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Apple’s Marketing Chief Leaves Instagram After Android Launch – Blames Sharks

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If you thought that only the young, wide eye’d teen with J-Biebs plastered on their iPhone were the only toes Instagram stepped on after going “full on Android” a few weeks ago, you’d be wrong. Apparently, one of Apple’s top execs wasn’t too excited about the move either. Apple’s senior vice president of marketing Phil Schiller disappeared from the social networking service after only praising it a few months earlier on his Twitter account, plugging his own Instagram profile in the process.

So, what happened? Well, according to 9to5Mac, one of their readers reached out to Schiller on the topic via Twitter to which Phil responded candidly with, “It ‘jumped the shark’ when it went Android.” For those of you (like me) that may not have been on the earth long enough to know exactly why someone would jump sharks, it’s an expression that essentially means something that is on a decline, and is beyond recovery. Really Phil? Just because of Android? Ouch.

When asked to clarify via email, Schiller backpedaled saying he still found Instagram to be a “great app and community,” but just like those punk kids on Twitter who liked the exclusivity of the service, found that “the signal to noise ratio is different.”

While the many iOS and even Android users shun the photo sharing service, I continue to embrace it, finding it a great way to share photos with my friends… and stalk unsuspecting girls. What do you guys think of Mr. Schiller’s statement? Do you agree? Keep in mind this is before Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion. Do you find this kind of attitude surprising coming from a top level Apple exec?

[9to5Mac | Via Mashable / The Verge]

Chris Chavez
I've been obsessed with consumer technology for about as long as I can remember, be it video games, photography, or mobile devices. If you can plug it in, I have to own it. Preparing for the day when Android finally becomes self-aware and I get to welcome our new robot overlords.

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61 Comments

  1. just another pretentious old man playing at running the world

  2. “Stalk unsuspecting girls”. LOL! Funny thing is, you’re not remotely joking.

    1. Not even close…. 

      1. And you totally know that many of those unsuspecting girls, know they’re being stalked, and totally like it. I mean, come on, it’s like soft core porn sometimes. Not that I’m complaining mind you.

        1. Sick. And I doubt that many girls like being stalked.

          1. Sick considering you probably don’t know too many girls to make the assumption that they don’t.

          2. Insecure much?

  3. this is why i don’t like apple fanboys… why do they have to be so damn elitist? no, i don’t want your phone, does that mean i cant enjoy software that other companies make? 

    get over yourself if you are that all high and mighty about a feature phone. I just don’t get people, the app didn’t change at all, if you don’t want to “share” with android users, don’t follow them and don’t allow them to follow you, it shouldn’t be THAT hard really to just PRETEND that android never got it.

    1. Haha it is kind of embarrassing to me. I mean you should have to be elite in order to be elitist. The iPhone is not even running w/4G android phones in terms of size and speed. It’s just basically a phone with a bunch of phony stuck up fanboys&girls. 

      But to answer your question…They hated losing Instagram to Android because it is just another indication that their phone is not that special.

  4. I hate instagram. whether its on android or iOS. i think its just shitty filters over pics and completely ruins it. ANYWAY with that out of the way i think its just stupid that someone of his notoriety and position within the company publicly bash the software just because its available on a rival os. that shows how immature he is. he has no qualms about the software at all except for the fact that its on android. wow. way to grow the fuck up douchebag. way to set an example for the rest of the iOS userbase. 

    also note im not completely against Apple like i used to be. i will say itunes is beyond a  doubt the undisputed topdog when it comes to getting music digitally and without having to go anywhere. i still personally prefer to buy the cd and rip the flac…whatever thats another story. point is dude is a crybaby. your rival got the software. fucking WAAHHH. deal with it. 

    1. hahahahaha well the google music store is pretty much ass when it comes to finding alot of the stuff i listen too. the same can be said for itunes or even amazon. i dont have the time to go digging thru a record store anymore. not like there are alot of those around anymore either :(

      1. Just because it has a lot of stuff does not make it better.
        It’s still shit software from a company that is supposed to make ‘better’ things.

    2. My thoughts exactly. Not to mention there have been apps out (at least on Android, I’m sure on iOS too) for over two years that do the same stuff Instagram does. That probably won’t stop me from getting in on the Facebook IPO rumored for next month though :-)

  5. Even being an Android user myself, I can at least see where these arguments are coming from. It is definitely true, that when it was just iPhone users, there was at least some consistency with the quality of photos. Opening it up to Android opens it up to every shitty, low-end android phone that can’t take a good photo even in the best lighting. 

