2010年已经接近尾声，按以往惯例，业内每到此时都会盘点全年最佳和最差产品，苹果音乐社交网站Ping很不幸获得了本年度最差创意的称号。

据游戏邦了解，Ping刚刚问世时，曾有人预测它将成为MySpace的杀手，但情况并非如此，Ping的表现让音乐粉丝感到彻头彻尾的失望。Ping是在今年九月与iTunes 10一起登台亮相，但这个苹果新功能并不招人待见，现在用户人数已经降至100万左右，还不足iTunes 1.6亿用户的1%。

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Ping这个社交网站落得如此难堪的下场并不令人意外。作为一家电子消费产品公司，苹果一直专注于自己最擅长的领域，比如说产品研发和市场营销，以及iTunes的数字媒体技术。尽管苹果一直引领科技消费产品的潮流，但它在重塑用户的社交媒体使用习惯上却鲜有作为，许多人认为在社交媒体领域，苹果已经远远落后了。

Ping遭到用户冷落的原因在于，苹果是一家奉行保守主义、对产品控制极为严格的公司，这种特点明显有违社交网站的开放性原则。Ping刚发布时一直处于自我封闭的状态，仅限运行于iTunes，直到最近才允许连接到Twitter网站。苹果曾希望传媒品牌公司与音乐艺术家可以通过Ping与粉丝相互沟通，但实际上大部分用户还是更习惯使用Twitter来进行社交活动。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

Apple’s Ping Social Network: Worst Idea of 2010?

As 2010 draws to a close the internet will be awash with all kinds of best and worst lists of the year. Ping is making a few of those lists; the much maligned and overhyped music social network from Apple is being branded as one of the worst ideas of 2010. Ping was predicted to be the killer app to MySpace, but ultimately failed to warm to music fans. Launched with fanfare as part of iTunes 10 in September, four months later a Ping discussion by and large usually concluded with a shrug. Ping user numbers have dwindled at about 1 million users – less than 1% of iTunes’  total 160 million customers.

The social networks’ embarrassingly bad start doesn’t come as surprise to many. As a consumer electronics company Apple has always stuck to what it’s good at – product development and marketing, and most recently – digital media with iTunes. Seemingly always on the forefront of consumer technology trends, Apple was slow to respond to shifting consumer behavior in social media and many say Apple’s first foray into social media was too little, too late. The problem stems from the fact that Ping emerged from a company that is very protective and controlling of its assets, which is completely counter to the nature of social media that is very much open. Ping exists in its own walled garden and until recently allowing linking with Twitter, completely existed on its own within iTunes. Apple was hoping that bands and artists would use Ping to communicate with fans and vice versa, but the majority of still use Twitter as their primary form of micro-communication.（source:socialtimes）