Steve Jobs on why Xerox failed • Hacker News Board

Re: Steve Jobs on why Xerox failed

#81

Post by Redoubts » Tue, Jan 08, 2019, 1:21 AM UTC

swampthinker wrote: post #70

jki275 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the X models are the newest. There is no 9, the 8 is the last "non-X" model.

So whats the difference between the XR, XS, X max (is that a thing? Feel like I've heard that). Which iPhone has a notch? Which one has a home button still? These are questions I've heard over the holidays from friends and family, questions that were unthinkable when Jobs ran Apple.

> XR, XS, X max... Which iPhone has a notch?

All of them.

> Which one has a home button still?

None of them.

> So whats the difference

S is the refresh, same as it's been for years. Max is the physically larger size, what used to be called the "Plus".

> These are questions I've heard over the holidays from friends and family, questions that were unthinkable when Jobs ran Apple.

I mean, Max/Plus is annoying, but I think Jobs was alive when iPhones refreshed with an S so this seems like a silly statement.

Re: Steve Jobs on why Xerox failed

#82

Post by wolco » Tue, Jan 08, 2019, 9:14 AM UTC

dingby wrote: post #61

wolco wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you still bought one and my guess will continue to buy them retelling stories of glory when the mac was best. You are still part of there marketing machine.

What a completely thoughtless reply. No. MacBooks still offer an excellent value in part because MacOS is less of a tire fire than Windows 10 and the hardware is still near the top. They are premium product that continues to have outsized market share in the development and education segments. The iPhone ecosystem continues to offer distinct advantages over Android in terms of privacy, support and quality. And these…

If you are invested to the point where you believe MacOS is less of a tire sale than any other operating systems the fact that you dislike the current product offerings compared to the past shouldn't matter to Apple. You will continue to buy because you have no other choice. Apple is better off taking profit from your customer segment and using the money for future investment.

Re: Steve Jobs on why Xerox failed

#83

Post by swampthinker » Tue, Jan 08, 2019, 10:04 AM UTC

Redoubts wrote: post #81

swampthinker wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So whats the difference between the XR, XS, X max (is that a thing? Feel like I've heard that). Which iPhone has a notch? Which one has a home button still? These are questions I've heard over the holidays from friends and family, questions that were unthinkable when Jobs ran Apple.

> XR, XS, X max... Which iPhone has a notch? All of them. > Which one has a home button still? None of them. > So whats the difference S is the refresh, same as it's been for years. Max is the physically larger size, what used to be called the "Plus". > These are questions I've heard over the holidays from friends and family, questions that were unthinkable when Jobs ran Apple. I mean, Max/Plus is annoying, but I thi…

There are now 4 phones consumers are supposed to be aware of. On top of the naming scheme being confusing, most people who asked me during the holidays think Xs is just a smaller version of the X.

Frankly X was just a dumb name.

Re: Steve Jobs on why Xerox failed

#84

Post by wtetzner » Tue, Jan 08, 2019, 12:59 PM UTC

intsunny wrote: post #41

beautifulfreak wrote: post #40

I remember that back then it was very hard to figure out which Apple computer to buy. Model names had proliferated, thanks to the marketing department, and you needed a spreadsheet to figure out the differences between them. One of the best things Steve ever did was to reduce the offerings to just "four great products." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkVs4ZqWgN8

Ironically it has become too confusing to know which Iphone to buy. The X* naming convention isn't helping one bit either.

I like that the iPhone X came around as OS X became macOS.

Feels like there's a disconnect in the marketing department.

Re: Steve Jobs on why Xerox failed

#85

Post by Redoubts » Tue, Jan 08, 2019, 3:33 PM UTC

swampthinker wrote: post #83

Redoubts wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> XR, XS, X max... Which iPhone has a notch? All of them. > Which one has a home button still? None of them. > So whats the difference S is the refresh, same as it's been for years. Max is the physically larger size, what used to be called the "Plus". > These are questions I've heard over the holidays from friends and family, questions that were unthinkable when Jobs ran Apple. I mean, Max/Plus is annoying, but I thi…

There are now 4 phones consumers are supposed to be aware of. On top of the naming scheme being confusing, most people who asked me during the holidays think Xs is just a smaller version of the X. Frankly X was just a dumb name.

Sounds like the people you know don't want to do entry level reading on a $1000 purchase.

Re: Steve Jobs on why Xerox failed

#86

Post by swampthinker » Wed, Jan 09, 2019, 3:13 AM UTC

Redoubts wrote: post #85

swampthinker wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are now 4 phones consumers are supposed to be aware of. On top of the naming scheme being confusing, most people who asked me during the holidays think Xs is just a smaller version of the X. Frankly X was just a dumb name.

Sounds like the people you know don't want to do entry level reading on a $1000 purchase.

That's exactly right. It's normally a purchased through a carrier's 2 year upgrade plan, and the expectation has been simplicity.

Why are we suddenly expected to do more research on various models when part of the reason why the iPhone was successful was due to it's simplicity?

Re: Steve Jobs on why Xerox failed

#87

Post by washadjeffmad » Wed, Jan 09, 2019, 6:29 PM UTC

Redoubts wrote: post #85

swampthinker wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are now 4 phones consumers are supposed to be aware of. On top of the naming scheme being confusing, most people who asked me during the holidays think Xs is just a smaller version of the X. Frankly X was just a dumb name.

Sounds like the people you know don't want to do entry level reading on a $1000 purchase.

I don't know, would you intuit the model called the X or the XS (read: "excess") as being the bigger, better phone? How many others might have thought it was "Xtra Small"?

And even if you knew the XS was the refresh, would guess the XR preceeded or succeeded it? R comes before S, so maybe S is the newest?

Personally, the X naming feels like kind of a gaff.