed Apple knew that John Browett's termination from the world's most valuable technology company was more a matter of when, than if.  In a fairly short period Browett had upset virtually everyone both inside and outside of the company - all the while showing a complete misunderstanding for his department's role.  Browett's hiring had always been questioned, and his dismissal has been universally praised.  Seeing this SVP asked to go was no surprise to anyone.  Forstall on the other hand...



Scott Forstall had spent 15 years with Apple before being relegated to the role of advisor - a move intended to keep the long term SVP from quickly joining a competitor.  Forstall had worked with NeXT back in the 90s.  Arguably more than anyone else, Forstall had been involved with development of the modern day Macintosh operating system.  Scott had been on the development team of NeXTSTEP years before Apple would acquire Job's fledgeling company.  After the acquisition Forstall served in a variety of roles involving oversight on components of both OSX and iOS.  In so many ways Scott Forstall seemed an integral player in Apple's industry leading software.

Then there were the Steve Jobs comparisons.

iTunes 11 delayed until November

Well I guess that's why!  That is why we didn't hear anything about iTunes this past week at the iPad mini announcement.  Apple has put out a statement saying they are delaying the release of iTunes 11 until some time in November.

“The new iTunes is taking longer than expected and we wanted to take a little extra time to get it right," said spokesman Tom Neumayr. "We look forward to releasing this new version of iTunes with its dramatically simpler and cleaner interface, and seamless integration with iCloud before the end of November.”

I guess we'll be waiting a little longer for the new music app.  Good, it gives me time to dust off the cobwebs.

Does Microsoft Matter?

Aside from Will Kelley, nobody seems to be that interested in Microsoft these days.  Increasingly the race for the future of tech involves Apple and Google - with Samsung and some other manufacturers scattered across the field.



Microsoft is everywhere with it's advertising lately.  Redmond has apparently set aside over 1bn dollars for marketing windows 8 and Surface.  Microsoft has years of financial success behind it, so the money is something the company can afford.  The interesting part is that they've fallen so far since Gate's departure - a billion dollar ad budget is necessary.

Wired posted some brief statistics from their recent liveblogs covering Microsoft and Apple.  Microsoft's most recent big event featured the Surface, Windows 8, and most importantly Winphone 8.  These are Microsoft's major new products.  The surface represents the company's first real foray into the mobile hardware space (Zune obviously doesn't count).  How many people tuned in to Wired's liveblog of the event?  11,000.

Contrast this to Apple's most recent phone event where Wired reports that 360,000 web surfers tuned in to follow the announcements.  Even Apple's most recent iPad event, an event with little reason to watch a liveblog as Apple was streaming live video itself - even here Wired saw seven times more viewers than for Microsoft's shindig.

With the future of computing being driven by mobile, does Microsoft matter anymore?

Review of the Surface RT Part 1: It's my mistress

Today is the first part of the rolling review of the Surface RT.  I will be posting this rolling review through the week.  This will by no means be a technical review.  It is intended to outline the experiences of an Apple fan trying out a competitors flagship product.

Todays edition: "It's my Mistress"

The "Boot Up"

I acquiredthe Surface RT Sunday night and as I got it home from the Microsoft Store the first thing I noticed was the quality of the packaging.  Very familiar to any Apple fan, clean, minimal, and easy to open.





As I pulled open the packaging, I was greeted with a very nice looking, monolithic device.  A device that is non-threatening despite it's black bordered screen and metallic back.  It inspires thoughts of a large iPhone especially given it's 16 x 9 display.  Once out of it's package, powering up the device takes you through a short walkthrough to get you set up with your account.  I was happy to find out that you could use any existing email address to create your live account.  The account does not have to be a hotmail or other Microsoft account.  I would however have to go through the process to set up a new account that is already connected to my Xbox as there is no obvious way of getting your Xbox account transferred over.

 

The UI

The UI is where the fun really begins for an Apple user/fanboy.  I immediately was filled with that familiar excitement of the new.  The tinkerer in mean really gets excited about this type of thing.  An unknown world just awaiting my exploration.

I have always been intrigued by the Metro or Modern UI.  I love the cleanness of it and the fact that it is very focused on providing you with real time information in a no nonsense manner.  Initially jarring compared to the ease of the iOS.  A space that I can navigate as if it was an extension of myself.  So easy and intuitive it takes not a second thought.

Let me Segway for a moment to present a tangential observation.  Using the Surface for the last couple of days has shown me in a very concrete way that a tertiary device can be new, fun and unfamiliar.  When it comes to my daily life, i.e. using my iPhone, my primary device with my primary OS, must be familiar and efficient.  I'm happy beyond words that I did not get a Galaxy S 3 this past summer.

