Technology Made Them Sorry: CIO's Top 10 Tech-Induced Apologies

By Kim S. Nash

Unlike love, technology means frequently having to say you're sorry.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg found out about that after users rebelled against Beacon, a program that secretly catches data about members' online shopping and releases it to advertisers. The Gen Y CEO blogged his remorse.

But take heart, young Mark. You follow a long line of men and women who were sorry after some embarrassing technology mishap, or boorish behavior preserved in technology, or both. That includes Seagate's CEO and his porn remark and former U.S. Congressman Mark Foley and his naughty instant messages. JetBlue founder David Neeleman even made a media apology tour—including Letterman—after an IT meltdown stranded flyers. Microsoft may hold the apology record: at least six that we know of, for such sorry-making events as Vista overpromises and the company's infamous "ham sandwich" court filing.

Here, in our humble opinion, are the best (should we say worst?) tech-induced apologies. Click here to add your own.

9. Microsoft, Part I: Gates on IE Upgrade, Unwanted Office Font, Zune Wake-Up Call

• Using the royal "we," Chairman Bill Gates came as close as we can tell to apologizing when he acknowledged to a group of developers in 2006 how slow Microsoft was to upgrade the Internet Explorer browser. Three and a half years passed between IE versions 6 and 7. "In a sense we're doing a mea culpa and saying we waited too long for a browser release," Gates said.
• In 2003, Steve Sinofsky, then senior VP for Microsoft Office, apologized "to those who have been offended or upset" by the presence of swastikas in an Office font.
• A Zune promo in 2007 subjected New Yorkers to a 3 a.m. music blast when a Zune-logoed SUV cruised lower Manhattan, stereo blaring. A Microsoft employee working on Zune blogged an apology, saying the stunt was unplanned.

Source: IDG News Service

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