Before the introduction of the Mac, peak Apple would've been in 1977 with the launch of the Apple II. Before the introduction of the iPod, peak Apple would've been in 1984 with the launch of the Macintosh. Before the iPhone, peak Apple would've been in 2001 with the launch of the iPod. Before the iPad, peak Apple would've been in 2007 with the launch of the iPhone...
Peak Google, Apple and Facebook
31–40 of 43 posts
Re: Peak Google, Apple and Facebook
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
... and completely failing to capitalize on more or less all of them, because they didn't even try.
You mean, like, not charging money for anything?
Or even release them as products. Or actively shutting them down (or attempting to). The mouse, their DRM language (as mal-conceived as it may have been, was pretty clean), Bob Metcalfe's Ethernet and bit-mapped windowing displays all come to mind. IIRC correctly there were some interesting experiments in object-oriented interpretive languages, their runtimes, dev environments and libraries (think about lessons learned from LISP/Smalltalk before Python/Ruby or Perl or even PHP)
And there were more. Many more.
Re: Peak Google, Apple and Facebook
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, and Xerox PARC also had a ton of smart people working on a bunch of exciting futuristic projects at one point as well.
... and completely failing to capitalize on more or less all of them, because they didn't even try.
As I recall they got something like an 8000% return on investment from all the money that went into PARC from the invention of the laser printer at PARC alone.
Re: Peak Google, Apple and Facebook
#34I think Apple could still trigger another sea-change in yet another industry: banking.
Put a fingerprint scanner on every iPhone. Let people pay for things (or transfer money) with their phones instead of chip-and-pin bank cards.
They already have bank details linked to every Apple customer account, and they have enough cash to cover all capital requirements and insurance needs and fight lawsuits from protectionist rivals etc. People are wondering what apple are going to do with its money when the answer might be in money itself.
Re: Peak Google, Apple and Facebook
#35Before the introduction of the Mac, peak Apple would've been in 1977 with the launch of the Apple II. Before the introduction of the iPod, peak Apple would've been in 1984 with the launch of the Macintosh. Before the iPhone, peak Apple would've been in 2001 with the launch of the iPod. Before the iPad, peak Apple would've been in 2007 with the launch of the iPhone...
Exactly. Look at Apple's patent stream and tell me they have stopped trying to innovate. The author pans iOS 7, when in fact this is a good example of a company taking meaningful risks by throwing out the entire UX of the operating system for one that risks being a disaster in the name of a long term step forward. And for fuck's sake, Google is working on self driving cars and internet balloons. And lets not forget Amazon AWS releases insane disruptive technology every quarter and is on track to be the technology provider for all startups of this generation.
Basically we could be at "Peak Facebook", but to claim that Apple, Google, and Amazon's best days are behind them is at odds with reality.
Re: Peak Google, Apple and Facebook
#36I disagree with the comment "If I had more room and time, I’d work Amazon into the argument, but as a technology company, it ranks well behind the other three." IMHO, Amazon is up there as an equal peer with G/A/F. Edit: I agree with the rest of the article though. I expect (hope for?) more interesting things happening from small players, especially in non-USA markets.
Agreed. AWS, Lab126...
Re: Peak Google, Apple and Facebook
#37I'm not entirely sold on the "Innovator's dilemma" argument that "they can’t muster the courage to disrupt their existing revenue streams" in case of Apple - they seem to have been doing plenty of self-cannibalising since Jobs' return - Jobs slashed the numerous product lines to just 4 products when he returned; iPod Mini that cannibalised iPod sales, iPod Nano that cannibalised both of the mentioned, iPhone that cannibalised all iPods. They at least seem to be willing to compete with their own products.
Re: Peak Google, Apple and Facebook
#38Foolishly wrong about Google. Aside from G+, Google continues to do crazy new things--even if one is skeptical of Glass, one can't deny it's interesting. And something like Facebook, with its artificially inflated value, cannot expand to advertise to everyone; it can only crash when its optimism runs out. He gets it right: it's only a place for sharing photos and links. We don't need Facebook for that, and we'll figu…
Saying Facebook is just a place for sharing photos and links is like saying Google.com is just a place for looking up links. You can understate it as much as you want but at the end of the day Facebook connects PEOPLE. Technology, whether it be Google, Facebook, or Apple, is about people and it seems to me you haven't figured that out yet.
Uh huh. Facebook connects PEOPLE by giving them a place to share photos and links. Butchers, restaurants, and NASA are all about PEOPLE but that doesn't mean you're saying anything useful.
Re: Peak Google, Apple and Facebook
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
Saying Facebook is just a place for sharing photos and links is like saying Google.com is just a place for looking up links. You can understate it as much as you want but at the end of the day Facebook connects PEOPLE. Technology, whether it be Google, Facebook, or Apple, is about people and it seems to me you haven't figured that out yet.
Uh huh. Facebook connects PEOPLE by giving them a place to share photos and links. Butchers, restaurants, and NASA are all about PEOPLE but that doesn't mean you're saying anything useful.
I think you missed my point.
Re: Peak Google, Apple and Facebook
#40Before the introduction of the Mac, peak Apple would've been in 1977 with the launch of the Apple II. Before the introduction of the iPod, peak Apple would've been in 1984 with the launch of the Macintosh. Before the iPhone, peak Apple would've been in 2001 with the launch of the iPod. Before the iPad, peak Apple would've been in 2007 with the launch of the iPhone...
iPod.
iPod smaller.
iPod much smaller.
iPod with a touch screen.
iPod with a touch screen and phone.
iPod with a touch screen, internet and much bigger.
iPod with a touch screen, internet and slightly smaller.
Some thinner, some fatter, some with cameras, some without.
;]