Like its stock
price, Apple has had an
up-and-down year.
Despite giant strides such
as the launch of the
iPhone 5 and iPad Mini,
Apple's stumbles stand
out much more.
Here are five of the
biggest turkeys:

Apple's Lost Maps

Apple's Maps app debacle
led to CEO Tim Cook
issuing an apology—a
rarity for Apple. The app
was truly atrocious,
spouting off wrong
directions and lacking key
features such as public
transportation routes.
Even worse, Maps
became fodder for late
night talk shows. When
you become the punch
line, you know you're in
trouble

The Maps app is Apple's
biggest turkey this year
for a number of reasons.
Maps is arguably the
most important app on
the iPhone and other
mobile devices. You just
can't get it wrong. Also,
Apple's decision to come
out with its own maps
app and remove Google
Maps from the App Store
makes Apple look petty.
Apple's mantra has been
to hold the consumer
experience above all
other concerns. The Maps
app, coming only a year
after the passing of Steve
Jobs, doesn't say good
things about the new
people in charge.

New iPad, Not So New

Whenever Apple came
out with another iPad
version in the past, two
things were certain:
Apple's marketing team
had done its job building
hype to a crescendo, and
Apple delivered on the
hype with an amazing
new feature.
The original iPad created
the touch-tablet market.
The second-generation
iPad was lighter, faster
and could leap buildings
with a single bound. The
third-generation iPad
brought a major
improvement to the all-
important graphics.
In the fall, Apple
announced the fourth-
generation iPad. You
might not have even
heard about it; the new
iPad was a footnote
during the iPad Mini
announcement.

There's nothing really
new about this fourth-
generation iPad, either—
only a faster chip and a
Lightning connector.
Apple calls this version
"the iPad with Retina
Display," but it was the
third-generation iPad that
introduced Retina to the
tablet.
Even worse, the third-
generation iPad, which
Apple calls "the new
iPad," came out only
seven months ago. The
fourth-generation iPad is
a major turkey. Like the
Maps app, Apple has
forsaken consumers of
the third-generation iPad.

The Forstall Firing

Late last month, Apple
brass ousted Steve Jobs
protégé Scott Forstall and
divided his duties among
executives. Cook said the
management changes will "encourage
even more collaboration."
Like Jobs, Forstall is
passionate about
products and, by many
accounts, difficult to work
with. He reportedly
refused to apologize for
the shortcomings of
Apple Maps. The Forstall
firing signals a new kind
of post-Jobs Apple led by
a supply-chain guru who
believes in collaboration.
Is Apple getting soft? You
bet.

Lightning Killed the
iPeripherals Star

When Apple came out
with a new connector for
the iPhone 5 and fourth-
generation iPad, called
Lightning, Apple
consumers who had
bought a boatload of iOS
peripherals breathed a
sigh. Companies such as
hotels that outfitted
rooms with iOS
peripherals breathed a
heavier one.

Such is the world of
Apple, where Apple lords
over the masses—not
only hardware but
software, too. Apple
determines what apps get
into the App Store and
reserves the right to
remove them whenever it
wants without any
explanation.
Meanwhile, Apple iOS
peripherals makers
cheered: Old customers
are new again!

The Great Facetime-
iMessage Outage

This month, Apple's
iMessage and FaceTime
services suddenly
stopped working, twice in
four days. Sure, outages
happen (just ask RIM).
But one of Apple's
hallmark marketing
messages is, "It just
works." Well, not this
time.
While the outage itself
isn't a big deal, the
underlying message is
the real turkey: Apple is
becoming just another
tech company.

link
m.cio.com/article/722123/5_Apple_Turkeys_in_2012?page=2&taxonomyId=3004