Miscommunication? Or, mistaken strategy?
Ok, so Apple has announced it's annual Apple Design Awards contest, wherein they give awards for application software that they feel shows programming genius. But the geniuses at Apple (whom I mostly love), are just so clueless about helping Mac's succeed among business users.
I mean, look at the categories they created for awards:
- Best Mac OS X Developer Tool: development tools that increase programmer or interface designer productivity
- Best Use of Mac OS X Graphics: innovative uses of Max OS X Quartz, OpenGL, and QuickTime
- Best Mac OS X Dashboard Widget: widgets that bring relevant, innovative functionality to Dashboard
- Best Mac OS X Automator Workflow: innovative, efficient workflows that eliminate repetitive manual tasks
- Best Mac OS X User Experience: products that deliver the functional elegance characteristic of Mac OS X
- Best Mac OS X Game: games that take full advantage of Mac OS X to offer compelling entertainment
- Best Mac OS X Scientific Computing Solution: scientific software that enables researchers quickly and easily push the limits of knowledge and understanding
- Best Mac OS X Student Product: Mac OS X products developed exclusively by student developers
Where in that list is Best application for business? I mean, Microsoft would have 10 different categories for business software of all different types.
It's so bizzare. Apple is so good at communications in the general case. Is this just simply that they don't give a rats patootie about the business users they have? I mean, they don't have to focus on the business market; just don't exclude it!
Sigh.... Mistaken strategy? Or just bad communication? We'll never know. The ADC page listing all the entry stuff doesn't even give a contact point for the people running the contest.
Apple. A company you can love, and hate, at the same time.