Bad Jobs: Steve Jobs' Biggest Apple Flops
Bad Jobs: Steve Jobs' Biggest Apple Flops
Posted 08/26/2011 at 11:34am
| by Adrian Covert, Gizmodo
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In Steve Jobs' two stints at Apple, the company made some great products. Their most amazing products. But no one's perfect. Not even Steve Jobs. And Apple produced a few pieces of total crap during his reign. Here're the worst.
Lisa
The Apple Lisa, named after Jobs' daughter, may have been the first computer to employ a GUI in 1983, but it cost $10000 and had a hulking, unsightly design. Few bought the thing. A year later, the cheaper Macintosh came out and rendered the Lisa largely irrelevant.
iMac USB Mouse
The mouse introduced with the iMac in 1998 is up there with Comic Sans and Clippy when it comes to inciting geek rage. Not only was it a single-button mouse, like all other Apple input devices before and after it, but it was round, like a hockey puck. And truth be told, it probably would have been more comfortable sliding a hockey puck around a desk all day.
iPod Hi-Fi
The iPod Hi-Fi wasn't a terrible device from technical standpoint. Reviewers generally praised the sound that emanated from its drivers. But it just didn't make sense for anyone at the time. Audiophiles had no use for music that came from an iPod. The average consumer didn't need a speaker that was so big. And all gadget freaks could do is look at the $350 price tag and shrug their shoulders. Introduced in February 2006, the iPod Hi-Fi line didn't last two years before being discontinued in September 2007.
Apple TV (1st Generation)
When the first Apple TV arrived in 2007, it had all the tools to be successful. Intel processor. 720p support via HDMI. Wi-Fi. Up to a 160 GB HDD. But then came the limitations. It could only stream H.264 or MP4 video. It could play trailers and video clips from iTunes, but you couldn't buy or rent movies or TV shows. Nor could you buy MP3s. Aside from photos, which used Flickr, streaming was facilitated entirely through iTunes on your computer. People weren't exactly going crazy to get their hands on an Apple TV, which led the company to release a revised version of the software which supported TV and Movie rentals, and even that only offered limited success. Eventually, Apple reconceptualized the Apple TV in many ways, producing the awesome little black box that still exists today.
Buttonless iPod Shuffle (3rd Generation)
Yes, we all get it, minimalism is great. However, there's a point when the quest for simplicity buckles back on itself and actually makes something more complicated. That's what happened with the iPod shuffle. Aside from the power/lock button, It had no buttons on it. None! You had to use headphones with a compatible in-line remote to operate the thing. You solely used the morse-code like system for flipping through tracks, which was kind of a pain in the ass. AND OH, if you wanted to use headphones that weren't Apple's terrible earbuds, you needed a special adapter. It was received with a mix of novel curiosity and mockery. The following generation of the iPod shuffle was the first time I've seen Apple so blatantly return to a former design. And they aren't shy about advertising the fact that the current one has buttons.
Final Cut Pro X
For years, Final Cut Pro has been a favorite among Hollywood filmmakers. The UI is clean and simple, but extremely powerful. When Apple released the revamped Final Cut Pro X, however, that love turned to hate. Unadulterated hate. Professionals hate the lack of power features and its resemblance to iMovie (which means aspiring professionals probably feel the same way). Casual hobbyists probably won't pay $300 for it. What we're left with is a program that tries to please everyone while addressing the nobody's needs. Or maybe it's trying to address everyone's needs while pleasing nobody. Who knows!
Ping
When Steve Jobs introduced Ping, it was supposed to be the greatest thing to happen to music discovery since radio. But not even half-baked, Ping was just raw and underdeveloped. It was a feed hiding in the most unusable section of iTunes (the music store), that let you recommend songs from the store, which only existed in the store. It also told everyone when you bought something new. No playlists from friends. No top lists. It kept the collective attention of the technorati for about 14 minutes. Eventually they "expanded" ping to let you recommend tracks from your library view, but you know what they say about pigs and lipstick.
