Marco Arment, on his most recent popularity following a controversial blog post:
Had I known that it would go as far as it did, I never would have written it.
Marco Arment has to be one of my favorite developers/bloggers/podcasters. His opinions have always had a hint of polarizability to them, but ultimately that is just part of his charm. My affinity for the things he says could also stem from the fact that I largely agree with him on most issues. Last night he wrote a short piece entitled “Apple has lost the functional high ground,” in which he detailed, in broad strokes, the decline of Apple’s previously unsullied reputation of “It just works” ism.
Generally speaking, I agreed with him.
And so did John Gruber:
It’s not that Apple has lost the “it just works” crown to a competitor, but rather that they’ve seeded a perception that Apple’s stuff doesn’t work, either.
And Dr. Drang:
I think a lot of us have lost our spirit, and that’s a problem for Apple.
As well as Federico Viticci:
What it comes down to, really, is balance. I believe that Apple used to be more disciplined at balancing its desire for new features and commitment to refinements.
While Marco may have ill-chosen a few of his words, the gist of his argument is shared by the prosumer/nerd/developer portion of the Apple community.
This is a problem.
But according to Daniel Jalkut, 2015 is not the only year apparently harboring this much of the Apple nerd community’s frustrations:
The current state of Apple’s software does not particularly concern me.
Jalkut’s thesis here being that despite the current frustrations regarding Apple’s ill-performing services division, and despite Apple’s apparent propensity to be a tad too trigger happy during app review, and despite Apple’s reluctance to publish software updates that do no harm, this is not the first time something like this has happened. In his post, Jalkut denotes several rather ‘big’ problems he has identified throughout his career (both before and after leaving Apple).
Instead of merely +1’ing Marco’s thoughts, Jalkut’s approach here is one of admonition: As easy as it is to armchair Apple into the perfect earnings call (and happy nerds concomitantly), we would have to also acknowledge that the solution to these problems is not quite certain.
Many, including Gruber, Guy English, and Marco himself, have previously argued in favor of Apple slowing its seemingly frantic (and relatively recent) yearly software revolutions. By decoupling the yearly hardware + software release schedule, Apple could instead release more ‘Snow Leopard’-ish updates. Iteration instead of revolution.
But as great of an idea as that is, Apple could probably never do that. Casey Liss asserts as much in his latest:
I’m not sure, however, if Apple really has any other choice but to continue working at a breakneck pace.
Any time Apple wavers — even the smallest bit — even justifiably — everyone pounces.
What would be the reaction if Tim Cook or Craig Federighi got on stage at WWDC and said “You know what guys; we’re stretched too thin. We’re going to pump the brakes, and start taking our time”?
The media would go nuts.
Apple is doomed!
And so, in a way, Apple is stuck between a rock and a hard place. The Apple we praise so wholeheartedly year after year for continuing to delight us has in effect backed itself into a corner. Apple simply can’t slow down.
I love how Casey finishes his piece. His thoughts mirror my own:
It was Apple that chose to establish this cadence, and chose to stick with it. Now, for better or worse, they may have backed themselves into a corner. When you’re that ox of a man standing in the boxing ring, the last thing you want to do is show weakness. To give the plucky little guy hope.
You may not feel like you can show weakness, even if you wanted to.
The Apple I’ve come to love wouldn’t give a crap. The Apple I love would do the right thing for its users and its developers, and slow down. The Apple I love would slow down, even though it’s the tough thing to do. The Apple I love would be brave.
Let’s hope that Apple is still the Apple of today.
24 hours later, Marco has all but recanted (at least, recanted as much as he could in light of archive.org). I can imagine how he feels. We are all, at times, misunderstood. A rant need not represent the entirety of one’s total mental formulation. Still, the core of his argument is one he stands by, even if he was left feeling rather amiss after it all.
Marco, like everyone else so eager to criticize Apple of late, does so only because Apple has inspired everyone to want a better computing experience (a “better life,” as Tim Cook jested at WWDC '14). And for the most part, Apple has continued to delivered on our inspirations, and oftentimes, even on our most ridiculous of expectations.
It’s hard to go backward. None of the true believers, the bleeders of six colors, want to use anything less than the absolute best that Apple can create. Right now some of us feel like that is what we are being forced to do. It’s like being forced to use the original iPhone. It would be like accustoming oneself to the automotive pleasures of a properly maintained 964, and then being force to drive this instead. Imagine how terrible Jordan Belfort feels.
Let us hope Marco’s post(s) can be a catalyst towards a better Apple. That’s all we want.