I don’t understand the logic behind Forstall not signing the maps apology letter as the final straw. Not because I think these open apology letters are just awful to begin with, which I do. It’s because if you write an open letter from your company to the public then it should come from the head, the CEO Tim Cook.
Ultimately Tim Cook shipped maps and its his fault, it’s not in the public mind as being Forstall’s. If the apology letter had come from Scott Forstall it would have looked like Tim Cook wasn’t confident enough to shoulder the blame himself.
Maps is a media hyped storm anyway and I think it showed a lack of confidence on Apple’s part to actually recognise the nonsense spewing from the media about it. However the letter did put a lid on it, so to speak, but may forever cement iOS Maps as being inferior to Android’s in the publics mind.