Power Mac G4 Cube
One of the best things to happen during Steve Jobs' second run at Apple is that the company began to experiment with form. While the company has been firmly entrenched in a minimalist aesthetic during its most successful phase, Apple wasn't scared to play around with some weird ideas in the late 90s and early 2000s (see also: iMac G4). The Power Mac G4 Cube is an example of one of those experiments gone wrong. Often viewed as a precursor to the Mac Mini, and despite costing more than the cheapest PowerMac G4, the 8"x8"x10" Cube was positioned somewhere between iMacs and PowerMacs when it came to power and functionality. Starting at $1800 and frequently suffering from case cracks, the computer was bust, lasting only a year on store shelves. But hey, MoMA showcased it, so it wasn't all bad. I guess.
iPod Photo
In 2004, people wanted a video iPod. So what did Apple give them? An iPod capable of displaying low-res photos (220x176!!!). At $500, the 40 GB model cost $100 more than the regular 40 GB iPod, an eventually a 60 GB model popped up for $600. You won't see a lot of people fondly recalling the iPod Photo days like they did the Third Generation iPod (swoon).
What's your least favorite Steve Jobs Apple product?
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h e x e n
August 29, 2011 at 4:57am
In my opinion, Apple has only made two decent products: the ipod and iphone. Both revolutionized and streamlined our concepts of digital entertainment, storage, transport and connectivity. Both are heavy hitters in their respected fields and anyone looking to purchase a smartphone or MP3 device would be a fool not to consider them.
Everything else from Apple is garbage. From their software to their computers, it's all pretty much trash in my opinion. The ipad is the biggest waste of resources I've seen in a long time. It's right up there with the Hummer H2.
Engelsstaub
August 29, 2011 at 5:25pm
The iPad doesn't qualify as an Apple failure because you don't like it. I think their sales speak for themselves.
Terdog
August 28, 2011 at 9:50pm
For me, probably the first generation iMac. That thing sucked, Looked like a kiddie toy, the build quality was awful, and that mouse, ugh. I remember playing with one in a store, and I hated it.
Neel Chauhan
August 28, 2011 at 9:32pm
I hate the iPad because it is trying to replace the laptop because of it's popularity and will fail. Because of the iPad newer GUIs like OSX Lion and Windows 8 have a tablet feel which gets confusing for PC users who don't use tablets on a daily basis.
Apple creates fads which last 10 years and then fall because they failed to change life and were just a fashion, like the iPod is getting less popular because it was a fad from a few years ago.
Engelsstaub
August 29, 2011 at 5:17pm
Really? The iPod is just a fad?? It's already lasted ten years and I'd love to see those numbers indicating it's getting less popular.
You are free to hate the iPad, but it's not trying to replace the laptop. I know many special needs children who use and benefit from the use of the iPad.
"Because of the iPad newer GUIs like OSX Lion and Windows 8 have a tablet feel..."
...so you're blaming the iPad for Microsoft's recent lack of innovation, originality, or vision? This is about Apple's business fails, not what you personally don't like. The iPad and the iPod are two of the biggest successes in recent tech history.
Stinky Fartface
August 28, 2011 at 9:11pm
Ping wasn't the only turd they glommed onto iTunes. That "Genius" playlist was a real clunker too. Mybe they should have purchased Pandora and made it worthwhile. But no. It still sucks after all this time.
Zaap
August 27, 2011 at 9:21pm
My 4th gen iPod Touch.
It's a great device, and the screen looks real nice. But the battery life SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUKS. From the very start it could barely last a full day of use. And yes, I've taken every possible step recommended all over the web to improve the battery life. It still blows.
My 1st gen iPod Touch would last for several days of use; some average gaming, web surfing, and of course tons of music with the screen turned off.
Then I had a 3rd gen iPod Touch and the design had gotten slimmer, but the battery life had gotten that much slimmer right along with it.
Now the 4th gen iPod Touch is thin enough for the leprechans it was designed for I guess, but the battery life is pathetic. Clearly, Apple cares more about making things thin and sexy than they give a squat about performance. It's not like the 1st gen iPods were bulky- heck, I'd have been perfectly happy with the 4th gen screen in a package the thickness of the 1st gen if it meant keeping a useable battery life. But I guess the leprechans would complain "It's not thin enough!"
