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Apple fires up its version of Google’s "20% time"

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Re: Apple fires up its version of Google’s "20% time"

#41

Post by brianmcdonough »

bane wrote: post #19
philwelch wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just hope they do the sensible thing and are selective about which ideas they actually turn into products. Gil Amelio and Steve Jobs, between the two of them, had to kill off dozens if not hundreds of fringe products that didn't amount for much and destroyed focus.

That's a great point, editing is often just as important as ideas.

Strongly agree with you here. Ideas are a dime a dozen, but the ability to pick the right one at the right time is kind of like having a strong sense of style. It comes more easily to some.

Re: Apple fires up its version of Google’s "20% time"

#42

Post by The_Egg_Man »

ruswick wrote: post #39

Apple is blatantly and abjectly stealing from Google. This is an egregious and shameless flaunting of the thousands of hours of tireless effort and innovation that went into crafting Google's unique and beautiful culture. Pathetic. /sarcasm

It's only a matter of time before they patent the 20% Time and sue Google for it.

Re: Apple fires up its version of Google’s "20% time"

#43

Post by activepeanut »

firefox wrote: post #24

Best of luck to the ones "affected" as everyone that I know who works at Apple are already overworked, stressed and being asked to work while on vacation.

Indeed.

Ditto for certain groups at Google (cough android cough).

Either have a dedicated research group, or give people a pass at being 20% less productive at their regular job.

Here's a novel idea.. increase your workforce by 20%? I know, that's just crazy talk. :)

Re: Apple fires up its version of Google’s "20% time"

#44

Post by hazov »

hahainternet wrote: post #26
bane wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd write it up this way: Tim Cook is a remarkable individual, but he's not exactly the fountain of creative ideas that Jobs was (how original those ideas were is an ongoing debate, but nevertheless). I think it's a remarkably introspective move, recognizing weakness and moving to rectify it. Put another way it's much better than the "strategy" of suing everybody who uses fruit or 4 sided shapes in their products as…

Forgive me if this is pointless cynicism but fountain of creative ideas ? * A music player * A phone * A portable computer Not exactly the most innovative product categories?

Execution and presentation matters, a lot, if Jobs left a lesson to the world that was it.

Re: Apple fires up its version of Google’s "20% time"

#45

Post by nwienert »

ricardobeat wrote: post #30
nickpinkston wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have their own aluminum alloy made specifically for the phone. Custom plastics, dyes, colors, etc. They've got enough scale/buyer power to optimize to the n-th. Not to mention that the A-series processor is Apple only, they get early access to the best screens, etc.

Not to mention they use forging instead of casting for the aluminum bodies, and have their own white paint formula (most manufacturers don't even bother trying to make white devices). Plastic was still the norm for PCs until the "Ultrabook" wave came along.

Not sure the white paint is relevant, there are quite a few white androids (most notably the HTC One X, which in my opinion is the best looking phone on the market).

Re: Apple fires up its version of Google’s "20% time"

#46

Post by pyrotechnick »

tedmiston wrote: post #28
xbryanx wrote: post #25

This concept of Bootlegging[1], isn't "Google's" and dates back to the late 1960s. I always think of Post-it notes as the pre-digital poster child for this sort of internal, yet personal, innovation. [1] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootlegging_(business)

Bootlegging is an unnatural term, and has a historically negative connotation. The definition mentions secrecy and unauthorized projects, yet a few paragraphs later awkwardly adds a permitted form.

You seem to have confused a few monkeys tapping on keyboards "collaboratively" for some kind of trustworthy source of definition.

Good thing Kenneth E. Knight introduced the notion bootlegging in 1967; well before the gnomes could ever get their filthy mitts near it.

Try not to let a few control-freaks on Wikipedia desecrate your language more than it already has. You owe them nothing.

Re: Apple fires up its version of Google’s "20% time"

#47

Post by general_failure »

jfoutz wrote: post #32
hahainternet wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Forgive me if this is pointless cynicism but fountain of creative ideas ? * A music player * A phone * A portable computer Not exactly the most innovative product categories?

Apple 2? Macintosh? Powerbook? Newton? Didn't that laser printer and the Apple software that became Adobe pretty much create "desktop publishing"? I've heard a few people talk about hypercard being neat at the time. Yeah, they did some stuff lately, whatever. But you really have no appreciation for how cool woz's disk drive was? That was pretty amazing.

Dude, that was Apple the company and not Steve jobs doing.

What's wrong with everyone? Steve jobs didn't come up with every darn idea and implemente every darn thing.

You know what John Chambers is awesome. He invented routers, switches, hubs, IP phones, Conferencing systems, Telco switches, things that power practically 50% of the internet all by himself.

Re: Apple fires up its version of Google’s "20% time"

#48

Post by jacques_chester »

marksaccucci wrote: post #34

I think all companies should encourage this. When I read this, Bell Labs comes to mind. Bell Labs had a recipe for brilliant innovation and I think all companies should take note!

> Bell Labs had a recipe for brilliant innovation

Government-guaranteed monopoly profits?

Harder to achieve than it looks.

Re: Apple fires up its version of Google’s "20% time"

#50

Post by gwilkes »

alwaysinshade wrote: post #17

I’m glad Tim Cook is trying new things like this, involving Jony Ive in Human Interface design and becoming more involved in charity. I just wish they’d shitcan the lawsuits and get on with making products. Hopefully the HTC licensing agreement is the beginning of the end of SJ’s “thermonuclear” tantrum. The only way to beat the competition is to make products that are too difficult and costly to replicate – they alr…

With the lawsuits, I think too much is made of this. I don't believe it really much affects their ability to make products one way or the other.

I don't know if it is still the case but a few years ago they were the most sued company in the world and prior to the iPhone they were getting hit with a ton of patent suits and trolls.

So, it seems that starting with the iPhone there was a shift in strategy when Apple realized they needed to patent everything possible as a defensive measure.

Perhaps it's lamentable that became a more offensive strategy, but it seems to be swinging back the other way under Tim Cook.

I also agree that it would be nice if they would step up their software game, but don't hold your breath. Apple makes decent OSes but their apps have never been known for their high quality.

There are some hopeful signs though. Although it gets plenty of hate, I think the the slow convergence of OS X and iOS is a good direction. Of course, with Ive now in charge of software design we can at least expect some more aesthetic polish in their software within the next year.

I think their biggest strength is providing a good platform (hardware and OS) for third party developers to shine. However, they seem to have a hard enough time just doing that (more on the OS side), so I wouldn't mind if they dumped more of their app development to focus even more of the quality of their OSes.

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