Salesforce CEO dumps on Apple iPad event via Twitter
In the audience during yesterday's iPad event, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff didn't hold back on what he thought of the proceedings.
At least one person didn't seem to have a good time at Apple's iPad event yesterday.
Salesforce's outspoken CEO Marc Benioff let loose with a barrage of nasty tweets as he watched Apple executives demo the company's latest iPad.
Benioff started kvetching even before the main event took place, tweeting that he was in the cheap seats listening to horrible pop music. After tweeting some of the facts and figures touted by Apple CEO Tim Cook, Benioff apparently wasn't impressed with the new Apple TV, tweeting that "We all hope we're not here to see this clunky 1080p AppleTV."
He then complained about Apple's seeming lack of diversity on stage, saying that "Apple has all white men on stage. No women or racial diversity so far" and "the only racial and gender diversity in Apple's keynotes is in the movies they show at the launches."
When the name, or lack thereof, of the new iPad was revealed, Benioff called it a "lame name," tweeting: "Where is the zen? Ipad3? Ipads? Ipad retina? Ipadx?"
But the CEO reserved some harsh words for Cook, especially in comparison to the late Steve Jobs: "This #ipad3 launch is horribly boring. Steve, I miss you terribly" and "Tim Cook didn't thank or remember Steve Jobs at iPad3 launch. There would be no iPad3 without Steve Jobs. Steve you were the best we had!"
Benioff is known for speaking his mind, but a few other tweeters also were less than thrilled with the Apple event. Australian site news.com.au revealed some choice comments, such as "Tim Cook runs back to the office in a panic...I FORGOT TO CHANGE THE NAME."
Of course, such gripes are part of the package at Apple launch events, where anticipation is high and expectations almost impossible to meet.
Cook has already been critiqued for lacking the charisma and presence that Steve Jobs brought to the stage. But as others have noted, Apple can't continue as a "what would Steve do" type of company. Even Jobs himself wouldn't have wanted that.
Still, Jobs had a knack for knowing how to wow an audience and generate buzz for a product, a quality that some clearly believe was in short supply yesterday.
So was Apple's iPad event as boring as Benioff claims? Judge for yourself. The full event is now available online or you can replay CNET's live blog coverage here.