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The New Apple Advantage

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Re: The New Apple Advantage

#11

Post by X-Istence »

cubicle67 wrote: post #3

I wish HN had a way of presenting content but masking who wrote it, so we could discuss what's written here without getting dragged down into the usual (of late) bashing/defending John. I feel this is an interesting point he's raised here, and I'm interested to see peoples take on that point , not the usual meaningless back and forth that goes on

So far there is no bashing of John in this thread, just a single anecdote and story about Tim Cook and how his way of managing has started becoming part of the fabric that is Apple.

Apple has a proven formula, they have been able to make consumer products that people want without giving people a big choice.

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#12

Post by X-Istence »

microarchitect wrote: post #7
jballanc wrote: post #2

There's a story that I've heard told about Tim Cook numerous times. I can't remember the original source (there's a reference here: http://www.cultofmac.com/who-is-apples-new-ceo-tim-cook-bio/... ), but I think it basically sums up Tim: > When in a meeting discussing a problem in China, Tim Cook noted that the problem was “really bad” and that someone should be in China fixing it. Thirty minutes later, Cook then famo…

I understand these things are partly symbolic, but besides that is this really useful? I mean, is there a real business benefit to Apple by making Khan take the next immediate flight to China rather than the one a few hours later. Similarly, what was your friend doing that was so important that he couldn't wait to get a change of clothes? I personally do my best work when I'm relaxed and un-stressed. The apple enviro…

I agree with you in that I don't see the business benefit, but I can understand that a boots on the ground approach can be very beneficial and can sometimes help avert a disaster of even greater proportions.

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#13

Post by protomyth »

microarchitect wrote: post #7
jballanc wrote: post #2

There's a story that I've heard told about Tim Cook numerous times. I can't remember the original source (there's a reference here: http://www.cultofmac.com/who-is-apples-new-ceo-tim-cook-bio/... ), but I think it basically sums up Tim: > When in a meeting discussing a problem in China, Tim Cook noted that the problem was “really bad” and that someone should be in China fixing it. Thirty minutes later, Cook then famo…

I understand these things are partly symbolic, but besides that is this really useful? I mean, is there a real business benefit to Apple by making Khan take the next immediate flight to China rather than the one a few hours later. Similarly, what was your friend doing that was so important that he couldn't wait to get a change of clothes? I personally do my best work when I'm relaxed and un-stressed. The apple enviro…

In operations, given the number of units they produce and sell per day, the answer is yes. For the sys admin types, the answer is the same as if the data center had a major fault and the market is opening in a couple of hours.

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#14

Post by mechanical_fish »

ansy wrote: post #6

I agree that Tim Cook is an advantage to Apple. I disagree that he is really "new." Tim has been at Apple since 1998 and has been in a place of power since at least 2004 when he took over for Steve Jobs as CEO the first time. Tim has been part of the winning formula for the better part of a decade. I think the glaring omission in Gruber's article, though, is Apple's lost advantage in Steve Jobs. It could be argued in…

Have we forgotten the Newton? The Newton had issues, but lack of daring design innovation wasn't one of them. Now that Palm has boomed and iPads and iPhones are everywhere, it's difficult to appreciate how crazy the Newton was at the time. People didn't know that mobile book-sized computers were the future. The Newton was a bit too futuristic, too ambitious for its own hardware.

Apple also tried a bunch of things in the OS space before NeXT and Jobs rode to the rescue. They just didn't succeed.

Which brings this right back to Tim Cook, and the unsung operational heroes that really built Apple: It isn't that Apple didn't try to innovate in the Jobs-free interregnum. They just didn't succeed. It takes more than just good intentions and "vision": It takes operational skill.

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#15

Post by forrestthewoods »

cubicle67 wrote: post #3

I wish HN had a way of presenting content but masking who wrote it, so we could discuss what's written here without getting dragged down into the usual (of late) bashing/defending John. I feel this is an interesting point he's raised here, and I'm interested to see peoples take on that point , not the usual meaningless back and forth that goes on

++irony;

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#16

Post by T_S_ »

cubicle67 wrote: post #3

I wish HN had a way of presenting content but masking who wrote it, so we could discuss what's written here without getting dragged down into the usual (of late) bashing/defending John. I feel this is an interesting point he's raised here, and I'm interested to see peoples take on that point , not the usual meaningless back and forth that goes on

Nah. Adhominaters gonna adhominate.