As for other Apple 'flops'- what about those horrible garrish colors of see-through plastic Apple was once obessed with? Everyone praises Apple for such amazing industrial design, but I remember those circus colors as some of the most tasteless looking junk the tech world has ever produced. (Go look at the original toilet seat iBooks!) Worse, do people remember that every other company on the planet felt they had to make their products match the tacky plastic colors? You'd go to buy a USB hub, scanner, external drive or whatever, and chances are they had the same model in garrish see-through 'iMac Blue'. The Macheads were patting themselves on the back that they'd defeated the beige box by infecting the entire tech world with the 'new' look, but really... pastel see-through blue/orange/red/paisly(!!) plastic was an improvement?? Not in my book.
It's not a single product, but I also think Apple flops at Blu-ray support.
froggz
August 27, 2011 at 11:52am
iTunes. I can't stand the entire concept of having the itouch and iPad completely reliant on software that's installed on the PC/MAC. I just want to copy paste, not backup/update/search for new addition to the library, etc for every damn little thing.
But the number one thing I absolutely hate about apple is the freaking "i". Thanks to them, every stupid damn marketing department of every single tech company has to have a product with the damn "i" at the beginning of the name.
lo_tek
August 27, 2011 at 11:19am
I have an iPad 2 and a 17" Macbook Pro. I love both pieces of equipment. Having said that, I will also say that it will be a long, long time before I buy another Apple product, if ever. Why? The money that they cost just simply is not justified by the value that they give. To be fair, their tablet prices are comparable to the Android tablets. And the iPad 2 is wonderful. All things being equal, it will be the only tablet I will use for many years. The Macbook Pro, on the other hand, while being wonderful, the OSX Lion did not live up to its billing. It did not awe me in any way whatsoever. Its Launcher and its Mission Control are simply Expose and the App Folder warmed over. There's a reason why Lion was only $29.99 and I'm still finding out, lol. But the main thing is that Apple products are, in general, just plain, flat-out TOO EXPENSIVE for the value they give. That right there is the ultimate deal breaker and why OSX will never come close to making the dominant OS out there even nervous.
The Relic
August 27, 2011 at 9:24am
The Lisa was the first commercial computer to employ a GUI? Really?
Wasn't it actually the Xerox Star, around 2 years earlier, that had a window-based GUI?
vig1lant3
August 28, 2011 at 2:31pm
GUI was developed by Xerox at PARC (Palo Alto Research Center). Apple and Microsoft were just opportunistic.
My least favorite product was those stupid I am a Mac commercials. Thank God Justin Long faded into obsolescence.
Wily_One
August 28, 2011 at 1:18am
Correct. Xerox developed the first GUI internally for the Alto, way back in 1973. The commercial version was the Xerox Star, and it was the Star GUI that Apple copied for the Lisa and the Mac.
dethdeks
August 27, 2011 at 5:49am
gotta love all the people whinning they hate the iphone but yet then turn around and say they own one. i dont recall anyone ever having a gun put to there head when getting a new phone telling them buy the iphone or get shot. and just a fyi i dont have an iphone, the only apple product i own is a 3rd gen ipod touch. and its the closest ill come to a iphone. but to keep this post on topic the worst apple product out there thats still available is iOS. lets release the same os over and over and just bring the build number up each time and add maybe one or two new "features" to it.
Stinky Fartface
August 28, 2011 at 9:02pm
Who would be more experienced with the suckage of an iphone than an actual iphone user? I would certainly trust their opinion over some Android or Blackberry user spewing some secondhand venom they hear in a forum somewhere. Most people who buy an expensive item will defend it just to justify their purchase. If someone owns an iphone and bashes it based on firsthand experience I will respect that.
bautrey
August 27, 2011 at 2:31am
The only apple product I own is an Ipod Classic with video capability in an 80GB model. It has lasted me all these years very well and still works perfectly fine. Though I could use something new, this still works so I will stick with for a while longer. I have never filled it completely up sadly...
Wily_One
August 26, 2011 at 10:38pm
@jgrimoldy: The Apple IIGS was awesome. (Probably because Jobs had nothing to do with it.)
You guys did miss the Apple /// however. Basically just a suped-up Apple ][ but had horrible build quality. That didn't stop Jobs from demanding the Apple premium price however.
