If Apple wants to be a major player …

In light of our recent analysis of Apple’s PR problems, we thought this post from The Observer might be of interest:

The event was an instructive shambles. In summary, the message was: Apple is good and makes great products; all smartphones have reception problems; Apple loves its customers, which is why it built all those cool retail stores for them; the iPhone problem can be fixed by fitting a rubberised “bumper” over the bezel; and Apple will give everyone a free bumper, so what’s the problem?

The press conference was instructive because it provided such a vivid demonstration of how inexperienced Apple is in its new role as just another company – and how inept Jobs is when faced with the hostile skepticism that is the routine experience of other CEOs.

“When it comes to responding to hostile or sceptical media coverage,” wrote one experienced commentator, “Jobs & co seem to be like a presidential contender who’s been able to skip the primaries and go straight to the general election – missing all the vetting and the hundreds of debates that help to surface any weakness or issues of concern, providing time to develop the skills necessary to respond to any situation. Jobs demonstrated what I've never seen him do in front of an audience: he not only lost his cool, he lost his charm. He was a like an arena rock star who can’t perform acoustic.”

Read the entire post: If Apple wants to be a major player it needs to start behaving like one | Technology | The Observer.