CNET Accuses Apple of Over-Hyping Launch

An anonymous reader writes "A columnist at CNET is questioning whether Apple over-hyped last week's launch. From the article: 'Jobs' announcement of a new leather case for the iPod was especially ridiculous. Like the queen announcing a new toaster in Buckingham Palace. It seemed odd that Jobs was troubling himself to introduce fashion accessories to Apple's products.' Is Apple a victim of its own success? Can it hold a low-profile product launch anymore -- or do we inevitably expect too much?"

Downward spiral.

[Anonymous Coward]

So now let's over-hype the over-hype!

Jesus... let it go.

Too much

[Anonymous Coward]

We, inevitably, expect too much.

Who did the over-hyping?

[BigZaphod]

It was my understanding that the press event was rather small by most standards. Perhaps it was the press and the rumor sites that over-hyped things - not Apple. I know that I had no idea the event was even going on until others pointed it out to me and were tracking the rumor sites looking for the next big announcement. If anything, perhaps the fact that nothing overly major was announced was intentional and designed to throw people off so as to better keep public expectations in check. I wouldn't put it past them.

Well, duh

[slavemowgli]

Overhyped? Of course it was overhyped. Goodness, that's what companies do - it's called advertising, marketing, PR, or whatever you want to call it. If you don't take everything that companies trying to sell you something tell you about the products they're trying to sell with a large grain of salt, then it's your own fault really.

Wow. Kettle and soot and all.

[Frosty Piss]

Wow. Kettle and soot and all. CNet complaining about HYPE? CNet IS the definition of hype. They are one of the preferred corporate hype tools... Apple must not have greased the story's author with enough free shit.

Mac mini not a PVR

[tgibbs]

His biggest objections seems to be that the Mac Mini is not a PVR. Of course, if it had included everything necessary for a PVR--ATSC HD tuner, analog tuner, cable card capacity, huge hard drive--it would have been considerably more expensive, and analysts would be criticizing Apple for releasing an $1000 computer to duplicate the functionality of a device that your cable company will rent you for $10/month.

Um...

[daveschroeder]

What were they expecting?

Apple said they were going to announce some "fun new products". Forget the pouch, jeez. They introduced an Intel-based Mac mini with amazing features inside of the same form factor as the old mini, and a nifty set of iPod speakers that has unseated the previous leader in this category in the opinion of most reviewers (Bose).

Apple stopped always putting all of its eggs in the Macworld/WWDC basket, and introducing products when they became available. The Intel-based Mac mini is a pretty damned good product, and a huge hint at Apple's admittedly tentative and cautious steps toward the living room.

So what's wrong with that?

What were we supposed to get?

An Apple cell phone?

An Apple tablet?

A touchsheen video iPod?

Anyone expecting those things at every single introduction is expecting too much.

It was overhyped by Slashdot

[Anonymous Coward]

It was only overhyped by Slashdot. This happens every time.

"You've come a long way, baby!"

[DwarfGoanna]

I think whats happening here is that Apple is doing so well, anything they do becomes big news, Which then gets speculated on by the webizens, and completely over-hyped by the press. Apple released an invitation, to a small event. "Some fun new products" isn't exactly earth shattering, is it?

What's funny though, is that this is a dramatically different situation than it was in 1998, when I got my first Mac. I dare say Apple has done so well in the last few years that the long standing /. mac(back)lash is bleeding over into the mainstream. I know lots of kids who don't want an iPod, because they're "too trendy".

Re:Good morning!!!

[ericdano]

Hey, it's better than Dupes. Though there has already been one today.

Seriously though, CNet and others need to get a grip. The Mini Mac was a great announcement. It wasn't the PDA or iPhone everyone keeps rumoring about, but it was a good, though small, announcement.

If you want over hype, check out Microsoft and it's Origami Project [origamiproject.com]. There isn't even a product yet, and yet they have launched a website, and had a media day the same day as Apple. At least Apple is shipping a real product.

