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Angela Ahrendts Updates Retail Employees on Apple Watch and MacBook Launch Situation
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The fact that the rest of Apple's senior management is exclusively male probably never entered into the equation.
We don't know what would've happened because Steve Jobs isn't around. Steve Jobs launched mobile me and it was a HUGE disaster. Apple products during Steve Jobs era regularly had pre-order dates. No one went into the store expecting to walk out with an iPhone on the day it went up for pre-order....then going on line to complain that the iPhone launch was a disaster because you couldn't buy it in the store but you could buy it online for pre-order. Retina MBP's when they first came out had their launch issues also. No one complained. No one was blaming the person who was running Apple's retail operation because of supply chain issues. It just sounds like you are crying because you couldn't get your device right now like you wanted. The 13" rMBP was already selling at the same price as the rMB right there in store and arguably more performant and more immediately useful for your girlfriend right now who maybe isn't a tech lover like you are so maybe doesn't need/want to be on the bleeding edge. Judging by the fact that you stated she had a really old MacBook she would be just as happy getting a rMBP as she would've been with an rMB and arguably more so. Why use her to complain that you couldn't get bleeding edge technology for yourself on the day you wanted it?
Right...
Yes, because those manly man "whitey" no need "soft touch" (sic) (kinda a loaded expression by itself...), off course discussions based on merit are totally the opposite of whatever those poor "soft touch" people want...
Oh my! give me straw so I can build a beautiful straw man!
Forum discussions on the net haven't been "merit" based since the early Internet & web days (1980s-mid 90s) were peer pressure was able to mostly keep people from saying dumb crap and not being held accountable for it.
Most current discussions finish when protagonists are tired of talking past each other, or have gotten all the "rise" they could from an audience... That's how low most forums have fallen. High profile subject, like an Apple release, is likely to attract a crowd of aggressive button pushers, for which merit doesn't matter one bit.
That's coming from someone who has been online on the Internet since 1987 (and before that on large private BBS's).
You're supposed to treat people decent; "soft touch" everyone basically.
Online forums have a huge majority male audience you don't need a poll for that). I'd say from my personal experience (which seems to match facts) most button pushers are also male. There are a few study on that, like this one.
http://www.salon.com/2014/10/23/why..._study_unpacks_the_digital_gender_safety_gap/
Most online forum could stand to do a lot better than they do now. Even a cursory read of any of them bears that point. Yet, every time it is suggested, the reaction is quite negative. In the real world, speech and consequence of speech, are linked; being anonymous has destroyed this link necessary to keep things civil.
I couldn't agree more. I think S.J. would be furious about this whole thing and would not have anything kind to say to A.A.
The fact that the rest of Apple's senior management is exclusively male probably never entered into the equation.
Riiiiight. I'm sure Tim thought "Hey, let's jeopardize a multibillion company by hiring someone totally incompetent just because she's a woman, or he/she 's gay, or whatever. I don't care if they know anything about the job. You're a woman ? Good , you just got the job. " .
Yes, I'm sure you can run a company like Apple by being a total fool...
He hired her because he thought she was fit for the job at Apple in such big responsibility. Could she be fit for the job and yet **** up ? Sure. Even briliant minds like Jobs made big mistakes, and took bad decisions. Why wouldn't she ?
Ditto. I'm in Canada so our launches have lately been matching the US. So, while I'm not thrilled with the rMB, I still went to the store and who knows, if it was in stock I may have purchased one. And if I was taking out my credit card, I'd probably bought a watch and some other crap too.
But instead, I went a week later and was told they don't have it on display, and do I want to see a watch that I couldn't buy. The whole thing was just super aggravating.
You can hardly blame her for Apple's production problems. Blame the **** wit who made the decision to launch on 10 April when they didn't even have enough stock to put display models in all their stores. Tim Cook is to blame.
Wow. You really need to calm down.
Because I think other people are too obsessed with bragging rights, I need to step back and review my own life?
