Apple’s AirPower: a fiasco beyond imagination

“AirPower is not your stereotypical screwup. It’s something far grander. Never in history has Apple announced a product, gone silent about it for 18 months, and then killed it before it ever shipped,” Ken Segall writes for The Observatory. “At least it proves that Apple can be a true innovator in the area of self-immolation.”
“‘Freedom to fail’ is actually a liberating thing, essential to the Apple culture,” Segall writes. “Unfortunately, AirPower isn’t the ‘liberating’ kind of failure. It’s just shocking and sad. Bad planning? Bad vision? Bad strategy? Bad engineering? I don’t know exactly what to call it, but I’m pretty sure it starts with the word ‘bad.'”
“Even Apple’s statement about the end of AirPower was a failure. For some reason, Tim Cook let it fall to Senior VP Dan Riccio, whose emailed explanation concluded, ‘“the future is wireless and we are committed to push the wireless experience forward,'” Segall writes. “A limp defense from a company that just failed so publicly to push the wireless experience forward.”
“Naively, I expect Apple-level engineers to have a pretty good grasp of what is possible and what is not—and to have that grasp long before Tim Cook goes onstage to announce the product,” Segall writes. “If the engineers had their reckoning with the laws of physics a bit sooner, Apple wouldn’t be shipping those wonderful new AirPods in a box that shows off the amazing new AirPower. (A little icing on this cake of embarrassment.)”

Imagine the extent of the clusterfsck within Apple where AirPower gets printed on Wireless Charging Case for AirPods packaging yet gets axed days later. Must have been a fun, fun time in Cupertino for some folks! #AirPower #Clusterfsck #TimCooksApple https://t.co/zFnBGVyxD9 pic.twitter.com/lGj9suXRk3
— MacDailyNews (@MacDailyNews) March 30, 2019

Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Hopefully, the AirPower fiasco, as Segall rightly describes it, is a wakeup call that reverberates throughout Apple, shaking out some dead wood the process.
SEE ALSO:
Apple officially pulls the plug on AirPower – March 29, 2019
Apple’s AirPower to launch late this month, supply chain sources say – March 22, 2019
Apple secures rights to AirPower trademark – March 21, 2019
New AirPower image alongside iPhone XS appears within Apple’s website code – March 21, 2019
Will we see Apple announce AirPower, new iPod touch before week’s end? – March 20, 2019
Apple has approved production of AirPower wireless-charging mat – March 20, 2019
Apple’s iOS 12.2 beta 6 includes AirPower support – March 20, 2019
Tim Cook’s Apple vs. Steve Jobs’ Apple – February 28, 2019
Apple unveils AirPower charging mat to simultaneously charge your iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods; coming ‘next year’ – September 12, 2017
Apple’s desperate Mac Pro damage control message hints at a confused, divided company – April 6, 2017
What Steve Jobs gave Apple that Tim Cook cannot – November 18, 2015
The culture at Apple changed when Tim Cook took over as CEO – April 10, 2017
Lazy Apple. It’s not hard to imagine Steve Jobs asking, ‘What have you been doing for the last four years?’ – December 9, 2016
Open letter to Tim Cook: Apple needs to do better – January 5, 2015