Letters to Steve_ Inside the E-Mail Inbox of Apple's Steve Jobs - Mark Milian [16]
Though not always done at length, Steve Jobs often felt the obligation to defend Apple and its choices. For example, designers questioned Apple’s aesthetics after the company chose to retire the compact disc portrayed in the iTunes logo in favor of having the recognizable musical note centered in a simple, blue circle. Joshua Kopac, who oversees design work for advertising firm ValuLeads, e-mailed Steve saying, “This new iTunes logo really sucks.” Steve’s shot back, “We disagree,” without further explanation.
Another designer, William Szilveszter, discussing a separate matter messaged Steve about the lack of support on the iPhone for a certain feature called IMAP Idle that can instantly push new e-mails to a device. “Its a power hog,” Steve wrote. Srini Dharmaji, CEO of mobile ad company GoldSpot Media, called Steve a jerk regarding how Apple was handling the iAd mobile banner network and then offered consulting. Steve replied sarcastically, “You are a super salesperson, by the way.”
John Casasanta shared his own insult from Steve exclusively for this book. John runs Tap Tap Tap, a San Francisco app developer that created hits such as Where To? and Camera+. He e-mailed Steve on September 5, 2008 expressing displeasure with a loophole in the App Store’s system. Developers were pumping themselves up in the rankings by giving away their apps in order to inflate download numbers, and then jacking up the price, so that the momentum would carry them high up into the paid-software rankings, a more coveted placement. Steve clued John in to Apple’s solution, which the company had never talked about previously, and concluded with a jab. Steve wrote: “We will be moving to more review-driven rankings. Tricking the review process is quickly dwarfed by real reviews. I notice that your app has not received great reviews…”
Among startup developers, Steve Jobs lost a bit of goodwill when he sided with Apple’s legal department in bullying a small studio into changing the name of its software. The Little App Factory Pty. Ltd. received a letter from Apple saying that the name iPodRip, which is a program for transferring songs to a Mac, infringed on Apple’s trademark, despite the small company having operated under that name for years without protest from Apple. John Devor, the CEO of that developer, penned a desperate, cordial appeal. But Steve offered no remorse: “Change your apps name. Not that big of a deal.” With that, iPodRip became iRip. Steve’s tough business tactic was sort of a blessing for John. “It actually ended up helping us because we got so much press,” John says. So he printed out the e-mail and put it up on the wall in his apartment. “It sits right behind where I work everyday,” he says.
For Little App Factory, changing its app’s name really wasn’t that big of a deal. However, for Russell Ivanovic, Apple’s decision not to allow his app on its store left little option for him, he said, but to catapult from his fifteen minutes of fame afforded by publishing a Steve Jobs letter. Steve wrote in a cut-and-dry message: “We are not allowing apps that create their own desktops. Sorry.”
Likewise, Steve’s take on Gil Friedlander’s proposed app for iPhone SAR radiation readings was, “No interest,” which Gil took to reporters. Gil later offered his app through Cydia, an unauthorized storefront that can only be accessed by modifying the software on an iPhone in a process Apple spurns called “jailbreaking.” “We tried to enter Apple through the front door, and we had constructive discussions with them, and I think we were very patient,” Gil says begrudgingly.
Steve was known to occasionally and abruptly change his stances on issues. He would dismiss a colleague’s proposal on first listen, then the next time, he would reluctantly hear but