I admit it. I don't get it.
What is it that I don't get? Apple's continued ability to keep its customers in the dark about its intentions, its plans, and its current and future products.
A couple of recent cases in point:
- The "cancellation" of the Mac OS X Server. This information, which was just plain wrong, was given to some customers and the press a week ago at an Apple Europe meeting in Vienna. The "cancellation" held a lot of credence with customers who need this OS to stave-off the continued infiltration of NT in their companies, because Apple has been squishy about its real ship date.Naturally, these customers assumed that Apple "had done us in, again."
- On top of this squishyness, it took Apple five days before they announced, unequivocally, that "...we can clarify that the Mac OS X Server product has not been cancelled. Development remains on schedule and the product is expected to be introduced later this year, as Apple has said. The company is currently focused on ensuring the success of its latest OS product -- Mac OS 8.5. Product details for Mac OS X Server will be made available when it is introduced."
- The quiet dropping of the Mac G3 All-in-one (AIO) from their K-12 and higher ed price lists last Saturday. This machine, which many Apple education customers have come to rely on, is "supposed to be replaced in December with a new modular AIO that includes a 17-inch monitor" according to the few Apple education customers who have been briefed. The problem is that few means "very, very few." Most Apple ed customers who went to order AIO's this week for their school districts were shocked to find it gone from the pricelist. Once again, Apple did not communicate its intentions or plans to its customers about a critical platform.
- The compatibility of Mac OS X with existing Apple and clone hardware. So far, Apple says that Mac OS X will only run on clean Apple G3 hardware. They do not intend to certify it for non-Apple G3 hardware, including the other generations of PowerMacs already in the hands of customers. At the same time, though, they are telling developers that it "will likely run on PowerMacs upgraded with G3 daughter cards, as well as many 604-based clones." Well, which is it? What will Mac OS X run on?
This is a critical issue for customers who will need to migrate to Mac OS X next year. If they are going to require a new machine investment, capital budgets have to be sought and locked-in now. Not five minutes before the OS ships.
These are but three examples of many such customer communication problems that Apple faces. Of course, Apple has had a continuing problem of overpromising and underdelivering. That is something that CEO Steve Jobs has focused on from day one at the helm -- by killing internal leaks and by simplifying what Apple does deliver, so it stands a better chance of deliverying it on time.
But this simplification/leak killing process has had an unintended side effect -- Apple is keeping its customers in the dark about product directions, plans, availabilities, compatibilities, and the like that they need to plan their purchases and their own computing directions.
Bite Apple's butt
And it is that customer communication problem that is going to come back to bite Apple in the butt in 1999 and beyond, if it is not fixed. While I applaud the efforts that Jobs and Apple have made to fix their current and near term business models, these strategic issues remain more than problematic.
Selling a boatload of iMacs and a jillion copies of Mac OS 8.5 is great. Giving your customers the straight poop they need to buy the stuff you'll sell them in two years is even better. And it insures your continued success as a company in the interim, so you don't have to micromanage the present.
