As the upcoming CEO of Apple, John Ternus is surely getting deluged with advice, and I do not have the hubris to tell him what he should do. But my decades of reporting on the tech business have shown me that there’s something he absolutely must not do … because it could ruin the company.
Do not ship anything before it’s finished. You’d think that would be obvious, but it’s a mistake companies make over and over. Even Apple has done it a time or two — and that includes with a product still in its lineup today.
Learn the Newton lesson
Let’s start with a classic example. The Newton MessagePad 120 was a brilliant device, especially with Newton OS 2.0. It let users take notes, make calendar entries, and much more, with handwriting recognition that was state-of-the-art for the 1990s. It flopped for one crucial reason: It was the third-generation Newton, not the first, and the earlier two were essentially rubbish.
The original Newton MessagePad launched in 1993, and the MessagePad 120 came out in 1995. If Apple had held out for about 18 months until it had a product that could deliver on its promises, today we’d look back at the Newton as another groundbreaking Apple success. Instead, by the time a truly functional version of Apple’s PDA hit the market, everyone had already decided the product was junk. And that’s how it is remembered.
But Apple didn’t learn its lesson. Or maybe the managers forgot it after about three decades. In 2024, Apple released the Vision Pro before the technology was ready. Apple’s augmented-reality headset is an amazing proof-of-concept, and a taste of what computers will be like in the future, but it wasn’t anywhere close to ready for commercial sale.
The result? It’s a $3,500, overly heavy piece of kit that appeals to only a niche audience. It’s been labeled a flop and it gave Apple a PR black eye. It would have been better for the company to keep Vision Pro in its development labs until the technology caught up with Apple’s hopes for an AR headset.
Not just Apple: Samsung, Microsoft and others
These examples are rare missteps from Apple. Other companies make this mistake all the time. Here are some outstanding examples.
Microsoft introduced Windows Vista in 2007 with performance problems, constant security prompts, massive hardware requirements and widespread compatibility difficulties. By the time Windows 7 arrived — essentially a refined Vista — Microsoft had fixed most of the problems. But users were already scarred and looked suspiciously at future Windows versions.
More recently, the Samsung Galaxy Fold in 2019 was the first folding smartphone to become widely available. It was an utter debacle, including literally breaking in reviewers’ hands. Screens cracked, hinges jammed and a protective screen layer was mistaken for removable plastic. Today’s foldables are much more polished, which is why Apple is expected to introduce a folding iPhone within the next year.
There are other examples that I could quickly cite. Take the BlackBerry Storm, the first smartphone from RIM with a touchscreen. At launch, it was a buggy, laggy mess. The company later fixed all the problems, but not in time to save itself. And Sega rushed out the Saturn game console to beat Sony, but the plan backfired — the product simply wasn’t ready.
Apple knows this
The mistake of launching the Vision Pro before the product was ready is surprising because Steve Jobs knew better, and he said so almost 30 years ago. John Ternus should have this quote from the Apple co-founder framed on the wall of his new corner office:
“We had a fundamental belief that doing it right the first time was going to be easier than having to go back and fix it. And I cannot say strongly enough that the repercussions of that attitude are staggering. I’ve seen them again and again throughout my business life.”
So much pressure
To be clear, companies don’t introduce unfinished tech out of carelessness. It’s sometimes a calculated gamble. Their top executives believe that success comes from being first to market with something, even if it’s not very good.
Companies also face tremendous pressure to have the large amounts spent on product research and development start paying off.
But Apple proved time and again that being first to market doesn’t guarantee anything. The iPod, iPhone and iPad didn’t pioneer new product categories — they demonstrated that it’s better to wait and get the tech right rather than introduce something half-baked.
Bring on the new Apple products … when they are ready
There’s so much enthusiasm among Apple users for when John Ternus takes over as CEO in September. He’s a “hardware guy” with big plans to “change the world once again.”
But when he takes the top spot, and starts preparing the amazing new devices we’re expecting — a touchscreen MacBook, smart glasses, AI pins and lots, lots more — Ternus absolutely must be sure that development for these is 100% finished before he introduces them.
Remember the Newton lesson: It’s far better to delay the release of a product, even a hotly anticipated one, than to put out a buggy mess.
We users can wait. Perhaps not patiently, but the criticism resulting from a delayed product is nothing compared to what comes from a failed one. Look at the Vision Pro if anyone needs a reminder.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh SE/30 (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer.
That’s because he’s a “tablet first” type of guy. Rather than use a Macbook, he connects a keyboard case to the iPad. And instead of a desktop Mac, he connects his tablet to a 27-inch display and full-size keyboard. (So don’t try to tell him that everyone has to use a Mac to be productive.)
Before coming to Cult of Mac, Ed wrote for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