Facts reduce the (net) number of things to argue about. Anonymous lets the commenter create a straw man or label the author as fanboi even more easily.

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#17

Post by jsnell »

It's hardly the first time logistics has been touted as the key competitive advantage of a company. Take Nokia for example. Massive economies of scale, designs taking maximum advantage of that, and incredible supply chain management[1]. All this kept them going for a while even after the wheels fell off, but by now they pretty much have no logistical advantage left.

Apple pundits seem to think that Apple's (undeniable) advantages are going to be permanent, just because they get a great deal on Flash memory or tied up the world's whole supply of 9.7" touch screens. It's a pretty ridiculous position.

[1] As an example of this, there's this great story about how in the late 90s there was a fire at a critical Philips chip factory, which they tried to cover up since it was expected to be a quick repair. Someone at Nokia noticed that there were irregularities in the shipments, investigated the matter, found out about the fire, and started talks with Philips. Nokia decided that Philips were talking bullshit about the repair schedules, and basically sucked up the whole world's supply of the alternative components to replace this lost capacity. Other phone manufacturers relying on this plant were left high and dry for months, pretty much.

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#18

Post by pkamb »

I break out this link whenever the topic of PC manufacturing comes up: http://www.lenovoblogs.com/insidethebox/2009/04/display-rati...

Thinkpads are (were) well known for their 4:3 screens. People are downright fanatical about them, and continue to buy old T60s off craigslist rather than buy new from Lenovo. Tall screens are better for documents and spreadsheets. 4:3 displays instantly differentiate business-machine Thinkpads from all other laptops.

But now Thinkpads are 16:9. They lost one of their defining features because "these manufacturers make more selling TV displays than laptop displays, and the PC vendors have almost zero say in this change. We simply have to adapt. As much as I would like it to be so, 4:3 is not coming back."

Meanwhile, Apple goes and sources millions of 4:3 iPad displays simply because that's the best resolution for the iPad.

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#19

Post by barrkel »

"How could Dell, for example, possibly copy Apple’s operations when they currently classify “Design & Performance” and “Thin & Powerful” as separate laptop categories?"

The answer is pretty simple: the Powerful in "Thin & Powerful" is not as good as the "Performance" in "Design & Performance".

There are approximately three different categories for laptops: desktop replacements (powerful but very heavy, no battery life); netbooks (puny but very light, good battery life); and executive machines (a blend of power and weight with long battery life: Thinkpad, Portege). Before netbooks, there was another category: el-cheapo (weak and not very light, mediocre battery), but the hardware has advanced sufficiently that modern netbooks are viable web browser machines for many people who only use them for such, and it has mostly crowded out that segment. The PC laptop makers probably made most markup in the executive class segment.

Apple has similar categories, but it markets them better and even more precisely: the iPad is their netbook, the MBA their executive class, and the MBP their desktop replacement. But with the latest generations of the MBA, they've started to cut in towards the netbook market and eat into the margins PC laptop makers were getting in the executive segment.

But meanwhile, PC laptop makers were already getting burned by netbook-class machines getting more powerful. So what we're seeing is a slow disappearance of a segment of the market, and that's tripping up the marketing messages from the PC laptop manufacturers.

(FWIW, my relatively ancient Toshiba Portege is arguably a better machine than my fairly new MBA; it's considerably lighter, more fully featured, with Ethernet and DVD writer, and almost as fast. What it isn't is stylish: it compromises by being made of relatively flimsy plastic. If it were sold today, it could be made cheaply - a lot more cheaply than an MBA. But I don't think it's profitable for Toshiba to make and market it (and their later Porteges are much heavier as the market landscape shifts).

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#20

Post by vilhelm_s »

cubicle67 wrote: post #3

I wish HN had a way of presenting content but masking who wrote it, so we could discuss what's written here without getting dragged down into the usual (of late) bashing/defending John. I feel this is an interesting point he's raised here, and I'm interested to see peoples take on that point , not the usual meaningless back and forth that goes on

In this instance you are in luck, since you can read the discussion about the article that John Gruber is summarizing:

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2963698

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