Ya, and the person that didn't make the pre-order database big enough...
Cause the "pre-orders" sold out....
I agree with you.
But the people who are going crazy about getting it right away get a huge sense of self-worth out of getting it before most people and showing it off.
It's sad that they don't realize that 99.99% of the people out there in the real world just don't care what a random stranger has on his wrist.
I didnt come here looking for people with negative opinions questioning what devices I have decided to purchase with my own money. When you start paying for the devices that I use, then you will have the right to question what I buy.. and why I buy it. Futhermore.. do not tell me what people were complaining about in the store, when you were not there to witness the complaints first hand. My experience was not a "pretend" or "hypothetical" situation. It was exactly what happened.
That said. The rMB is what she prefers.. I asked her specifically if there was another Macbook she would consider and she said no. That's all that matters. I'm not "crying because Apple didnt have one". I'm sharing my personal experience about what went wrong with the supposed *launch* of the new Retina Macbook.. and what Apple should address in future product launches. It would have gone a long ways to preventing the problems with this launch, if Apple simply would have publicly told customers that this product would NOT be available in stores on the day it was "launched". And that they should order it from the website.. instead of wasting money, time & effort travelling to the store hoping to purchase.
I know this can be difficult to grasp. But it would be appreciated if people like yourself could add something substantial to the conversation.. besides insults. We are all capable of intelligent, mature conversation without being condescending towards others.
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It's a new product that still has all the bugs to be worked out. If you look at Apple's history, the first new version of everything has a very short cycle. iPads, retina MBPs, etc. The watch will be no different. It's basically an open beta.
Thanks MacRumours for the video. Not sure why it had an echo and I'm not sure what to make at the end of the video when the screen reverts to a giant pair of tits. Certainly brightened up my day.
Seriously a lot of hand movements there. Hasn't she been on any presentation courses and/or media training. Thought all CEO's went through that training these days. Seems a nice lady.
Seriously a lot of hand movements there. Hasn't she been on any presentation courses and/or media training. Thought all CEO's went through that training these days. Seems a nice lady.
I would agree its pretty ridiculous, that even a week later.. the Apple store closest to you still did not have an rMB display unit. I understand that Apple executives committed to specific launch dates, but I cant imagine they are satisfied with the actual launch of these products. I doubt if the lack of communication for product availability, absence of store product displays and the disappointment & confusion among customers.. is something that was deemed satisfactory by the executives who run what is currently the most successful company in the world.
One of the customer experiences Apple was best known for. Is that of announcing products on a certain day and actually delivering those products to customers on the day promised. Where as companies like Samsung are better known for announcing a new smartphone and it be actually available for purchase until several months later (Note4 for example).
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But, no one else is criticized by those people; just her, the only women on the exec team. Despite the fact that the current situation is due to one (or more) of these :
- Vastly under evaluating the market (marketing side)
- Selecting the wrong product mix (marketing' side)
- Limiting production to limit risk, or for financial reasons (Tim Cook)
- Launching a product despite limited stocks (Tim Cook)
- Creating a product with major manufacturing limits (R&D side)
- One or more component has supply/yield issues (supply chain side)
etc.
Or maybe, the main issue is simply overwhelming demand that no one could have predicted... That would probably still be a marketing issue; whoever predicted initial sales and mix likely bears the most weight in the current supply shortfall.
But, even then, only to a point. They likely knew they was a X% of possibility of a runaway success. In the end, it is Tim Cook who decided to not risk producing enough products for this high level of sales scenario.
I can understand her being the face of this delay and bearing the weight of it, even if she's not really responsible. But, often it goes well beyond that and her gender certainly comes into play in the words and tone of the argument.
Problem is we all know it will be updated in 12 months so nobody wants to wait 2 or 3 months because they'll only have it for 9 months before it's obsolete. Maybe they need a longer upgrade cycle.