I accuse...

[Jeff Benjamin]

I accuse CNET and slashdot for over-hyping Apple's over-hyping.

Because they have to

[Opportunist]

It's a fashion thing. The iPod is cool, it's stylish, but with all the fluff stripped, it's an MP3 player. Now, when people have an MP3 player, they got one. It's not like you need one again after 6 months (unless it's badly made and it falls apart, but then I would kinda doubt people would get the same model again).

Sooner or later, the market is saturated. What now? Sure, you can release a new model (and Apple did). Only works once or twice as well, there's only so much room for improvement. You can make it smaller, you can make it hold larger armounts of music, but when it's small enough to be no longer visible (don't forget, fashion is also about showing what you got) and when it can hold the equivalent to 100 CDs, people don't want it any smaller or bigger.

So accessories come into play. And besides selling those MP3s for 99 cent, that's where the money comes from. Because the players are sold. You will probably sell a few more, but that's no longer the big market.

Now, it's incredibly hard to patent sizes. Sure, you can patent a design, you can patent the brand, but there's no way to keep third party vendors from selling gadgets that "just happen to" fit the iPod perfectly. How should you patent the earplugs? It uses a standard socket, any earplug would do. How do you make your customer buy your add-ons instead of others, which are probably cheaper?

You start hyping. You have to make sure that your customers know that YOUR, and only YOUR accessories offer the value they're looking for. You NEED those earplugs, because they're original and without, the iPod is no longer cool. You NEED our case because only with it, you show the world that you have the original and only then you are part of the family.

Not really Apple's fault

[Y-Crate]

The question you need to ask is: Where is the hype coming from?

Did Apple claim that their press conference would herald fantastically interesting products that would reshape the industry? As I recall, they merely announced a press conference and said they would have some "fun stuff". That's it.

This wasn't Steve walking on stage at MacWorld - which is a hypefest by design, where only the biggest products are released - this was Apple introducing another Intel-based Mac to show its partners and investors that it was committed to, and proceeding with the transition from PPC. The fact they had some other, far less interesting products ready at the same time, and decided to show them off as well seems to be more of a logical exploitation of the press conference. Would it have made sense for Apple to simply make no mention of their other new products while the media's attention was focused squarely on them? I don't think so.

People are so used to Apple throwing them curveballs that they build up entirely unrealistic expectations of the company, and get angry at Apple when they fail to live up to these fantasies. You can criticize Apple for borking the video chipset in the new Minis, but you can't really get mad at them for not releasing a product that may only exist in your mind.

Re:Mac mini not a PVR

[UnknowingFool]

it would have been considerably more expensive, and analysts would be criticizing Apple for releasing an $1000 computer to duplicate the functionality of a device that your cable company will rent you for $10/month.

Also, Apple always makes small but solid steps when approaching new technology. The capabilities of the iPod have increased with each new generation. The iPod was first launched without the iTMS but I think Apple planned to launch the music store all along. Mac OSX is on the 5th generation (if you include 10.0) in roughly 5 years and is slowly adding more features. So if Apple were to do a PVR, it is following a predictable pattern. Release it in small manageable bites and work out the kinks. Then re-iterate.

Re:Well, duh

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, but when was the last time you saw a _real_ company like Microsoft or Intel hype a leather pouch? Apple must be scraping the bottom, because that's just pathetic.

El Duplicado, stupido

[hellfire]

This has got to be the biggest conspiracy over nothing that I have every seen. First, Slashdot posts a sensational post about how the new products at Apple are overhyped and links an article that doesn't over hype anything! Then Cnet comes out with an article saying it's over hyped which slashdot posts as well! Ten out of Ten points for getting lots of hits and comments but -1000000 points for lack of intelligence. I say what everyone else is saying... what hype?

For a product to be overhyped I have to see it somewhere other than slashdot which does get a high bandwidth of users but does not have mainstream penetration.

Re:Who did the over-hyping?

