In June, Apple CEO Tim Cook told Apple employees that starting in the fall, they’d need to return to the office on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Many employees signed a rambling and disjointed 1300-word letter of protest. I’ll show how it could be better. The employee plea isn’t effective Consider a ROAM analysis of the…
Tim Berners-Lee, the man who created the Web, is frustrated with how giants like Facebook and incompatible apps rule our online experience. His solution is Solid, and open-source project that will allow you to control your own data. Solid is a long shot — unless Apple gets behind it. Berners-Lee described his vision in a blog…
It was 1996. Gil Amelio had just taken over Apple Computer. My job at Forrester was to predict the future. I was certain that Apple would crater and I said so in print. Steve Jobs had introduced the Lisa and then, the insanely great Macintosh, in 1984. It made a hell of an impact, and…
Senator Mark R. Warner’s office wrote a paper with 20 legislative ideas on how to restrain the excesses, abuses, and ill effects of internet giants like Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Apple; Axios got a copy and published it. With problems from fake news to data sharing and bullying, these platforms certainly deserve scrutiny. Of course,…
The most important thing to Apple is the product. After that comes employee efficiency. Customers? They’re in third place. Here’s how I learned that: Yesterday I finally brought my iPhone with its failing battery into the Apple Store in Burlington, Massachusetts. When I showed up, the bright and happy Apple guy in the front of…
It’s great to work at Apple, the world’s most valuable company. Just don’t leak what you’re doing. An Apple PR person once told me there are at most five people at the company authorized to talk to press — everyone else had better keep quiet. This creates pressure to leak: people inside the company want…
After news reports revealed that Apple was slowing down older iPhones with worn-out batteries, the company posted a public message to explain itself. It also offered to replace your battery for $29. This statement is clearer and more transparent than most corporate statements after missteps, but not up to Apple’s usual standards. Apple attempts to…
The New York Times, reviewing leaked documents from the law firm Appleby, described how Apple reroutes profits to avoid taxes. Apple’s denial is full of facts but lacks clarity. In Monday’s New York Times article “After a Tax Crackdown, Apple Found a New Shelter for Its Profits,” here’s what we learned: Five months after [Apple…
Here’s a story that appeared on Dow Jones newswires yesterday: DJ Update: Google, Apple Join to Create Tech Giant By Josee Rose In a surprise move to everyone who is alive, Google said it’s going to buy Apple for $9 billion. Google Chief Executive Larry Page had secret talks with the now deceased Steve Jobs…