Newsletter Issue #789: Revisiting the Alleged Decline in Apple Software Quality
January 12th, 2015All it took was an Apple developer’s complaint about the supposed declining state of Apple’s software to fuel a number of articles saying that things are going from bad to worse. One story had it that, in light of bugs that are never actually mentioned in the article, iOS and OS X software quality may not be quite as bad as Windows, but it was getting closer. So we have the meme here that Apple is releasing too many products and needs to focus more sharply on perfecting new releases before they are posted for download.
Everyone’s whipping boy is iOS 8.0.1. How could Apple have allowed that wretched thing to pass the QA labs anyway? It doesn’t matter that it was withdrawn a little over an hour after its misbegotten release, and a fixed version came out the very next day. What about those estimated 40,000 users of an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus who had their gear virtually bricked because of Apple’s monumental screw-up?
All right, you could restore the affected devices, but why the inconvenience? An Apple executive said it was all due to a glitch in the distribution system, which he referred to as the “wrapper,” and that, actually, the update was fine. Version 8.0.2 was said to be the same update, but I suppose with a proper wrapper so that things wouldn’t go wrong. If only those who talked to that Apple executive would have asked him to define what he meant so regular people could understand what really happened. But proper follow-up questions are rarely asked, maybe because they don’t want to upset the interview subject and lose access.
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I have to say some of the software rolled out wasn’t exactly what you’d call a blue ribbon moment in the company’s history, considering we had public betas as well to assist in development this time around. When it comes to Apple, customers have higher expectations and the expectation things ‘just work’. With Apple Watch on the horizon the last thing they need is another black eye at launch for a premium and highly anticipated product. Maybe there are internal processes they need to address now they have a larger hardware and software portfolio to work with. They had a massive year last year so perhaps it’s time to take iOS and Yosemite out on the town for a Snow Leopard makeover.