[mattkinabrewmindspri]

Or maybe they had something else planned, and were not able to get it ready in time?

How can you overhype a fashion product?

[EmbeddedJanitor]

Apple is all about fashion, image and looking cool. Hype is part of what makes the whole image.

Re:I didn't see much Apple hype...

[fm6]

Yeah, a private event in the company cafeteria is not exactly hype. However, when the CEO uses that event to promote a leather iPod case you have to wonder whether he's excessively fond of hearing himself talk!

Re:The leather sleeve is a precursor/clue

[Anonymous Coward]

The touchscreen iPod was a Photoshopped hoax. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPNgzz870F4 [youtube.com]

Re:Mac mini not a PVR

[Anonymous Coward]

And if you do criticise Apple, you better post as an anonymous coward or be modded down like if there was no tomorrow.

Re:Who did the over-hyping?

[Anonymous Coward]

Precisely. The invite said, "Check out some fun new products." Nothing was mentioned there within concerning video iPod/iTunes Movie Store/Core Duo powered Toaster Ovens etc. The over-hype was entirely due to the over-imaginative minds at CNet.

Re:I accuse...

[Anonymous Coward]

I accuse CNET and slashdot for over-hyping Apple's over-hyping.

Exactly. Apple did not over-hype this ... the media did. When their own predictions disappoint them, they start pointing fingers. But the issue is much bigger than just a little Apple PR get-together. The media have become a bunch of boobs who no longer garner respect. This is one reason why corps and polls are getting away with all sorts of crap. Every time they screw up, they can just point to the media and yell "boobs ahoy!" and who can deny it?. This takes the prying eyes off their own misdeeds. Unless the media can somehow repair itself we are all sunk because the mechanism for checking unfettered power grabs becomes disabled. If Watergate happened today, Nixon would be still be president. (OK, I know he is dead but you know what I mean.)

Even worse, this is almost a dupe

[Anonymous Coward]

Didn't we already have this conversation for a very similar article? The C|Net columnist is probably just a Slashdot reader who paraphrased everything that was said on the forum last time around and handed it to his editor.

Re:Downward spiral.

[Firehed]

Just goes to show, the media is to blame. Apple did no hyping whatsoever - they sent out invitations to the event to a few relavent people and nothing more. The media took those invitations and plastered them over the internet and made wild declarations of what's the latest gadget that'll be coming out of Cupertino.

In other news - world affected by common sense accuses CNET of overhyping Apple's unannounced products and then blaming Apple for them doing it.

I think Core {Solo|Duo}'ing the Mac Mini's was a great move, but we're all too busy complaining how bad the iPod Hi-Fi sounds to realize that we haven't even heard one and missed the more important release.

Re:Amazing features - Yes

[NekoXP]

Those features are ten a penny on every PC these days.

You could say that the Mac Mini was underpowered in it's original incarnation. It's not like they COULDN'T have had these features (HD movie playback is a chipset support issue; Core Duo can't do it on it's own, either) on a PowerPC Mac Mini that size, they certainly had the Northbridge for it in the G4 Macs and PowerBooks.

Saying that the "Mac Mini has amazing features for it's size" is really just totally underestimating what you can do with technology these days. If you get rid of the PCI slots on your average PC board and solder the CPU down, you can get all those features in a board that size. Nano ITX is stark proof of this kind of miniaturisation.

Perhaps working for a company that designs solutions like that, I am jaded and cynical and simply unamazed at these obviously life-changing things Apple have put into this new box?

Or maybe in actual fact.. they just aren't amazing. I rest my case.

Re:Downward spiral.

[pimpimpim]

Indeed, someone at slashdot seems desperate to get this "overhype" thingy going. It was tried 3 days before, just to found out later that the actual article was not about the overhyping at all, but actually a praise of the simple remote ( http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/03/03/ 1911227 [slashdot.org] )

Well, the editors can be glad that someone was prepared to write an article that would fit this slashdot topic at last ;)

(Not that I've read TFA this time)

Re:How can you overhype a fashion product?