Back to the OS.  One other interesting item of note, especially as an iPad user since the beginning,the iPad is a device built on a modified desktop operating system.  The surface is a modified piece of hardware built on a desktop operating system.  The fact that there is two parallel "desktops" is confusing.  The Metro side of the house is intuitive enough.  You can move, pin, and resize tiles easy enough.  The issues show themselves once you step away from Metro.  The fact that I have PC functions in a limited touch tablet is very welcomed but not nearly as intuitive as a closed, walled in device. Sometimes this "on the fence" way of operating is heavenly, other times it feels like purgatory, neither here nor there.  I love that I have access to my file system without noticeable limitation.  That being said I must continually remind myself that this is a tablet, Microsofts version of the iPad.  Not a laptop regardless of what functional options and hardware features it has.

During the setup process a splash screen of basic Windows 8 navigation techniques was presented to me.  This would be fine but it confused the hell out of me because it kept referencing my PC.  All of a sudden, I was wondering if I needed a PC to finish my set up.  I quickly realized this is the splash screen on Windows 8 for a PC.  Apparently the RT is considered a PC by Microsoft.  This confusion becomes even more apparent when navigating the deeper settings.  Order to access settings generally reserved for the control panel, one must Click on "PC Settings" once again blurring the PC/tablet line.

Todays Wrap-up

This is the end of the first part of our review.  The takeaway for today is that the Surface is a new fresh experience.  Next we'll focus on the Apps and the Touch Type keyboard.  I was discussing my experience using the RT with a few colleagues and I broke it down like this: The iPad is my main squeeze, I know what buttons to press to get things moving.  The surface is my mistress.  It's something new, temporary and exciting.  And I can't figure out what damn buttons to press!

 

LED, WIFI, IOS Powered Lightbulbs Arrive!

Will gave us his take, here's my initial reaction...

If there was one thing on EVERYBODY's holiday wish list this year it had to be finding really expensive LED lightbulbs that you could program with your iPad!



Put those worries to rest!  Philips has announced "The World's Smartest LED bulb".  These bulbs come with a sweet base station (light bridge) that can be connected to your home router via WIFI or ethernet.  A quick download of the hue software from the App Store and you're controlling everything from the color to brightness to timing of your home lighting with your iOS device.

For 1%ers with money just burning a hole through those Emporio pockets, bulbs will be for sale at your local Apple Store starting this morning.  Three bulbs and a base station costs $300, additional bulbs are $59 each.

Forstall Refused To Apologize For Maps

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Scott Forstall's departure was in part due to his refusal to sign a public apology letter for the Maps application.



Scott Forstall, in charge of the iOS development team had direct oversight of the Maps Application, as well as all other major aspects of the mobile operating system.  It was Forstall who demoed the Maps application earlier this year as a developer preview.  Using Scott's Jobs like flair Maps demonstrations always went off without a hitch - perhaps helping to create a reputation of over-promising and under-delivering.

Due to Forstall's oversight role of the iOS team, it makes sense that he would have been among the first in line for any apology issued over Maps poor reception.  WSJ reports that Cook initially asked Forstall to issue an apology, and after Forstall refused Cook signed his name instead.  Apparently this act of defiance was the final straw, leading to Cook deciding to let go of the executive that initially came on board as part of the NeXT Acquisition.

Reports of tension between the new CEO and Forstall have been numerous.  In fact, confrontations between Forstall and just about every level of senior management have been reported at some point in his 15 year tenure with the company.  Forstall was often deemed to be untouchable as a Steve Jobs protege - however, after Jobs passing things began to change.  Cook's vision of Apple, for better or worse created an environment much more concerned with listening and responding to user feedback.  In the time of antenna-gate Forstall's unwillingness to apologize would have been the norm, but in today's Apple it is no longer acceptable.

Great News About Browett Getting Fired!

While the news of Scott Forstall leaving Apple comes with some mixed emotion (the subject of one of this week's Weekend Features) - I'm sure we can all agree it's great news that Browett got the axe. 



This silly cave troll John Browett had to be one of the worst hiring decisions in Apple's history.  God only knows what lead Cook and his team to throw the head of Dixon's in charge of Apple's glass wrapped darling.  From the day Browett was hired, one had to wonder if secretly he was a saboteur hired by Samsung to throw as many wrenches in a polished operation as possible. 

Apple Retail has something of a successful story.  Retail operations were originally dreamt up by Steve Jobs.  Steve hired on the genius that is Ron Johnson to head up the effort.  Together Steve and Ron created what would go on to quickly become the most successful retail store (profit per sq/ft) in the world, the fastest retail chain to reach 1bn in sales, and *most* importantly - a means by which the company could manage customer satisfaction.  Retail, more so than a venue for sales, has always been a way in which Cupertino can show off cutting edge products as well as handle customer sat issues. 

Johnson leaves to take over the top spot at JC Penny.  After having saved Target and creating unaparalleled success at Apple, Ron was ready to try out the title of CEO.  In Comes Browett who decides to make himself look good by improving on the already industry leading Apple Store profitability.  How?  His plan is to cut back staffing - nary a thought on what that might do to Apple store customer service, or the brand image as a whole.  Essentially, Browett lacks any understanding for why the stores were created in the first place!

Employees complained.  Customers complained.  Luckily Apple has listened and Browett has been sent home.