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Netgear CEO Patrick Lo apologizes via email for misspeaking

January 31, 2011

Apple Inc., Misc. News

A lot of people were pretty disappointed this morning when they read the words that came out of the Netgear CEO’s mouth. We ran an article today that highlighted words spoken by Patrick Lo (link) that essentially alluded to Steve Jobs “going away” during a lunch in Sydney.

It’s obvious that the choice of words spoken by Lo were pretty poor. But, we weren’t expecting an apology so soon. Turns out that’s exactly what just rolled into our inbox.

Here it is:

Hi.  As many of you know I spoke in Sydney on Monday, at a lunch with more than a half dozen of Australia’s leading technology and business journalists.  We covered a wide range of topics including the emergence of new IP protocols, cloud computing, wireless routers/repeaters in the home, the National Broadband Network (a current major Government project in Australia) and much more. During the course of the discussion, I shared my views about the future of Apple and Microsoft, as well as the surge of Android.  Some of my comments were covered by the media who attended, and were reported more broadly outside Australia by media and bloggers who picked up on the story.

I stand by the opinions I stated on the business issues.  Supporting open standards and environments in order to ease seamless networking integration of multimedia content is good for the consumer and good for content providers.

However, I deeply regret the choice of words I used in relation to business decisions Apple must grapple with in the future in relation to open vs. closed systems, which have been construed by some to be references to Steve Jobs’ health and which was never my intention.  I sincerely apologize that what I said was interpreted this way, and I wish Steve only the very best.

Patrick Lo,
NETGEAR
Chairman and CEO

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About Joshua Schnell

It started as a hobby and turned into a full-time job for Josh. One minute he was keeping notes on his switch to the Mac and the next thing he knew he was the full time Editor-In-Chief for Macgasm. He spent his early years designing and developing Web sites, but now it's all writing, all the time. Josh also currently contributes to PCWorld. He produces two podcasts, The Macgasm Podcast, and The AppOrchard, and can be heard on CBC Radio once every couple of years, despite secretly wishing that was a more frequent gig.

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Non_racist_white_boi

Because he's Asian and not White, the media is making this such a big issue.

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Joshua Schnell

Please tell me that you don't really believe that.

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DavidAFenton

Open Standards religion doesn't do as much for consumers as polished working, reliable products.

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phmadore

Even as a Mac lover, I agree with him about opening up the platforms. Like he said yesterday, the current model will only get Apple so far. Eventually even the most loyal fans will be wiling to shell out 10-20% of the price of an iPad to try an Android tablet. And if they like it, that's a lost customer for life in that area. Bad news for Apple. And this isn't as unlikely as it sounds, those comparable Android tablets are going in the $200 range. Apple needs to wake up or it's game over in the next few years. I'll still use the computers, forever, of course, as I have for years now, but I'm not averse to trying other things as far as my other needs go.

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Alan

I think you are giving too much credit to the $200 tablets. There are some that cost that ON CONRACT (e.g. with a 2 year commitment of $40/mo) that are, well, OK, but anything near the quality of iPad is at least as expensive. The prices for Android tablets will drop over time to be sure but I don't see it yet.

The argument for more media formats is about bittorrent as far as I can tell. Video providers like netflix, hulu, etc. are formatting their videos to be seen on iOS. It's the file sharing stuff that still uses mkv, xvid and things.

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PC

Yet the comment about Steve "going away and not coming back" was in total lack of taste irregardless of Apple's business practices.

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Trackbacks

  1. Netgear CEO apologizes for part of anti-Apple rant | Boomeroo Web Resources says:
    February 3, 2011 at 1:10 PM

    [...] to Macgasm, Netgear CEO Patrick Lo has clarified his earlier statement about Steve Jobs’ ego. On Monday, Lo made reference to Steve Jobs [...]

  2. The Macalope Weekly: Mis-quotable | MyGeist says:
    February 5, 2011 at 6:13 PM

    [...] Jobs’s imminent disappearance from the scene might have been a wireless bridge too far, Lo attempted to clarify his remarks, because you morons obviously misinterpreted him. However, I deeply regret the choice of words I [...]