[pomo monster]

Proof that Macs aren't made for fratboys.

Re:Good morning!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

By "anyone with even a moderate appreciation for sound quality" I think he means "the vaccuum tubes and $3000 speaker cables demographic"...

The Press Invitation Said "Fun New Products"

[John_Booty]

Overhyped? Hmmm. The press invitations specifically mentioned that Apple would be introducing some "fun new products". Fun new products. Roll that phrase around in your mind for a little bit. Fun new products.

Does that sound like an earthshaking announcement to you? Like Apple was going to introduce OS XI or make a "fuck Intel; we're using Cell processors now" kind of announcement?

If so, you're nuts. I was expecting some iPod-related announcements, perhaps the fabled "Video iPod" (yawn) at most and some capacity bumps at the least. I'd say their product announcements fell right in the middle of that modest spectrum.

It's true that Apple created some hype by not issuing any hints about the products they'd be introducing. Most of those journalists would have stayed at home if you told them in advance that they'd be introducing a new Mini, a leather slipcover, and a boombox. But hey, I can't really blame a company for wanting to create excitement about their products. That's called capitalism, folks. What Apple really did was capitalize on the press and public's fascination with Apple. They simply allowed the press and public to create the hype for them.

So was Apple cannily trying to promote and sell some product? Sure. Did Apple themselves overhype the event? I would say absolutely not.

These products didn't deserve a CEO press event!

[I'm Don Giovanni]

Apple overhyped this "launch" because they launched them with a CEO-hosted press event.
What company needs a CEO-hosted press event to announce a boom box?
Or leather case? Or computer upgrade?
Seriously, when's the last time a company held a press event to announce a boom box?
Apple has themselves to blame. They could've introduced these products without the fanfare, just like any other company.

I said it before, but

[plopez]

I'll say it again. IT is very much like the fashion industry ("XML! It's so modern! It's so now! It's so you!"). Or the US auto industry of the 50's which sold crap but had cool tail fins. Though I must add that most Apple products, while not perfect, are not crap. But they do understand how design and fashion drive consumer retail and technology much better than any other player out there right now.

Re:Downward spiral.

[lucas teh geek]

well, actually i went into an apple store on the weekend and heard an iPod Hi-Fi, trust me, all that complaining is well deserved. its not worth AU$550, heck i think AU$100 computer speakers would give nicer sound. yes, computer speakers arent portable, nor do they offer ipod integration, but I'll be damned if those two features are worth AU$450. I know, I know... I'm not the target market

Re:Who did the over-hyping?

[Kadin2048]

I think it went like this. Apple did a press event, but rather than sending out the usual press releases and all the rest, just sent out some invitations to some select journalists. Rather than assuming that this meant that the products released might be minor, people took this as a sign of Jobs' trademark "one more thing" understatement, and instead thought that they'd be getting Media Macs, 3GHz Minis, (insert favorite white whale product here). When said products didn't materialize, and the whole thing turned out to be fairly minor -- in line with what the original invitations promised -- people got all disappointed.

This wasn't the MacWorld keynote, people! Nothing big was EVER promised or suggested. The people who did, in general, didn't know anything more than you and I. So quit acting disappointed. You got two new products and an overpriced carrying case.

Re:Downward spiral.

[Midnight Thunder]

This is not totally true. If you are talking about Mac Classics, iMac and portables, then you are right. On the other hand the larger Macs, such as the towers, have often had third-party daughter cards or PCI add in accelerators on offer.

Welcome to the media cycle

[ChePibe]

The media's job in two steps:

1) Create false expectations

2) Pounce on those who fail to live up to its created expectations

I guess Apple's just getting what governments have enjoyed for all these years...

Re:Downward spiral.

[cmacb]

"Just goes to show, the media is to blame. Apple did no hyping whatsoever - they sent out invitations to the event to a few relavent people and nothing more. The media took those invitations and plastered them over the internet and made wild declarations of what's the latest gadget that'll be coming out of Cupertino."