Or maybe she'S fit for job and this is not her responsibility at all. Because she's not making devices in her basement. That's the one thing that seemingly you left out.
One issue I find in that article, is that the author omits one social aspect : Unlike women, men are often taught to "tough it up and don't complain ". Therefore, most men will more likely downplay or just brush up any abuse they receive, or not report them at all in studies like that.
It's a bit like that constant odd difference in sexual reports about number of partners : Men have a tendency to exagerate a bit the number of sexual partners they had, while women have a tendency to under-report a bit the number of sexual partners they had. Once you take these aspects in consideration, the number of partners tend to be more balanced between genders.
Anyway, we're soooo off-topic now
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It's hard to believe that she would have zero responsibility in the matter. I never said it's entirely her fault. It's not just the device making, it's the whole communication about this. "Yes, it's available on the 24, no it's not available on the 24. Yes the stores will carry them on the 24. No the stores won't carry them on the 24, etc..": Maybe it's 70% Tim Cook's fault ( after all , he is the supposed chain-supply genius ) and 30% her's. But zero responsibility ? Unlikely.
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Agreed the blame goes far & beyond one person. While noone could have predicted demand for the Watch.. there was still no indication from Apple HQ or top executives that demand could vastly overtake supply. Or that the new rMB would be an available online only. Or even that production quantities were so low, some stores would be lacking display units.
AA is receiving the brunt of the blame, because she's the new face with the big paycheck. I'd imagine she's also getting the blame because most Apple product launches have went a lot smoother than this one. It also hurts her credibility.. to watch the video going around of her explaining why this launch is different and what needs to be done/told differently to customers. If she could make a video to tell employees what to do/tell differently to customers for this product launch.. maybe she should have just considered telling those customers directly why this launch is different and what the customer should do (or expect) differently this time around.
Communication is the key. Lack of it, was the real problem here.
Anyway, we're soooo off-topic now
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It's hard to believe that she would have zero responsibility in the matter. I never said it's entirely her fault. It's not just the device making, it's the whole communication about this. "Yes, it's available on the 24, no it's not available on the 24. Yes the store will carry them on the 24. No the store won't carry them on the 24, etc..": Maybe it's 70% Tim Cook's fault ( after all , he is the supposed chain-supply genius ) and 30% her's. But zero responsibility ? Unlikely.
In retail in a tech company, despite being a top exec, she's pretty low on the totem pole; the way she did it probably made sense if decent stocks would have existed. But, seemingly, orders were way way beyond current production and inventory. She can't sell what she doesn't have.
That's a hell of a big problem for her. Maybe she could have had slightly better contingency communication (that's counts for 10-20% of responsibility I assign to her); but, in the end, that wouldn't have changed much from the current situation for most people.
She'll be the face of this issue despite being in reality, bearing very little responsibility for it. That's probably the worse situation you can be in your job; I don't envy her.
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Considering the ridiculous delays some had for the Iphone, a product which is much easier to predict, existing product in 2 sizes and 3 colors, I wouldn't say other launches went better. There was plenty of whining then too...
If they'd done this one in the stores, with a product as complex as this, there would have been utter chaos.
In this case, the "chaos" was limited by orders being online and trials happening pre-launch.
If we find out that Apple had 4-5M orders from the 10th to the 24th (10M by the end of next month), I'd say there was no way on earth it could have been done better.
Agree. Just like Scott Forstall was blamed for the Maps fiasco. Meanwhile, even though he is long gone, the Apple Maps is still no way as good as the Google Maps.
- I don't ever recall an iPhone launch, where people who pre-ordered on day 1.. received shipping times 2 months away.
- Furthermore I also do not recall an iPhone launch, where noone was able to purchase the product at any brick & mortar Apple store. Or where some B&M stores did not have display units (as was the case with the new Retina Macbook).
You didn't read the rest of what I wrote so I'm not going to answer this. Cherry picking merits a bye (and probably an ignore too).