Tag: Column
Apple, iPhone 4 and the Antenna: What’s Next?
by Ranju Chaudhary on Jul.17, 2010, under Gadgets
The Social Analyst is a weekly column by Mashable Co-Editor Ben Parr, where he digs into social media trends and how they are affecting companies in the space.
Now that the iPhone 4 press conference has wrapped up and we’re all going to get free iPhone cases, it’s time to decompress and look at the big picture for Apple and the iPhone 4.
In the nearly 90-minute presentation and Q&A, Steve Jobs provided a compelling and mostly frank defense of his company’s device, which he said is “perhaps the best product we have ever built.” He admitted that there was a problem but put it in the context of other competitive smartphones, which he said have similar issues. He addressed the concerns of unhappy customers with an offer of free cases and an option for users to return their iPhones. Above all, he admitted that Apple “is not perfect.”
Was it enough to quiet the critics, though? What’s next for the world’s most valuable technology company and its crown jewel?
The Storm Has Passed
On Wednesday, I wrote a post entitled What Apple Must Do to Stop the Bleeding. In it, I provided five suggestions for recovering from this most recent PR nightmare:
1. Acknowledge That the Antenna Problem Is Real
2. Go into the Technical Details
3. Roll Out the Software Update
4. Make the Bumpers Free
5. No Matter What, Don’t Issue an iPhone 4 Recall
Apple implemented all of these things to a reasonable degree. It acknowledged that the antenna problem is real, and the company even created a website detailing the specific issues. It went into specific data on dropped calls, user complaints and attenuation. It rolled out iOS 4.0.1. It made the bumpers free. And finally, it avoided a costly recall.
Yes, Jobs dodged an apology to unhappy customers. Yes, Apple kept on pointing to the antenna issue as an industry-wide one. However, Apple’s actions are likely more than enough for the vast majority of its customers. The rest will either get a free case or return their mobile devices.
By addressing the media, Apple has effectively weathered this storm. The worst is behind them.
But the Damage Is Done
Apple didn’t come out of this unscathed, though. They had to take a beating from the media first. It doesn’t matter whether “antennagate” was overblown or not anymore: The damage has been done.
1. There will be financial damage (but not much). The free cases, free bumpers and iPhone returns will cost the company some revenue. However, we predict that the damage will be minimal in the face of overall profits. Expect record quarters — just not as high as they could have potentially been.
2. Apple is no longer perfect. That’s not to say that they ever were, but most people blamed AT&T for many of the iPhone’s problems rather than blaming the Apple team. Now, the door is open to criticism of Apple and its future products after Jobs’ admission of imperfection.
3. Future products will undergo more scrutiny. The media is just going to be more critical of Apple, at least for a while.
Consumers will likely remember “antennagate” when they purchase their next iPhone or iPad, and this episode might make them more cautious when they consider buying their next Apple product.
What’s Next?
Apple is moving on from this fiasco. It’s tough to tell now whether the antenna issues and resulting PR problems will be a quickly healing scratch or a long-lasting scar on Apple’s public face, but at least for now the company will turn its attention toward new products. The media will be on the lookout for the next opening though — and there will be one. When this happens again, many people — media moguls and end users alike — will be less likely to look past Apple’s imperfections.
However, consumers are almost certain to stay loyal to Apple. The explanation will be satisfactory to the vast majority of iPhone owners. Plus, who wants to give up their Retina Display and iPhone apps? I love Android
(I own a Droid and an iPhone 4), but it doesn’t provide the iPhone experience. Anyone who’s become hooked on Apple products isn’t going to ditch them over “antennagate.”
The only thing Apple can is do is keep building products that enthrall millions of customers worldwide as users, media and Apple’s competitors watch ever more closely from the sidelines. Oh, and Android will continue to gain ground, providing more pressure on Apple to get as close to perfection as possible with its next few product launches.
Google Buzz Has Completely Changed the Game: Here’s How
by neetika on Feb.15, 2010, under Trends
Google may have finally figured out social media, even if there have been some major slip-ups in the way. The implications of that realization could dramatically change social media as a tool and as an industry.
On Tuesday, February 9th, Google launched Buzz for Gmail, a service for sharing thoughts, multimedia, and your social media feeds with your friends utilizing Gmail as the conduit. The result: over 160,000 Google Buzz posts and comments per hour.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that Google didn’t launch a small addition to Gmail — no, it has dropped a nuclear bomb whose fallout will permanently alter the social media landscape.
Why? Why has it grown so rapidly? Why has it riled up such strong emotions on both sides? Are the privacy issues going to permanently damage Google? And most of all, what does Google Buzz
mean for Twitter, Facebook, and the rest of the social media world?
Why Have Users Embraced Buzz?
It’s a question that has both simple and complex answers: why has Google Buzz taken off as a service (thus far) in ways that Orkut, Google Friend Connect, and Google’s other attempts at social media did not?
