Control Freak Apple Causes Another Delay for "The Daily"

[Michael Essany]

It's a headline you're probably just as tired of reading as tech journalists are of writing. But once again, the long-awaited, much anticipated (over-hyped) arrival of "The Daily" has been delayed... yes, again. At this point, it's difficult to keep count of how many delays this iPad exclusive digital publications has endured. What makes the latest delay so significant, however, is that it's starting to become clear that the problem is all Apple's fault.

Known as "The Daily," Murdoch’s iPad publication has been generating buzz for months. Murdoch has even dubbed it his ‘No. 1 most exciting project.’ According to Reuters, "The hush-hush project has been taking shape at the company’s Manhattan headquarters, but it will also have staffers in Los Angeles." Today, however, comes word that the scheduled January 19th media event in which Rupert Murdoch and Apple CEO Steve Jobs would appear together to unveil "The Daily" has been canceled indefinitely. The two media giants were planning to make a joint announcement at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

According to The Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital contributor Peter Kafka: "The issue isn’t with the app itself, which News Corp. executives and their proxies have been showing off over the last few weeks, but a new subscription feature that Apple is building into iTunes." Put differently, Apple - a company that has been known for its obsessive and controlling tendencies - is tediously sculpting a new subscription service model that has reportedly angered many would-be partners in digital publishing endeavors.

Kafka reports that a PR rep from News Corp. confirmed the delay, but wouldn’t comment further. Apple - characteristically - declined to comment.

All Things Digital

[dq13]

Everything has to be apple's way or no way... good and bad. that is what makes the product so unique and make us want every thing they sell. and the bad is that they are way too tight and don't let many things happen that might benefit us

[Zokunei]

It's like the white iPhone

[Muteone]

I think that in the long run apple's controlling tendencies only result in (sometimes huge) delays. They keep everything they sell working extremely well, but some features come very late. Sometimes they are too controlling, but overall their policy is beneficial in my opinion, and the extremely smooth, stable result I think is the main reason people who like apple like apple.

[shoohorn0plenty]

Oh, darn. I guess I'll have to find my uber conservative slant somewhere else for a little while longer.

[zoso10]

Apple has its own ideas on how they want things to run. Not often are things deviated far from their ideas. They have a lot of testing and tweaking to make sure it's very well made and stable. This has positives and negatives.

[Go Gators]

I cannot frickin wait until Apple gets knocked off its high horse! Steve Jobs arrogance makes me sick! Ive even been an Apple fan for a long time but I'm just getting sick of it. Ive been really thinking about switching to Android and this just sealed the deal for me. I'm excited about not having to worry about jail breaking and unlocking anymore. 4 years was long enough to deal with the cat and mouse games. 4g speed here I come!

[athleticswimmer]

I cannot frickin wait until Apple gets knocked off its high horse! Steve Jobs arrogance makes me sick! Ive even been an Apple fan for a long time but I'm just getting sick of it. Ive been really thinking about switching to Android and this just sealed the deal for me. I'm excited about not having to worry about jail breaking and unlocking anymore. 4 years was long enough to deal with the cat and mouse games. 4g speed here I come!

don't worry, they always come back

[ohthatguyagain]

It's like the white iPhone

Lol!

[Snozberries]

It's like the white iPhone

OMG! I can't wait for them to drop the White 4th Gen!!! Did I miss the announcement?!?!

(insert sarcasm & eye roll here)

[Zokunei]

OMG! I can't wait for them to drop the White 4th Gen!!! Did I miss the announcement?!?!

(insert sarcasm & eye roll here)

I'm not getting a white iPhone, its just a similar situation.

[EskimoRuler]

I cannot frickin wait until Apple gets knocked off its high horse! Steve Jobs arrogance makes me sick! Ive even been an Apple fan for a long time but I'm just getting sick of it. Ive been really thinking about switching to Android and this just sealed the deal for me. I'm excited about not having to worry about jail breaking and unlocking anymore. 4 years was long enough to deal with the cat and mouse games. 4g speed here I come!

Well i dont know if the past fours years you mean the iPhone, which this article is about the iPad newspaper so not sure why this throws you over the top

Apple may take a while to get things out but like someone else said it is usually right and with minimal bugs in my opinion. Sorry to see you go But the rest of us will be here if you want to come back

[santiagodraco]

My guess is Rupert declined to honor Stevo's demand that he, well, does something to him on stage to show his loyalty to the cause.

Probably the 2c and no subscriber info deal Apple is probably offering isn't very appealing either.

I do hear that the new alternative publication, I'm Apple's Whore, is making great progress with no roadblocks coming from Apple.

[Trees415]

Huh, I always assumed Jobs was a liberal, but then again, political partisanship is meaningless when money is involved...

[Zokunei]

Huh, I always assumed Jobs was a liberal, but then again, political partisanship is meaningless when money is involved...

The App Store features liberal apps every couple weeks, never a conservative one. It's particularly annoying when they feature three at a time and they're all free apps.

[coolguy742]

Apple: "my way or the effing highway!"

[texasfatboy]

Steve jobs needs to be ousted by his board for gross incompetence. 1st the debacle with adobe, then he downgrades apples best selling device to sell on an inferior cellular carrier with outdated cellular technology(verizon), now this. When will his board wake up? They must be smoking some good stuff.