By Jo Best, 20 October 2004 15:50
NEWS Apple is cutting it fine to make good on its boast that the latest version of its Mac OS, Tiger, will ship in the first half of next year.
Amazon.com has now changed the date from which it expects to ship Tiger: initially when taking pre-orders, the e-tailer gave a release date of 31 March 2005. That's now slipped to 30 June.
Amazon's UK arm is not taking pre-orders for the operating software and Apple maintains no release date has been set.
While technically filling Apple's promise of releasing Tiger into the world in the first half of 2005, Mac fans will doubtless be disappointed at the wait, especially since a preview release, which Apple's Ken Bereskin, senior director of Mac OS 10, called "a solid copy", has been out since this June.
Nevertheless, Cupertino has yet to rack up the catalogue of delays which have dogged Microsoft's Longhorn release date.
Despite leaving one day of grace between the promised and actual release date for Tiger, execs at the recent Apple Expo repeatedly said the OS's punctuality would put Redmond's to shame.
Corporate VP of marketing Phil Schiller said: "Microsoft's date [for shipping Longhorn] seems to keep changing - we just want to say how far ahead of Microsoft we areĀ we're years ahead of Longhorn."
Comments
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1. anonymous
Apple announced that Tiger would be available in the "first half" of 2005 -- back in July.
How on earth does Amazon shuffling its (very likely imaginary) ship date on its web site constitute Apple's release date "slipping further away"?
This is goofy reporting. Apple is keeping its cards close to its chest precisely *not* to overpromise and underdeliver, a la Longhorn.
2. Steve Jobs
So let me get this straight... You are saying that because a 3rd party who most likely has no inside information is posting a release date, that means that apple is slipping the delivery date? Most like what happened is that Amazon cut the first half of the year in 2, coming up with the march date and ran with it. Apple calls them up and says.. "Dudes, people are jumping on your march date.. lets say we change it" so amazon makes the date the latest it can and still be 1st half.. As for the "Solid Release" of Tiger in the form of the developer preview, it was a developer preview after all. As a DP, it is solid. However, there is still alot missing.. My opinion is tiger will be release in may at the WWDC.
3. anonymous
If you know anything about Apple, you'll know that this is just a ploy. If they move the date to June 30th, then there's no way for rumor sites to speculate when it might be released.
4. Eytan Bernet
What an irresponsible article....
Apple's policy is to not give release dates. When a retailer puts a release date in their advertising, Apple must respond. By telling Amazon that it cannot put March 31st (which may or may not be the release date, no one honestly knows) but tells them they may put the last day of their announced time frame to sell copies. Some people choose to pre-order, Apple is not being disingenuous by not announcing a release date but rather a release half of the year. You and your article are being disingenuous by implying that Apple had set March 31st as a release date which they did not stick to.
I feel you must change the title and byline of the article to indicate that it was Amazon, not Apple, that screwed up here. It is true that if you read your article, you clarify within it. But many people just browse headlines, and by browsing your headline and byline, it appears as if Apple allowed a release date to slip and that it will be as late as Longhorn. Shame on you.
5. anonymous
Stop grasping for controversy please...
"the new Longhorn" ??? How stupid a comment is that? Pehaps when Amazon jumped the gun on the release date and the Macophiles picked up on it Apple and Amazon decided the best recourse was to move the date to help alleviate lost sales of the current OS... the developer version could be released now and would be less problematic bugwise than any current Windows version...
6. JT
Not really, Amazon was making a split-down-the-middle guess on 1st half of 2005 (March 31), now they are stating the last date (June 30). Apple has not announced any shipping dates for 10.4 other than 1st half of 2005.
7. Bryan
Since Apple has not announced when Tiger will ship (other than first half of 2005), I think your article is premature in its conclusions.
Most likely Amazon is putting in the most conservative date based on the "first half of 2005" time frame.
8. Kelly
I feel cheap after how your headline suckered me in. When a store figures it will be able to sell Tiger has nothing to do with it's announced shipping date. Besides, both the store and Apple 's position have not changed. Nothing has "slipped". Yellow journalism and almost libelist.
9. anonymous
I'm confused, amazon is setting the release date of Apple product?
10. erlend larsen
how can this possibly be a delay? June 30 is in the 1st half of the year - you have to be a journalist to argue anything else....
there are enough Apple-delays out there for you to have to make up another. Whatever Amazon might say is just irrelevant - everybody knows that Apple would never give the release date now...
11. Craig Ferry
Say what???
