By Quentin Fottrell
Since he took the reins from Steve Jobs, Apple CEO Tim Cook has had his every move compared with that of the company’s visionary founder. “What would Steve have done?†many wondered when Apple came under widespread criticism for booting Google Maps off the new iOS in favor of its own, many say inferior, software.
‘We are extremely sorry ... and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.’
Tim Cook, Apple
Though Cook may not be as charismatic as his predecessor, he proved Friday that he is more capable in at least one respect, experts say: apologizing for a blunder. In a letter to users, a Cook conceded that Apple’s /quotes/zigman/68270/quotes/nls/aapl AAPL -2.09%  Maps app had fallen short of the company’s standards. Put side by side with a similar mea culpa Jobs issued five years earlier, most experts say, Cook’s apology comes across as more sincere. See text of Tim Cook’s letter .
“We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers,†Cook writes in his note, referring to complaints about Apple’s Maps app, “and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.†See full story: Apple apology praised, but stock falls 2%.
It’s rare for Apple to apologize, but not unheard-of. In 2007, Steve Jobs apologized to customers for dropping the price of the iPhone to $399 from $599 just two months after its release. “We are doing our best to live up to your high expectations of Apple,†he wrote. Unlike Cook, however, Jobs insisted Apple had done nothing wrong: “I am sure that we are making the correct decision.†As consolation, he offered a $100 store credit to those who had paid an extra $200 for the same phone. Read Steve Jobs’s apology .
Cook’s more empathetic and direct apology has the edge over Jobs’s mea culpa, analysts say. “Cook’s statement was structured more effectively, with the apology front and center,†says Ben Zimmer, a language expert and executive producer of VisualThesaurus.com. Jobs, in contrast, framed his letter to customers noncommittally as “observations and conclusions,†Zimmer says. That said, the Maps debacle is a much bigger PR problem for Apple than the price-point issue was, he says, and the current situation demands a stronger apology. Jobs did show greater contrition in 2010, when the release of the iPhone 4 was dogged by complaints about its antenna.
D10 video: Tim Cook
On the first evening of the D10 conference in June 2012, Apple CEO Tim Cook joined Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher onstage for this wide-ranging interview.
But Cook also goes further by suggesting that customers try alternative products like Google /quotes/zigman/93888/quotes/nls/goog GOOG -0.26%  Maps, Bing and MapQuest. “Jobs offers no alternative except the opportunity to spend more on Apple products [by issuing a store credit] instead of, say, mailing out a check for the difference,†says language expert Alan M. Perlman, a linguistics consultant and author. Cook says he is “extremely sorry.†Jobs’s phrasing â€" “We apologize for disappointing some of you†â€" suggests emotional detachment, Perlman says.
Apologizing can be a minefield, and, if not done right, it can even make matters worse.
On the following pages are five more CEO apologies that had varying degrees of success.
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