Design City

Apple’s growing pains, culture of secrecy and the iPad

// March 31st, 2010 // Apps, Mac OS

Filed under: Apple

On Saturday, when you plug in your shiny new iPad and peruse the App Store for apps, you’ll see ‘HD’ or ‘XL’ designations for iPad-specific apps. You may wonder what that’s all about.

It’s about a lack of solid information, driven by a top-down policy of secrecy. When a company like Apple fosters a culture of anxiety amongst third-party associates and low-level employees, you’re going to wind up with some bad decisions being made in the absence of clear policies.

True, the iPad offers more pixels than the iPhone, but it is hardly “HD” (whatever that means to begin with). Clearly, these suffixes are designed to let you know that they are “jumbo” versions of apps with more features than their iPhone companions, right? That may not be the case. While they might be bigger, they may not be badder. In fact, they may be more stripped down than their developers intended.

Why would these apps be less feature-filled than devs would want? It comes down to this: Apple’s rush to innovation has caused a vacuum of information for developers. Around this vacuum lies fear. It is a fear generated by Apple as a byproduct of the company’s own paranoia, favoritism, and lack of empowerment for middle managers unable to “think different” and use common sense. Apple is a powerhouse of innovation because it can control things completely, but the other edge on that sword is its own fear of losing control. The machine lurches forward, but is it sustainable?

TUAWApple’s growing pains, culture of secrecy and the iPad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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