--- title: Do you care more about customers or the competition? --- [Skip to main content](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/2012/11/do-you-care-more-about-customers-or-the-competition.html#maincontent) [ «  View All Posts ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog) # Do you care more about customers or the competition? November 13th, 2012 1 min read By [David Meerman Scott](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott) Recently, Apple CEO Tim Cook [asked Scott Forstall to resign](http://blogs.computerworld.com/ios/21240/ios-chief-scott-forstall-out-jony-ive-lead-future-apple-user-interface-design), reportedly because Forstall (who had headed Apple's iOS Software) refused to sign the company's apology over the crappy Apple Maps that were made a part of the latest iPhone software. I'm glad to see that because it signals that Cook cares about customers rather than "beating Google" which as far as I could tell was the only reason to swap out the mapping platform in the iPhone. **Too much focus on the competition** Many companies obsess about the other guys. Why in the world would you name your business [Seattle's Best Coffee](http://www.seattlesbest.com) unless you were directly competing with Seattle, Washington based Starbucks? My sense is that the various social platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and the like) are spending way too much time worried about the "competition" and not enough time worrying about their users. For example, Google worries about Twitter. So Google eliminated the excellent [real time search feature](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Real-Time_Search) which had delivered tweets as part of Google search results. While tweets no longer appear, Google will happily show updates from Google+ in search results. **Who do you care more about – your customers or the competition? ** [ David Meerman Scott ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott) David Meerman Scott is a business growth strategist, advisor to clever entrepreneurs who are building emerging companies, and the international bestselling author of a dozen books published in 30 languages. David’s high-energy keynote presentations, masterclasses, and virtual events educate, energize, and inspire. Connect: [mailto:david@freshspot.com](mailto:david@freshspot.com) Topics: [ Research and Analysis ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/research-and-analysis) Don't forget to share this post: ## Related Articles [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Fanocracy%202e.jpg?width=1500&height=841&name=Fanocracy%202e.jpg) ### New 2nd Edition of Fanocracy Publishes Today: Your Human Connection in a Polarized, Noisy World July 14th, 2026|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/new-2nd-edition-of-fanocracy-publishes-today-your-human-connection-in-a-polarized-noisy-world) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Live%20Nation%20living%20for%20live.jpg?width=1533&height=807&name=Live%20Nation%20living%20for%20live.jpg) ### Live Music Trends Defining Global Fandom in 2026 June 2nd, 2026|1 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/live-music-trends-defining-global-fandom-in-2026) 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