Let’s start with the most obvious one, and one I think was a brilliant move, despite the privacy issues: it’s wired directly into Gmail. With a flip of a switch, Buzz gained tens of millions of users. With the Buzz tab just directly under “Inbox,” the service creating its own unread count, and Buzz emails flooding inboxes, how could people not try it out? The main reason buzz is growing so quickly is because it is easily accessible to Gmail’s large and already established user base.
Summary: Easy to use, accessible, convenient, closer social circle, moves in real-time, engaging…
Google’s got a monster on its hands.
Addressing the Privacy Issue
One of the obstacles to Google Buzz’s growth — and a major point of criticism — has been the privacy issue. Since it’s linked directly into Gmail, people can figure out your email address. Since it auto-followed your most emailed friends, people could figure out your email habits.
All of these issues are legitimate, but here’s the thing: Google is responding with lightning speed. Yesterday the search giant made some serious privacy tweaks, making auto-follow into auto-suggest and giving you the ability to completely kill Buzz if you so choose.
In a few months, few will remember these privacy snafus. Just as people have forgotten about the Facebook News Feed fiasco and other Facebook disasters, people will forgive and forget about Buzz’s initial privacy concerns.
In that sense, Google will get the best of both worlds: it has seeded Google Buzz with people and content via the auto-follow and automatic opt-in features, but it won’t feel the heat for privacy issues due to the recent changes to both. It may have been unintended, but it was savvy.
The Potential Impact on Twitter and Facebook
Now that we’ve established that Google Buzz is growing and isn’t likely to go anywhere anytime soon, it’s time to look towards what will happen next.
If Google Buzz is here to stay, what does that mean for the two kingpins of social media, Twitter and Facebook?
If you don’t think both companies haven’t had constant meetings over the potential impact of Buzz, then you are kidding yourselves. There’s no way both companies don’t have people analyzing scenarios and Google’s plan for its social media wunderkind.
To analyze the potential impact of Buzz on both services, lets look at the key questions for Twitter and Facebook, and some possible answers:
Q: Will Buzz Kill either Facebook or Twitter?
A: No. There’s probably nothing that could kill either service. The user bases are too large and passionate for that to happen.Q: Could Buzz slow down the growth of Fb/Twitter?
A: Absolutely. Imagine that 15 million people are spending 15 more minutes in their Gmail inbox because of Buzz, whether that’s browsing what their friends are saying or creating their own posts. There are only 24 hours in a day, so that time has to be taken from somewhere.Yes, part of that time is being taken away from tweeting and facebooking. Even if it just means one less status update per person per day, that adds up to millions of updates lost to Buzz.
The effect could be a lot worse. We just can’t know yet.
Q: Could Buzz become bigger than Twitter?
A: It already is:
While we can’t pinpoint an exact number, Twitter has probably around 18-25 million users worldwide. Heck, let’s say there are 30 million to be generous. Gmail has over 38 million uniques in the U.S., and that was back in September 2009. Worldwide, that number is simply larger.
Yes, there are far more tweets than comments/posts on Buzz right now, but beating those engagement numbers isn’t out of the question for Buzz.
Q: Could advertisers and brands switch some of their dollars and focus from Facebook and Twitter to Buzz?
A: With millions of people using Buzz, how could they not?Buzz is already taking a chunk out of Twitter, Facebook, and other social media services. That’ll only grow as brands and advertisers better understand what they can do with Buzz and its millions of users. Buzz is equivalent to throwing a giant super magnet into a room filled with nails.
Predicting How Google Buzz Will Play Out
Google Buzz has landed, and its impact is already changing the landscape. Gmail integration, real-time commenting, ease of use, and a new base of users that might not have been as socially engaged are now part of the Buzz universe.
Not only can you expect Facebook and Twitter to respond with their own features and partnerships, but you can expect developers to shift their focus as well. Remember last year when there was a Twitter app gold rush? I do — as the service skyrocketed, countless developers embraced Twitter’s API and built amazing apps on top of it. Facebook had the same experience when its platform first launched.
Now it’s Google’s turn. Buzz is an open platform, meaning that developers will soon be able to create new apps for Buzz — everything from iPhone apps to analytical services will be built on top of it.
Now if Google wanted to really shake up the developer ecosystem, it could offer ad revenue share for Buzz apps and its own app store. Gmail advertising is already well developed, and if you haven’t noticed yet, Buzz already has Google ads being placed against it. Offering apps the ability to quickly and easily monetize within Google Buzz could really take away from development resources being placed towards Twitter, Facebook, and mobile platforms.
If Buzz can keep up the momentum, everyone from publishers (like ourselves) to developers to Fortune 500 companies will have to pay attention to the conversations happening on Buzz. If this thing can drive traffic or put a big brand on its toes because of a buzz that goes viral, then there’s no telling how far it will go. Oh, and Google’s only just begun with this thing — more killer features are in its immediate future.
The social media landscape has been permanently altered. To ignore Buzz would be a costly mistake, because Google has finally created the definition of a game-changer.
