It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to write a good rebuttal—maybe it’s because people haven’t been writing as much idoicy. Or maybe I just haven’t been reading it. Whatever the case, I was pleasantly surprised to find not only a ridiculous criticism of the iPhone, but one that comes from an excellent source:
Yes, the man whose name has been a punchline on The Daily Show more times than Steve Ballmer has uttered the word “developers.” A man who’s about as qualified to talk technology as I am to talk particle physics. You know, I’m actually feeling giddy. Let’s take a look.
Some Free Advice for AppleI believe you would actually have to pay me to take Neil Cavuto’s advice. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
By Neil Cavuto
This might shock some of you — some of you maybe not so much — but when I was a kid, I wasn’t the greatest student.Noooo. Really?
After a while, I learned that it was best not to over-promise, and in my case, wise, since I rarely over-delivered.Ah, yes: lowering the expectations. That explains much about FOX News.So here’s what I’d do: I’d tell them I’m failing most everything, but trying really hard.
Then when the report card comes out and a “C” or two pops up, man, I look like a genius.
It’s called managing expectations. Something, I think, Apple could learn a thing or two about — only the other way.Because we here at FOX News hate revolutions. They’re just plain un-American.The company announced its hotsy-totsy iPhone was going to revolutionize the world — bad when you start out using that word “revolutionize,” by the way.
That it would sell 10 million in the first year and half a million of those in the first couple of days —days!This is the crux of Cavuto’s argument. Which is sad, because it’s woefully in need of fact-checking.
First off, Apple said their goal was to sell 10 million by the end of 2008. Secondly, the estimate of 500,000 in the first couple of days came from independent analysts, not Apple. Analysts that have even admitted that they “bought into their own hype.” That’s 0 for 2, Neil.
Lo and behold, we’re told 146,000 iPhones were activated in the day and a half between the phone’s launch and the most recent quarter’s end.Neil’s right about one thing (but just one thing): Selling 146,000 isn’t really shabby at all. So selling 270,000, which is what they actually sold, must be almost twice as good, right? [Update: As several readers point out, FOX has now amended the story to reflect what Cavuto said on air, which was the correct number of 270,000 ]Let me tell you something: Selling 146,000 items at a minimum of 500 bucks a pop ain’t shabby. In fact, it’s stunning. Never in corporate history, have so many electronic devices sold so quickly.
But then it didn’t meet that damn expectation, did it?Yeah, that awful marketing department that said the iPhone would allow people to make phone calls and surf the Internet; that made ads showing people using the device, and never so much as whispered about sales figures. Shameless braggarts!It didn’t do what that overbearing braggart marketing department at Apple said it would do, did it?
Oh, if only these much smarter guys had talked to this admittedly not nearly so smart, anchor guy: Promise down, deliver up.Okay, Neil got two things right. He’s not nearly so smart.
It wowed my mom and dad. I guarantee you next time, it’ll wow your shareholders.Yes, those shareholders are crying into their $140-a-share stock certificates.
Look, if it weren’t for this fact that this hatchet job was written by a fairly prominent member of a major media conglomerate—I hesitate to call them a news organization—it would barely even merit notice. As this remains MacUser, I won’t delve too much into non-Apple topics, but the fact that there remain people in their country who derive their news from a source that can clearly not be bothered to even fact-check a simple story is boggling. Hell, it’s Big Boggling.
I’ll give Cavuto this much, though: he’s certainly done a wonderful job of keeping my expectations low.
Great advice, always under-promise what you know you can deliver. Never push to do more, challenge anyone to be more. If this is the message of FOX News, I can understand why it is so popular... and it is far more insidious than The Simpsons can possibly convey.
Oh my. They didn't even do a basic Google search before putting out that nonsense.
I like Neil. I don't always agree with what he says, but he seems a very decent guy. He missed the boat on this story (as told by Moren), but I bet he wasn't being a snide @$$hole when he did it like some people.......
What a shoddy "rebuttal"!! Sure, Neil was incorrect about Apple hoping to sell a million iPhones in the first couple days, but how does taking several pot shots at FOX News and Neil himself disprove his claims?! Furthermore, Neil IS correct about Apple gunning to sell 10 million in a year and a half -- a year and a half from June 2007 IS THE END OF 2008!!!!! Neil deserves another point on your scoreboard. Please don't let your giddiness to refute a well-known analyst sidetrack your rebuttal or get in the way of the facts. It makes us Mac users -- we who are accustomed to quality and attention to detail -- look bad.
ahhhh the ol' fox fact spin.
didn't bill o'reilly try and say that iphones were terrorist devices or something?