    That being said, the popular photos and the suggested users are still going to be the good ones, and with the hugely expanded user base, there is now the opportunity for so many more good photos to be available. 

    Also, since we’re talking about it, I can’t seem to find a way to just browse through users, am I just stupid or can you only look at your friends, popular photos and suggested users now?

    1. How bout the shitty photos from 3gs and ipod touch? The only decent ones are from 4 and 4s. Where as android phones have ton loads of decent camera’s

    2. It’s the mess of Android that I actually love. I love the fact that there are phones for $100 outright (that are getting better with people like Huawei getting serious) and beasts that tear apart anything else for $600 (like the SII, Note and One X). You can have a smartphone to suit your budget and taste – and the cream does rise to the top.

      For me it’s a place to feel proud of and not disgusted by – Apple purists must disagree.

  6. He would make Steve Jobs proud. 

    1. Steve Jobs robot clone, callin it

      1. Hologram Steve Jobs.

        1.  Steve Jobs’ father *scuba noises*

  7. Apparently he’s douche enough to take over for Jobs.

    1. It’s a prerequisite for the job.

      1.  Pun intended?

  8. He’s probably just upset that no one wants to take an instagram picture of a fat man on a tiny stool.

    1. lol he has muffintops in that pic

  9. What a petty, juvenile attitude.  There is a world beyond Apple, and it’s not populated with monsters and evil things.  But the Appolytes refuse to see that,  They must resist the Android infiltration, Android indoctrination, Android subversion and the international Android conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.

  10. Okay well for those too young to remember jump the shark refers to when the fonz jumped a shark with water skis most say it was the decline of Happy Days and the writers where stale or pretty much the show was out dated. But any who Facebook buying instagram is jumping the shark so I would have to correct this so called iPhone lover and has no idea what jumping the shark means. Even know he was one of the millions that watched that show and even that episode.
    This comes from someone that hates instagram with a passion. I think instagram hitting Android is a must just to survive in the photo sharing world.

  11. If he is upset that another platform got a piece of software then he better stop using MS Office too, after all it’s available on Windows.

  12. Whats the name of that photo-ruining, attention-whore, tumblr-artist-wannabe must-have app again? As Hommer Simpson once said: “Save me Jebus”

  13. With his attitude towards “signal to noise ratio” he should probably stay off the internet altogether. There’s just so much crap online he should probably not bother using the internet at all for fear he might see something that just doesn’t meet his standard of quality.

    Smug bastard.

  14. It may sound extreme, but this kind of elitist loathing reminds me of World War 2.
    Under the regime of some Apple users, would this be the first step to putting Android users in camps?

    (Sorry if I offended anyone, but this is how I feel about that.)

    1. Yeah, it seems that Instagram is being punished for associating with Android, like people caught helping “undesirables” during the era you mention.

  15. Just goes to prove that Apple is a cult not a company. And with every passing day I start believing more and more that they are communists as well. So according to Apple, there is no room for competition? I guess their 1984 commercial wasn’t that far off after all. Apple really is turning into big brother. And y’all though MicroSoft was the scary one…. bet you didnt see this one coming.

    1. Communist? At least the commies weren’t elitist. I guess that makes Apple even worse…

  16. Instead of patent trolling and whining, Apple could have bought instagram with its billions of dollars.  If this douche wants to blame anyone, he can blame his own company for not buying that piece of trash filter fest called instajunk.  It already has an “i” in it and they could have integrated it into their own iCloud.    Apple shows again why they fail to think outside the box.

  17. As many have said before the 3GS the iphone had a crappy camera too, so I don’t think the ratio of people with crappy camera’s is going to increase dramatically, never Android phones in the last 1 1/2 years have gotten much better cameras. The reason iphone users are mad is simple elitist attitude of iphone users, it’s just very sad and pathetic that this outrage has gotten so big, it’s a phone that you can get for $49 on AT&T, or $99 on Verizon, I’m sorry but apple users need to get over themselves, owning an iphone is not a status symbol, it’s a smartphone, a tool to make your life easier, that’s it.

