Mea Culpa
Paw Prints: Writings of the maddog
I believe that one of the measures of an adult is to have the ability to admit “I was wrong”. While I am not happy when I am wrong, I take pride in the fact that I often give people the benefit of the doubt, and when I am wrong I freely admit it. I believe that once you admit your mistake, and apologize if necessary to any offended people, you can then move on to the next task and try to do better the next time.
One of my first managers was a very bright man who could not say the words “I was wrong”. It took the people under him a while to realize this, but one day we were sitting around the lunch table and it occurred to us that we had never heard him say that phrase, or anything close to it. While he was really very intelligent, no human is perfect, so we kept careful score after that.
It was about two weeks before I left my first job to accept a teaching position that I was put into a situation where I was obviously right and my manager was obviously wrong. By this time I and my co-workers had become fairly demoralized due to this flaw in his character, so I decided to push the issue, since I had already tendered my resignation and was preparing to leave the group, cleaning up the issues and tasks that I had outstanding.
At a team meeting I carefully laid out my entire argument, inserting his previous (incorrect) statements, until it was painfully obvious that I was correct, and my manager was wrong. I then looked to my manager and said “Don't you think in this case you were wrong?”
The manager looked at me strange, and started to say “Jon, I was........” and he made a sort of strangling sound. He tried again, “Jon, I ...I...Jon...YOU WERE RIGHT.”
I looked at him and said, “You can not say the words 'I was wrong'. That is a problem for you, and I would really advise psychological treatment.” With that I left the room.
What reminded me of this interaction was the recent issues around Apple and the “location” data on the iPhone.
As a friend of mine pointed out, yet another issue with Apple seems to have been blown up out of proportion. Yet the “issues” that I remember:
- the antenna problem
- the alarm issue
- the app store removing apps
- the location issue
all tended to follow the same pattern:
- customer(s) finding an issue
- Apple telling them they were wrong, or holding the phone incorrectly, or “it does not matter”
- issue blowing up out of proportion
- Apple fixing the problem
Perhaps this is some type of twisted marketing campaign, but as a customer I would really prefer this type of scenario:
- customer(s) find an issue
- Apple saying “hmmm, that is interesting, let us look at it”
- Apple acknowledging the issue
- Apple fixing the problem
Please do not think this is “Apple bashing”. I tell people all the time that Apple makes good products, and I can even elaborate on why I think this is true. I will also continue to state that I do not buy Apple products because I believe them to be “closed”, and “closed” products are not something I want to buy. But I do not condemn other people because they want to buy the products. I do not want to "bash Apple"....instead I want to see them become an even better company.
And I know that Apple fixes lots of issues without having them reach the U.S. Congress for resolution, or even a class action lawsuit. But please....Apple...just train your top executives in saying these two simple phrases:
- “Hmmmm....that is interesting, let us look at it”
- “Mea Culpa....here is the fix”
Then we can go back to life as it should be lived.
Carpe Diem!
comments powered by DisqusSubscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Juno Computers Launches Another Linux Laptop
If you're looking for a powerhouse laptop that runs Ubuntu, the Juno Computers Neptune 17 v6 should be on your radar.
-
ZorinOS 17.1 Released, Includes Improved Windows App Support
If you need or desire to run Windows applications on Linux, there's one distribution intent on making that easier for you and its new release further improves that feature.
-
Linux Market Share Surpasses 4% for the First Time
Look out Windows and macOS, Linux is on the rise and has even topped ChromeOS to become the fourth most widely used OS around the globe.
-
KDE’s Plasma 6 Officially Available
KDE’s Plasma 6.0 "Megarelease" has happened, and it's brimming with new features, polish, and performance.
-
Latest Version of Tails Unleashed
Tails 6.0 is based on Debian 12 and includes GNOME 43.
-
KDE Announces New Slimbook V with Plenty of Power and KDE’s Plasma 6
If you're a fan of KDE Plasma, you'll be thrilled to hear they've announced a new Slimbook with an AMD CPU and the latest version of KDE Plasma desktop.
-
Monthly Sponsorship Includes Early Access to elementary OS 8
If you want to get a glimpse of what's in the pipeline for elementary OS 8, just set up a monthly sponsorship to help fund its continued existence.
-
DebConf24 to be Held in South Korea
Busan will be the location of the latest DebConf running July 28 through August 4
-
Fedora Unleashes Atomic Desktops
Fedora has combined its solid distribution with rpm-ostree system to make it possible to deliver a new family of Fedora spins, called Fedora Atomic Desktops.
-
Bootloader Vulnerability Affects Nearly All Linux Distributions
The developers of shim have released a version to fix numerous security flaws, including one that could enable remote control execution of malicious code under certain circumstances.