Apple’s Buggy Maps: Tim Cook Says ‘Sorry’

by Tom Taulli | September 28, 2012 9:59 am

[1]It’s hard to remember if Steve Jobs ever made an apology to customers. But perhaps he didn’t have to because he always seemed to launch insanely great products. But for Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL[2]) new CEO Tim Cook, it looks like things are changing. Yes, he made a profuse apology for the horrible mapping app[3] in Apple’s latest mobile operating system, iOS 6.

You can read the full letter here[4]. In the statement, Cook says Apple’s mission is to “make world-class products” but the mapping app fell well-short of the standard. As a result, he says the company is now focused on making the product better.

Better still, he even suggested that, in the meantime, customers can use competitive apps or Web services, including archrival Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG[5])!

But customers must be wondering: Why did Apple launch this product? Doesn’t the company test things?

In fact, Apple has had the same quality problems with Siri[6]. Unfortuantely, the company has yet to make it a much better product.

So, is Apple losing its magical touch? There are certainly ominous signs of this. And apologies will not mean much. When customers come to expect high quality and are willing to pay premium prices, there’s no excuse for launching a inferior product.

Tom Taulli runs the InvestorPlace blog IPOPlaybook[7], a site dedicated to the hottest news and rumors about initial public offerings. He also is the author of “All About Short Selling”[8] and “All About Commodities.”[9] Follow him on Twitter at @ttaulli[10]. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2012/09/apples-buggy-maps-tim-cook-says-sorry/

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