  18. What is his twitter so I can tell him to suck on the fattest part of … well you know the rest! :) 

    I have the Galaxy Nexus and iPhone 4S and I can tell you = I’m just about ready to catapult my iPhone 4S to hell and switch over to Windows 8! Thats right I said it… Windows!!! I want something that isn’t annoying and doesn’t force close a lot… also something that doesn’t boast features that don’t even work (Siri)

    1.  What does a desktop OS have to with an iPhone?

      1. There’s going to be a Windows 8 version for mobile phones too probably gonna be called WP8

        1. There is a Windows Phone 8 that is possibly based on regular win8….but there is no Windows 8 for phones. So yea you can switch to Win8 but as I said…that currently has nothing to do with a phone. 

      2. Windows 8 is also coming to tablets and phones, with changes from the desktop version, later this year.

  19. typical apple fanboy BS…i cant believe people actually get upset about a app being on a certain OS..

  20. This is such a smug and stuck up reaction. I guess it’s just a sign of some of the selfishness of some people in this world. If we were all more open and willing to share great things, this world would be a much better place.

  21. This attitude doesn’t surprise me, coming from an Apple exec.

  22. what a fat whiny bitch

  23. And people wonder why people can’t stand Apple and their iFans.

  24. What the hell has this to do with Android?????????????????

    1. Absolutely right, we are spending to much time around things like this one. No one cares, talking about apple fans but we are android fans too, and we behave much like them, the only difference is the phone we are holding. Fighting about phone preference is such a waist of time. Get over Apple and the iPhone and start writting good reports on the strongs points of Android, please someone stop this nonsense. I believe these types of sites are run by a bunch of teenager, come on talk about some real tech stuff.

      1. Agreed. 

        Reading the comments here if its sounds like Android fans are the bunch of petty narrow minded idiots they claim Apple fans to be. 

        Childish  

  25. Good, one less Apple douchebag using the app

  26. When all those “ehw”-articles broke out I was really disgusted with iSheeps. But now that I think of it more – if Swype went iOS, I’d probably be reacting the same way. Not in those words, but probably same emotions.
    Although, this particular old man is just plain dumb brown-nose. Even though the subject of his “brownism” is long dead.

  27. IPOs are not made for the common investor. To make any money on it you will need to buy at the pre open price, otherwise you will be slaughtered. Also im not sure what their float is or when shorting opens, or when locked stock becomes available. but i would stay away from that ipo, as far far far away as you can!

    edit:this was a reply to robert. ohh well disq

  28. He might be a marketing genius. But other than marketing only a complete moron would do something like this because its now also on the competitors platform. Honestly Phil how old are you 4?

  29. Surprised when someone from Apple pulls a dick move? No, never. I tell people all the time I hate APPLE. I don’t hate their products, because they are solid and good even if I prefer something else to it. I hate that company like I hate someone with a conflicting personality. They are childish, greedy, backstabbing snobs.

  30. i dont mind talking about a nifty app i find on android and ask me friends who have counter part iOS if they have it. if so i recommend that its useful, this war between OS is stupid. at the end of the day both companies main goal is to create more revenue using there product. just becuz android got an app from a outside developer dont mean its exclusive only to that OS. if Google wanted to act like stupid they could remove all the Google services app they have on iOS. think about it… what would iOS do without GOOGLE MAPS, GMAIL, GOOGLE GOGGLES AND MORE. they need to relax and enjoy the apps u have access to.

  31. Just more of the same Steve Jobs insanity that apparently affects all of Apples executives.

  32. Instagram is THE lamest app ever made. Should have stayed on IOS. You get what ? 10 to 15 filters that just make your pic look old, or worn, or overexposed, and thats popular on IOS ???   As for the so-called “social network” nonsense, how does that come into play ? you follow someone and look at their lame pics ? i used it, posted some pics on it, then realized theres a camera app on Android that can make my pics look like hand drawn portraits and the like, and can do so much more, plus i dont need the social aspect of it, i have facebook and google+….so i deleted it.    But on the Apple note, i guess it wasnt just Jobs that was a whiny little bitch, huh ?

  33. Ill just add that jumping the shark came from happy days when fonzie actually jumped a shark.

  34. this is silly its like me hating phandroid because they have a windows and iphone version of their site…

  35. So… he’s upset because they decided to develop for Android as well. Isn’t that what companies are supposed to do- expand to include more customers? But I don’t expect Apple to get it. How long did it take them to move from Power PC to Intel? 

    So Apple focuses on exclusivity and Google focuses on innovation. 

    http://ca.news.yahoo.com/google-execs-director-cameron-space-venture-005212432–sector.html

    Meanwhile in Cupertino, they are releasing the same technology with a brand new shiny case.

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