As Apple took some flack over the past week in regard to the iOS tracking issue, today the company addressed the issue as we brought it to you earlier. But the company decided to do the PR announcement one better by also bringing out CEO Steve Jobs and senior vice presidents Phil Schiller and Scott Forstall to address the issue in an interview. They also discussed what took so darn long for the white iPhone 4.
In an interview with All Things Digital, the execs made it clear that Apple wasn't ignoring the issue, despite the silent treatment. Jobs mentioned that Apple was simply trying to figure out exactly what was and wasn't happening, and then figure out how to best explain what was occurring to customers.
"We're an engineering-driven company," said Jobs. "When people accuse us of things, the first thing we want to do is find out the truth. That took a certain amount of time to track all of these things down. And the accusations were coming day by day. By the time we had figured this all out, it took a few days. Then writing it up and trying to make it intelligible when this is a very high-tech topic took a few days. And here we are less than a week later."
Jobs did decline to say whether he thought Google or others needed to do better when it came to privacy issues, but did mention that Apple's method was different.
"Some of them don't do what we do," he said. "That's for sure."
The Apple CEO also said that the company was leading the front when it comes to privacy and said Apple looks forward to testifying before any congressional inquiries on such issues.
Phil Schiller also touched on the delay of the infamous white iPhone 4. The delay of the device has occurred several times now.
"It was challenging," Schiller said. "It's not as simple as making something white. There's a lot more that goes into both the material science of it - how it holds up over time…but also in how it all works with the sensors."
"We thought we were there a year ago, or less than that, when we launched the iPhone 4, and we weren't," Schiller continued. In waiting, Apple feels they can now meet product expectations.
"We obviously think about this in a generic way because you have a white iPad," said Jobs.
Jobs did reiterate that the iPhone isn't tracking anyone, but did concede that the industry needs to be better in explaining the nuances of what can be a complex issue at times. He also confirmed that Apple would testify before Congress next week, as has been requested.
Toward the end of the interview, Jobs also declined comment on when he might return full time to Apple.
Check out the edited transcript of the interview here.
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(Image courtesy of guardian.co.uk)
