‘Apple Puts Power Mac G4 Cube on Ice’

As mentioned in the aforelinked piece by Steven Levy on the 20th anniversary of the G4 Cube, this was Apple’s own headline for the press release announcing its discontinuation. What a fun way to break bad news. Phil Schiller is still there (he’s even quoted in the press release), but somehow I can’t see Apple writing a headline like this today. I wish they would though. I think that Apple is still there, but they no longer let it show.

“Apple Pulls the Plug on AirPower” would have been an opportunity, but they not only didn’t write a funny headline for that announcement, they didn’t even post about AirPower’s cancellation on Newsroom. The Washington Post did use this exact pun in their headline, but it would have packed a lot more punch if Apple itself had used it.

“Apple Puts Power Mac G4 Cube on Ice” was a deft way of acknowledging that they swung and missed with the Cube without actually acknowledging anything other than what they say in the press release. Headlines matter.

★ Friday, 24 July 2020