Yeah, Neil and the other "financial experts" on FOX all seem rather... shall we say lacking... in the common sense department? I do love their news departments, though I may not always agree with some of the opinion. I never take any of their advice. I leave that up to myself. That way, I have only myself to blame or credit. And yes, I'm enjoy my $140+ certificates. ;-)
@D: Cavuto says, and I quote, "That it would sell 10 million in the first year and half a million of those in the first couple of days -days!"
That's two separate things: 10 million in the first year. And half a million in the first couple of days. Neither of those were things Apple said.
Dan,
Keep your political views out... its more enjoyable that way. And on top of that you miss the point. He's not degrading the device. He's talking about expectations, and he's right. Go out and enjoy your over-priced phone, and report some real tech news next time. Thanks!
he doesn't even sound like a journalist :(
Dan, your commentary would be better if it weren't peppered with the juvenile ad hominem shots at Cavuto and Fox News. (And they're not even very imaginative. Why not just call him a "poopy-head" and completely commit?) These shots are as bad as what we hear from the mindless Apple-haters.
Yes, Cavuto's an idiot - but spin-now, fact-check-later-or-not-at-all reporting isn't the singular province of Fox News. It's par for the course in the MSM.
Calling for Cavuto (or somebody at Fox News) to do some basic fact checking before putting wildly inaccurate stuff on the air isn't political ... but raking a MacUser blogger for having the temerity to criticize Fox News for anything at all certainly is.
Yea...I agree...never ever take pot shots at Fox News. Have you ever seen them doing this except in the case of Michael Moore, John Kerry, Clintons, Obama, Al Gore, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Dixie Chicks, Sean Penn, other (Un)Americans and rest of the world in general.
FOX News makes their money telling people what they want to hear and pretending it's news. Mostly that's right-wingers, but if they pick up a trend that iPhone-bashing might make them some money, they'll do that, too. Anything to make their viewers feel good and entertained. If you actually want fact-checked critical commentary, why do you pay attention to FOX News anyway? Just ignore them and stop giving them attention.
Hahaha, I love how people like Stacey try to claim that ragging on Fox News i political. Don't we have the right to talk about good journalism, or in this case, Fox's lack thereof, in a story about Apple?
When a "news" source does a crap job about the company and a product that this blog is dedicated to providing news about, you better believe Dan or another of the MacUser bloggers should be there bringing the truth.
Don't be so quick to defend such a worthless organization like Fox. That's not political, it's common sense.
It tells you all you need to know, in my opinion, that Cavuto's editorial has since been edited to correct at least one error -- how many iPhones were actually sold the first day or so -- without noting the correction anywhere.
And, Dan Frakes, the transcript that is up on foxnews.com is the one that Cavuto said on the air. The original internet posting and the one posted here were the only ones in error about the number of iphones sold. At least as of right now, there is also a note of the corrections.
Good point Chris. The only way attacking FOX "News" is political is if it represents a political agenda. In which case it would be wise to drop "fair and balanced" and "no-spin zone" tag lines.
Once more I would like to point out something utterly obvious. Apple's iPhone availiability tracker showed all but a handful (4 as I recall) of stores were sold out. How can Apple expect (much less declare) to sell more phones that were manufactured?
They mention the correction now at the top of the story, noting that the original was an incorrect version:
"Correction : FOXNews.com initially posted an incorrect version of Neil's Common Sense. This is the correct copy that was read on air:"
Check out the page again! They have now edited in the correct numbers but the wording otherwise remains the same. Some integrity.
The original "transcript" was quite different, and the first revision did not disclose that it had been edited. The current version, at least the second edit, now notes that something has changed. Good on Fox for finally disclosing that.
That said, the basis of the entire commentary is still factually incorrect, and that's reflected in the silly conclusions.
Inspired by Stacey's comment:
I used to have the mindset of keeping one's personal views separate from the content, but I've since changed that point of view. Personality is what draws me in when I read, not sterile high school drivel. No matter how sterile an article is or how much personality radiates from it, I think someone will find some reason to dismiss the content that they disagree with. So I ask what's the point of keeping a person's point of view out if it doesn't make a big difference? I think the problem is simple: no one likes to be told how they should think and feel. Don't like something because because you think it's inferior for a certain reason? Fine, that's one's point of view. Telling me why I should think it's inferior, then we have a problem Houston.
I'm not a fan of Fox news, but I do like Cavuto and Terry Keenan (drools). I also think that CNN (Time Warner) is a major media conglomerate. With all that said, I can see how some comments can appear "over the line" to Fox fans, but I dismiss those as his opinions woven in with the information he was arguing - which is where his focus was at, IMO. I think it takes an intelligent and secure person to filter commentary that isn't relevant to the data being presented. I say secure because I know a LOT of people who won't even touch something that might differ from their opinions. Plus, how's this different from his admitted fanboi commentary?