Dukarma
August 26, 2011 at 8:05pm
I'm pretty sure that we can agree that all of the products that Apple created (no matter what they inspired) suck really, really bad. I personally hate Apple and all things that have ever, and still proceed to spawn from the company. I've owned one Apple device, a 4th gen Nano, it was buggy, and just an all around piece of junk.
Engelsstaub
August 26, 2011 at 5:31pm
Many Mac users are having some "growing pains" with OS X LIon. The Apple support forums are full of complaints. Some are even hailing it "Apple's Vista." (I'm not personally having a problem with it, but Snow Leopard was amazingly efficient and tough to improve upon IMO.)
...so maybe another one, depending on who you ask.
Dartht33bagger
August 26, 2011 at 5:19pm
I have to say I like my 5th gen iPod video, but otherwise I don't care for Apple products at all.
Zoandar
August 28, 2011 at 9:08am
+1 I was going to post exactly that when I got to the bottom. Thanks for doing it for me. No apples here. :)
CalDrumr
August 26, 2011 at 2:10pm
My least favorite Steve Jobs product was Apple... Wait, what was the question?
Slugbait
August 26, 2011 at 4:59pm
NeXT came after Jobs was forced out of the company, and had nothing to do with Apple...except the part when Apple tried to sue.
In addition, NeXT actually lasted for 10 years...then was purchased by (drumroll please...) Apple. Tim Berners-Lee developed the first web browser and web server on NeXT. Carmack built Wolfenstein 3D and Doom on NeXT.
Now, what was that about biggest fail again?
lhatten
August 26, 2011 at 7:51pm
I should have specified the NeXT computer system, not just the software. The NeXT computer system only lasted from 1987 to 1993. During that time, it sold maybe 50,000 computers, about 1/2 the number of LISA computer systems sold. The whole concept of no hard disk with only an optical disk and a network connection was a big fail!
Slugbait
August 28, 2011 at 1:51pm
Not just the software?
It wouldn't have mattered what you specified...other than the lawsuit, Apple had absolutely nothing to do with NeXT until they purchased it 10 years after its inception. Many say NeXT was purchased for their OS (which is the foundation of OSX and iOS), but what Apple really wanted was to acquire NeXT's CEO...that person guided Apple to become one of the most valuable computer companies in the world. NeXT was not an Apple flop: to the contrary, purchasing NeXT was the single best thing Apple ever did.
As far as the "no hard disk" comment, you had a choice: 330 megs or 660 megs...I'm pretty sure "no hard disk" was not an option.
And I'm pretty sure you're the fail here...
Happy
August 26, 2011 at 6:09pm
Wasn't the first web browser Mozaic? (which was coded by a team led by Andreesen).
Slugbait
August 28, 2011 at 2:47pm
Nope...the first GUI browser was called "WorldWideWeb", written by "The Father of the Internet" Sir Tim Berners-Lee in 1990, and later was renamed "Nexus". There were a couple of other browsers, such as ViolaWWW, before Mozaic was released in 1993.
Ridnarhtim
August 26, 2011 at 1:37pm
What's your least favorite Steve Jobs Apple product?
Everything to ever come out of that company. But since I'm having to deal with owning one, the iPhone.
tittybits
August 26, 2011 at 12:31pm
I think the worst thing or the "before its time" was the Apple Pippen, the underpowered Mac game console!
Stinky Fartface
August 28, 2011 at 9:08pm
Haha. Really. I can't believe you made an Apple shitlist without the Newton on it. That was one imfamously poor piece of hardware.
DJSPIN80
August 26, 2011 at 12:13pm
Ping and Final Cut Pro X were terrible.
First off, at the time, Pandora did a better job than Ping. Ping was more of a MySpace for iTunes and served no real purpose to its users.
I was a tad disappointed with Final Cut Pro X. It had true Cocoa and 64-bit support...and they killed so many other features.
Holly Golightly
August 26, 2011 at 11:58am
Wow, that iPod photo was a train wreck. What were they thinking? I do miss the iMac mouse though, despite discomfort.
Maktaka
August 26, 2011 at 1:10pm
Sure, it had all the ergonomics of an artsy Swedish chair combined with the design aesthetics of a preschool toy, what's not to love?
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