Apple’s Talk No Show
Apple isn't sending an executive to appear at John Gruber's annual live edition of The Talk Show. Are those alarm bells I hear?
Ever since I started doing these live shows from WWDC, I’ve kept the guest(s) secret, until showtime. I’m still doing that this year. But in recent years the guests have seemed a bit predictable: senior executives from Apple. This year I again extended my usual invitation to Apple, but, for the first time since 2015, they declined.
There are two possibilities that spring to mind:
- Apple, having had a rough time over the last year, with Apple Intelligence failing to materialise in a meaningful way, and legal problems, are stepping away from public questioning
- Gruber is being punished for being critical of Apple.
The act of cowardice
If it’s the former, well, it’s the wrong decision. Gruber is a critical friend of Apple. He’ll ask difficult questions, but he’ll also only ask the questions he knows they’ll answer. This is a missed opportunity to start reconnecting with their customers and, critically, the developers.
I suspect Marco’s reaction will mirror that of many:
In the absence of any other information, it’s easy to assume that Apple no longer wants its executives to be interviewed in a human, unscripted, unedited context that may contain hard questions, and that Apple no longer feels it necessary to show their appreciation to our community and developers in this way.
The act of spite
If it’s the latter? Well, that’s even worse. As Alan Jacobs put it:
Apple execs demonstrating classic addict behavior here: When the people who love you best tell you you have a problem, cut off the people who love you best.
Even if that's not explicitly what Apple is doing here, they simply must know that's what it looks like. And it's just about the worst look imaginable. It's something the Trump administration would do, not Apple.
Ah, Apple. I do love your kit. But I’m deeply concerned about the company that’s producing it.