Am I missing something here or is this incredibly bass-ackwards journalism? It certainly seems constructed from the sheerest fabric available.
How does Amazon posting and reposting a placeholder for a date that Apple hasn't announced, constitute some sort of delay in the release of Tiger?
Very thin indeed.
12. Tim McCleary
This is all based upon when Amazon initially said it was anticipating to ship Tiger and its new estimate. This entire article is basing a "release date" on estimates made by Amazon, and NOT on estimates that Apple has made. Apple has only stated that it would ship Tiger in the first half of 2005. Amazon's new estimated ship date reflects this now. This ain't news.
13. anonymous
Amazon's dates are just placeholders. They have no inside info as to what Apple's actual schedule is. Their new "release date" at the end of June is no more accurate than the original "release date" they were showing a few days ago at the end of March. They're just hedging their bets and placing the date at the end of June since that is the last day of the "first-half of '05" which Apple has is when Tiger will be released.
14. anonymous
Uh.. I don't think that's the release date..
Since all they KNOW is 1st half 2005, that's what Amazon is going to put there.. We'll get a release date in Jan MW
There's no admission here by Apple that it's gonna be June 30.. that's almost corny..1 day before 2nd half 2005? pffft
15. anonymous
Well done. Press misinformation with a spin. For your information, in order for Amazon to take pre-orders they have to (according to US LAW) have a ship date set. Their first ship date was made up, and so is the second. The first ship date imposed an unrealistic deadline on Apple set by a 3rd party - Amazon. Until Apple sets a "real" release date you shouldn't take Amazon as the company that knows anything others don't. Apple certainly would not be telling Amazon the ship date.
16. anonymous
What poor journalism! Some clerk at Amazon put in a placeholder date, that then got revised, probably at Apple's request. But the article is not based on any official information from Apple and since no release date has been specified, it has not "slipped". Your story has as much value as using a Ouiji board, reading tea leaves, or asking the magic 8 ball.
17. Craig
I didn't realise that Amazon was in charge of setting release dates for Apple products!
I think I'll wait for APPLE to announce a release date before jumping all over any delays.
18. anonymous
Do you not think this is down to Amazons inefficiency rather than Apple 'changing' launch dates? As yet Apple have to set a release date, when they do I am sure they will fulfil it.
19. Nigel Goodey
...or how about that it's just a ploy not to indicate to the general public the release date of Tiger? (as is the norm for Apple)
I don't see it indicating it has suddenly slipped by three months, especially in light of the developer release of Tiger which is available now....
in those immortal words 'Don't Panic!'
20. Henry Blackman
How is this even a story. Apple have said they will launch Tiger by the end of first half of 2005.
How will they be cutting it fine, when Amazon have made up a shipping date of March 31st, then changing it to June?
Journalism? News? Hardly? It must be silly season.
21. Bill Gates
You Mac types get wound up so easily. If you read the article and not just the headline you'd see there was nothing to get excited about - Amazon got it wrong with the date or Apple had a word in there ear about letting the cat out of the bag. It's just an operating system. Why is it you guys get so excited if an article doesn't praise Steve Jobs to the rooftops?
22. Marvin
This is so not a story. Clearly, Amazon does not set release dates for apple's software. Even if this delay were true, it doesn't even come close to Microsoft's ever-changing dead line.
23. Bill Budge
Hey Bill.. Get your own house in order.. Shouldn't you PC-types be getting Longhorn ready instead of wasting valuable time reading/posting comments on competitors?
Silicon.com non-story.....again..
24. Mig
Erm Bill, its got nothing to do with the fact that the article isn't praising Jobs, but the style of the reporting, which is no better than the typical gutter press you find in most countries - trying to put a ridiculous slant on a complete non-story.
Unfortunately, Silicon.com all-to-often seem to have these digs at Apple. Its odd, some of the Journalism on this site is quite good and informative, but then you get drivel like this. I don't know who wrote it, but if my work was as bad as this article was, i would get sacked.
Poor articles like this only serve to cast doubt on the rest of the editorial content of Silicon.com.
Does silicon.com provide in-sightful, in-depth, well researched, independent reporting or is just an avenue for some hacks to use as their personal tool to have a go at people/companies they don't like.
SILICON.COM - leave these sub-standard stories for the round-up. Don't try and pass them off as serious journalism because it demeans the work of the rest of your editorial team.
However, i think one can safely assume that this Hack Writer is a poor windows user. Thefore we should have some sympathy with him as it must be so frustrating having to use such an antiquated, bug ridden, virus plagued operating system.
