The Six Colors report card by Jason Snell

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As he has in previous years, Jason Snell has asked some Apple watchers to provide feedback on the company’s performance for the past year. Hardware reliability, software quality and the company’s environmental and social initiatives scored worse than in previous years.

“This is not an illusion,” wrote Dr. Drang. “Apple’s software quality is dropping, and they don’t seem to recognize it. I understand that there’s much, much more to keep track of now than there ever has been, but being sympathetic to Apple’s difficulties doesn’t make me blind to them. When the Finder just stops in the middle of copying files for no apparent reason, that’s an inexcusable error. Apple has long believed that its programmers are far better than those elsewhere. That may be true, but they seem stretched to the breaking point and in need of help. Maybe you don’t need superstar programmers to do some of the fundamental things that are falling by the wayside.”