Pride Means Never Having to Say Youre Sorry
Email
Print
5. It's not alone
It's important to note that Apple
isn't the only company that makes mistakes in the tech space. And it isn't
the only company in the industry that hates to admit mistakes. It's probably
more apt to say that Apple makes far fewer mistakes than the vast majority of companies
in the IT industry. In that light, why should Apple feel the need to admit
defeat or apologize when it makes a mistake? If the rest of the companies in
the industry are against admitting defeat, Apple should be too.
6. The degree of the issue matters
A manufacturing issue is probably enough for Apple to want to
admit defeat. After all, if a company can't produce a product with the right
quality, there isn't much Apple can do to fix that. But in other cases where
issues aren't so major, maybe Apple is right to not want to admit defeat.
Something might not have worked out as well as the company would have liked,
but it still worked to a degree that it was comfortable with. Simply put, the
smaller the issue, the lesser the justification for Apple admitting defeat.
7. It makes up for it elsewhere
Apple isn't a company that likes to admit when it's wrong or
apologize for issues, but it has a knack for making up for those problems
elsewhere. The company's Apple TV, for example, might not be the best set-top
box on the market, but with a $99 price tag, it's an awfully attractive product
for customers on a budget. Apple walks a fine line between making mistakes and
making people forget about those issues by compensating for them elsewhere. And
that has helped the company minimize times when it actually needs to admit
defeat.
8. The corporate culture doesn't mix with defeat
Apple's corporate culture, which
has been largely determined by Steve Jobs, doesn't fit well with an
admission of defeat. Time and again, Apple has proved that it believes it's
better than the competition. Whether or not that's true is up for debate. But
as long as Apple believes that, the company will keep rebuffing any requests to
admit it's wrong.
9. It's always looking ahead
Part of the reason Apple won't admit defeat is its incessant
desire to look ahead, rather than behind. If it delivers a product that doesn't
work as well as it should, the company simply betters it in the next iteration.
It has consciously decided that rather than accept a loss, it needs to find a
way to overcome the defeat. It's an interesting tack, and it's one that has
helped the company become so successful.
10. It would rather fix the problem
Whenever Apple is presented with a potential issue that it
doesn't want to admit defeat on, the company typically fixes it. That was
especially true with the iPhone 4's antenna problem. Rather than simply admit
that the device has issues, Steve Jobs showed other products suffering from the
same problem. He then announced that Apple would offer free cases to customers
suffering from the issue. It was a smart move. And it's one that Apple likes to
make whenever it doesn't want to admit defeat against the critics.