Just goes to show that nothing has changed with respect to Slashdot posters not reading the articles and still getting modded up. Article said:

"In the cold light of day, it's hard to decipher exactly who was at fault here. Did Apple over-hype the event by veiling these launches in secrecy, or did we, the press, speculate with such furious ambition that Apple never had a chance of meeting expectations?"

Which, of course, wasn't quite refleced in the article summary.

Re:Downward spiral.

[Firehed]

Again, the media. The /. editors have the same responsibility that the "traditional" media editors do.

Next story: Did Slashdot's editors accurately represent the article in posting the summary, or have we just grown so lazy to expect it to be correct if it makes some vague degree or sense?

Just the other day there was some summary that made absolutely no sense - something like Summary: WTF, Apple? The Hi-Fi sucks! And after all that hype... and Article: Sweet, new products. Great thinking about simplifying the remote. You guys are geniuses. Oh yeah, Apple also released a speaker system with sleek looks and unevaluated quality. And people flocked to actually RTFA, because the summary didn't even have that vague degree of sense we needed to trust it and avoid TFA.

Re:Downward spiral.

[prockcore]

Apple did no hyping whatsoever - they sent out invitations to the event to a few relavent people and nothing more.

They invited a lot of media to a special event hosted by their CEO.

Apple should've just put out a press release and let it go at that. But instead they made it an *event*.

Re:How can you overhype a fashion product?

[pomo monster]

All trolling aside, Apple doesn't really do "hype." Apple's marketing and advertising tends to be understated, even demure, compared with any other company of its size. Hype is the opposite of cool. When you're cool, you don't need to hype yourself. Cool is staying restrained, while you let the media and your (rabid?) fanbase do the dirty work for you.

Re:Downward spiral.

[Overly Critical Guy]

No kidding! Fucking Christ, people!

1.) Apple sent out a very plain invite that breezily mentioned "fun, new products."
2.) The invite list is very small, only around 100 people.
3.) The event is held in Apple's cafeteria, for crying out loud.

Everything about this obviously screamed "routine product announcements." Every rational person should have realized it was going to be another Intel-transitioned Mac product (one of the low-end ones like the Mac mini or iBook) and maybe some iPod stuff.

But, no. All the Mac rumor sites and the press hyped up this tiny little event with touchscreen iPods, Mac mini PVR media centers, tablet Macs, and more.

I cannot believe this CNET author is actually claiming Apple overhyped the event. They didn't--you media bastards did!

Re:These products didn't deserve a CEO press event

[Overly Critical Guy]

The invite list was really small. The event was held in Apple's cafeteria! There was no over-hype here. Just having the CEO announce it doesn't hype anything--Steve Jobs isn't just an ordinary CEO, he's Apple's main orator, and of course he'll announce these things. This small press event was held to get the new products into the news, but that's not hype.

Apple DID announce these without their usual fanfare. These goofy press people were buying into Thinksecret and Appleinsider's rumors.

When will people realize these rumors sites are hurting Apple? This isn't the first time in the last six months that all the rumor sites said one thing, and Apple fell short (dual-core G5s, which ended up coming out much later).

Re:How can you overhype a fashion product?

[Anonymous Coward]

understated?

think different campaign was understated? It's all hype.

the current campaign with the sutherland voiceovers doesn't even have the product in the commercials.

all they sell is hype in their campaigns.

they don't even show ipods in ipod campaigns; they show cool silhouettes to pop music with a bit of edge to it. ALL THEY SELL IS HYPE YOU lame fucktard.

my god.... how is it that you can suck so much cock and not get lockjaw? you must be an old pro.

Re:Downward spiral.

[Ohreally_factor]

It's all about page hits. The editors are trolling for page hits and "ad impressions". The internet has become a contest to see who can be a bigger troll/whore than John Dvorak.