25. Bill Gates
You guys are kidding, right? silicon.com is one of the most pro-Apple sites out there apart from all the Mac mags. That's why i don't visit it as often as i used too.
One article and you all get your knickers in a twist. If Macs are so great, why does no one use them?
26. Ruprecht
Mig and others...
I what way is this article a dig at Apple? If anything it's a dig at Amazon for jumping the gun and a chance to twist the knife in MS again...True, it's not much of a story but then all journo's have slow/no news days, especially tricky if you write for a rolling news service such as Silicon.
It IS a story, which is of little or no interest to most but don't start insulting Jo (the 'journo', its under the headline dunce), it's not like its the kind of crap that makes its way into rags like the Mail.
27. Ruprecht
Bill, when you say 'no-one uses them', I assume that you mean in your own circle...there's one on my desk next to my Dell and a neat gathering of G5's the other side of the room from me, oh and then there's the X-Serve in the rack with the Linux and Windows2003 units.
If you lack the imagination or understanding of how to use Wintel, Mac and a little Linux where it's best suited then that's truly a shame.
Hope life improves for you soon,
R
28. mig
Bill, bill, bill. (Sigh) - Just because a majority of people use something, doesn't mean its a better product. Take VHS and betamax as a classic example.
Don't get me wrong, i'm not knocking the achievement of Microsoft. To do what they've done is no easy feat.
But face facts, XP comes a poor second to Panther.
Everyone I know who has made the switch (including my mum - and she had been using windows since the first version of it) really and honestly can't believe how much better the mac experience is, how much easier to use it is and how much safer (virus wise) it is.
Quality Bill, not quantity.
29. mig
I'm sorry ruprecht but you must be a dunce if you can't see the way the article sensationalises the underlying story and presents apple in a bad light.
"Jo" does write very well indeed, very eloquently and knows how to use words to get the best effect that he/she wants.
Its not the style of writing thats not my problem. its the content, the fact that the story has twisted something that Amazon did, to make out that there are problems at apple with fullfilling their deadline.
Having a slow day is no excuse for fabricating stories. This story could have worked well for the comical weekly round-up, but shoud never have been passed off as serious news.
30. anonymous
Wow. That's news I tell ya.
This is utter trash journalism.
Apple's plan on updating X with incremental improvements every 18 months or so is radically different than M$'s huge monolithic release every decade.
By inferring that Tiger has slipped by checking the questionable ship date on Amazon.uk is frankly insane. Please do the web a favor and stop posting rubbish like this.
31. not telling
Doensn't anyone think Amazon might acutally be in the know here? Or do you think they just make up dates? Doesn't sounds likely to me.
32. mig
I'm sorry ruprecht but you must be a dunce if you can't see the way the article sensationalises the underlying story and presents apple in a bad light.
"Jo" does write very well indeed, very eloquently and knows how to use words to get the best effect that he/she wants.
Its not the style of writing thats not my problem. its the content, the fact that the story has twisted something that Amazon did, to make out that there are problems at apple with fullfilling their deadline.
Having a slow day is no excuse for fabricating stories. This story could have worked well for the comical weekly round-up, but shoud never have been passed off as serious news.
33. Ruprecht
Mig, there you go again - read man read - I didn't say the article wasn't sensationalist, it is.
I said that it wasn't really a dig at Apple but at Amazon for making up a number because their system has to have one(although don't try telling 'not telling' this) and very much another dig at MS for the farce that we all know as Longhorn.
R
34. mig
Ruprecht - Phrases such as "Apple is cutting it fine to make good on its boast", "Despite leaving one day of grace between the promised and actual release date" and "While technically filling Apple's promise of releasing Tiger into the world in the first half of 2005," all sound pretty negative to me and it is clear that Jo inteneded them to be just that.
Clever use of wording can give it a positive or negative outlook, in this case these all give a negative swing.
35. anonymous
You should hire some editors.
The lead for this article that "Apple is cutting it fine to make good on its boast that the latest version of its Mac OS, Tiger, will ship in the first half of next year." is simply a lie by the author, and would not have made it to public view in any competently edited publication.
36. Ruprecht
Mig, we're just gonna have to agree to disagree on this one...I just don't think that the criticism you and others gave about Jo's journalistic credibility were justified in the light of this article.
Maybe I just see the world through rose tinted spec's seeing as I have a pretty stable copy of Tiger running on my G5 already?