The New Apple Advantage • Hacker News Board

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#41

Post by protomyth » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 2:22 AM UTC

SandB0x wrote: post #27

I've ranted about this previously ( http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1419896 ). Most manufacturers have vast and bewildering product lines. Treat yourself to the Asus line-up: http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/AllProducts/ Most manufacturers have half-hearted and short lived attempts at introducing premium lines or models (e.g. Dell's Adamo). Buying an expensive product only to have the manufacturer discontinue the li…

The worst thing is talking to your sale rep (looking at you HP) and them having no real clue what system you should buy. I am convinced that the only reason CDW is still in business is the complications of the PC company's product lines and CDW's skill at navigating them.

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#42

Post by nohat » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 2:23 AM UTC

fjarlq wrote: post #23

nohat wrote: post #8

The problem with the article he quotes is that it is wrong about the price of the x220. The x220 with default specs on everything except the bluetooth, webcam, ips screen (much nicer than an air btw), 128 GB ssd, and most expensive wifi (includes wimax) is $1290.60 . The ars article claims $1999.

But that's a limited-time promotional discount. They are reporting the usual price. http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2011/09/ultrabook-intel...

Ah, thanks for pointing that out. The sale price is still is an important point that the article doesn't mention, and the discount was active when the article was published. Maybe I've gotten jaded, but when I see a 'limited time major discount' I don't think of the official pre sale price as being the actual price.

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#43

Post by felipemnoa » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 2:28 AM UTC

mechanical_fish wrote: post #14

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…

OK, so if a Formula 1 driver wins the race, who gets the credit? The car or the driver? I would say the car is Tim Cook and Steve jobs is the driver.

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#44

Post by bluekeybox » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 2:30 AM UTC

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…

> I disagree that [Tim Cook] is really "new."

I believe Gruber's argument was not that Tim Cook has more influence than he did before, but that because Apple is much more mainstream today than it was a few years back, its operations are larger in scale and logistics become increasingly important as the company pushes millions of products. Better logistics pipeline allows Apple to compete on price, which is impressive considering that Apple has always been perceived as a premium brand.

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#45

Post by ethank » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 2:33 AM UTC

This is always my favorite page on Apple's site: http://www.apple.com/pr/products/

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#46

Post by sunchild » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 2:38 AM UTC

ajg1977 wrote: post #4

If they're not already, PC manufacturers should be very scared.

They were mocking Apple openly ten years ago. One of many factors leading to Apple's success is the hubris of their competition.

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#47

Post by socratic » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 2:38 AM UTC

Gruber's argument confuses me:

1. Steve Jobs, the only CEO to ever successfully lead Apple in the company's 25-year history, has resigned.

2. Because of the current popularity of the iPad, iPhone, and MacBooks, Apple has great economies of scale. (However, Gruber primarily gives us anecdotes to support this.)

3. These economies of scale are evidence that the new CEO, an operations guy, will be able to lead the company.

4. In fact, design is copy-able.

5. Therefore, because Apple's designs are copy-able, in terms of competitive advantage, the new CEO has always been more important than Steve Jobs.

Is that correct?

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#48

Post by dgallagher » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 2:38 AM UTC

CamperBob wrote: post #35

ShirtlessRod wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that really the comparison you want to be using here? Panera versus McDonalds, where Apple is McDonalds? Seems more like an insult.

Not if you look at their balance sheets, it isn't. McDonalds is one hell of a highly optimized operation, and nobody in business would object to being compared to them. Meanwhile, Panera's food is probably less healthy if you actually look at the numbers.

Yeah, I was mostly looking at it from the perspective of just comparing a complex-selection (Panera Bread's menu) vs. a simpler-selection (McDonald's menu). If you look at other variables like quality of food, speed which it's cooked, convenience of locations, charitable donations, etc, it definitely confuses the example.

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#49

Post by ugh » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 2:42 AM UTC

socratic wrote: post #47

Gruber's argument confuses me: 1. Steve Jobs, the only CEO to ever successfully lead Apple in the company's 25-year history, has resigned. 2. Because of the current popularity of the iPad, iPhone, and MacBooks, Apple has great economies of scale. (However, Gruber primarily gives us anecdotes to support this.) 3. These economies of scale are evidence that the new CEO, an operations guy, will be able to lead the compan…

You are reading way too much into it. This article is not trying to make the argument that Steve Jobs was irrelevant or less important for Apple than Tim Cook.

Re: The New Apple Advantage

#50

Post by tritchey » Sat, Sep 10, 2011, 2:46 AM UTC

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…

If it is related to manufacturing, then absolutely. My neighbor works for a Honda supplier, and one day had to drop everything and fly from Indiana to a plant in Brazil with a replacement for some part of the assembly line. It is surprising how quickly a supply chain disruption can ripple through the entire manufacturing line. These organizations track things in hours and minutes.