Schiller emailed Steven Frank, too

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Schiller emailed Steven Frank, too

In response to Steven Frank’s boycott of the iPhone ecosystem until key problems are fixed, Phil Shiller emailed him with what amounts to “We hear you and we’re working on it”. In Steven’s words:

What I do have is a comment from Phil that Apple has read what I (and others) have written recently, and that they’re taking it very seriously. Realistically, what more could I hope to achieve from my puny blog posts and arm-flailing?

Sounds good to me. Any communication from Apple — any sign of life, of a desire to improve, of caring about these issues — is a step forward.

So, what do I do now, dear readers? Stick pedantically to my guns? Or take this new information at face value?

The boycott was an impressive display of willpower, but I wouldn’t wish the Pre or G1 on even my worst enemies.

I hereby promise not to give Steven Frank any shit if he comes back to the iPhone now. Mission accomplished. Terms tentatively met. Will you, fellow Mac geeks, join me in this promise?

We want the iPhone and its ecosystem to be great because we love it and because it’s already the best of what’s out there, despite its policy flaws, and we want to see it continually improve. Apple has never stopped at “good enough”, even when they’re already far ahead of their competitors, but they take a lot of risks and brave a lot of unproven paths that don’t always work out perfectly. They need a kick in the ass from us every now and then to stay on the right track.

Nice that Apple’s getting the hint and offering to change, but what’s their impetus to improve — now or in the future — if they know their most vocal opposition is going to come crawling back before the problems are even fixed? From a business standpoint, it makes little sense to spend resources on a problem that isn’t costing the company any money, customers, or — in this case — developers.