How Tim Cook transformed Apple after Steve Jobs • Hacker News Board

Re: How Tim Cook transformed Apple after Steve Jobs

#251

Post by hyperpallium2 » Tue, Feb 16, 2021, 10:16 AM UTC

hyperpallium2 wrote: post #152

cageface wrote: post #81

I think it’s naive to expect that American companies like Apple that outsource everything but design and software and reap enormous profits are going to be able to do this indefinitely. China is getting better fast at doing these things too and will have tremendous advantages when it owns the entire stack. If American companies want to stay competitive in the long run they’re going to have to break their addiction to…

Isn't this ordinary commoditization? Provided Apple keeps innovating, they'll keep ahead. They have a head start, and innovatiin is their corporate organizing principle, from hiring to advertizing. They leave commodity profits on the table. The danger is if China has a monopoly on know-how, i.e. if it's not a "commodity". But that doesn't seem to be the case. However, one day, the iphone will be "good enough", and cu…

Acyutally, according to TFA, it's the whole ecology of supply chains in one place (an infrastructure) that is difficult to replicate.

Perhaps similar to silicon valley, with investors and many kinds of skilled labour, all in one place.

Re: How Tim Cook transformed Apple after Steve Jobs

#252

Post by someperson » Tue, Feb 16, 2021, 10:22 AM UTC

baybal2 wrote: post #51

duxup wrote: post #8

The article seems to hinge around China and etc more than most things. I do wonder how capable any company is to move manufacturing out of China at any kind of large scale.

Boomberg was always very apologetic of China, if not to say bordering on lobbying for them. No wonder, Bloomber is one of very, very, very few Western media operating in China through a franchise agreement.

China recently arrested Bloomberg editor Haze Fan, so robust criticism of China could adversely affect her case.

In the past I have found Bloomberg pretty impartial on China, with good criticism and analysis of China's policies.

Re: How Tim Cook transformed Apple after Steve Jobs

#253

Post by someperson » Tue, Feb 16, 2021, 10:27 AM UTC

MperorM wrote: post #230

astrange wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It didn't work so well for him either, he got fired. When he came back, he was different, because he'd gotten married. The terrible official biography of him actually notices that he was better the second time around and totally ignores it, but this is the reason.

What other things were terrible about the biography? It's my favorite biography of all time. I'd love to know better what important parts were left out.

It's been a few years but I also found Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs biography to be terrible.

I was looking for deeper analysis of what made Steve Jobs' tick, and how he approached building products. Walter Isaacson didn't have a technological understanding of Apple's products of the time, so I found his history pretty superficial.

I learned much more about Steve Jobs approach from listening to the interviews he did over the years.

Re: How Tim Cook transformed Apple after Steve Jobs

#254

Post by jwr » Tue, Feb 16, 2021, 10:31 AM UTC

baybal2 wrote: post #100

cogman10 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This stuff is why USB-C PD scares me. You've got these manufactures that are struggling to make basic AC->DC inverters and now you want to throw on a negotiation step? Yeah, not going to end well for these cost cutting idiots. There are going to be destroyed devices and fires because some idiot decides "Just hard wire 20v and be done with it!"

Some do exactly that, but worse, horror stories of capacitive droppers being sold as iphone "cube" chargers seem to be 100% true.

Non-isolated? That's grounds for reporting to the authorities and an immediate recall.

Re: How Tim Cook transformed Apple after Steve Jobs

#255

Post by jwr » Tue, Feb 16, 2021, 10:34 AM UTC

whoisjuan wrote: post #107

Apple is the best company in the world at operations. I don't know how they do it but: 1) Ever year they manage to diligently upgrade iphones/ipads, macbooks and watches. 2) Every year they make some progress in their quest of removing suppliers by becoming vertically integrated. They don't only remove the supplier. They beat their former suppliers specs. (e.g: M1 chip). 3) Every year they make some progress in their…

And yet they fail so spectacularly at software. All their devices are limited by software, they can't swing their weight to develop software across all platforms, and they can't deal with software bugs in a scalable way.

It's intriguing: they managed to scale their hardware in an impressive way, but software lags so far behind it's not even funny.

Re: How Tim Cook transformed Apple after Steve Jobs

#256

Post by petercooper » Tue, Feb 16, 2021, 10:36 AM UTC

spoonjim wrote: post #198

cogman10 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This stuff is why USB-C PD scares me. You've got these manufactures that are struggling to make basic AC->DC inverters and now you want to throw on a negotiation step? Yeah, not going to end well for these cost cutting idiots. There are going to be destroyed devices and fires because some idiot decides "Just hard wire 20v and be done with it!"

I only use Apple chargers in my house, even for non Apple devices. I’m not saying Apple is the only quality charger, but I have no real methodology to assess the quality of any other brand.

FWIW, I've only used Anker chargers and USB power blocks for the past several years (including as my main MBP power sources) and have had absolutely zero problems. No methodology but their brand now stands for reliability in my mind, at least.

Re: How Tim Cook transformed Apple after Steve Jobs

#257

Post by simonh » Tue, Feb 16, 2021, 10:38 AM UTC

someperson wrote: post #246

simonh wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is moving manufacturing to the USA going to protect against China developing expertise in design and software? Also the whole made in China panic is overblown. Most of the value in the parts in an iPhone is sourced outside China. CPUs in Taiwan (used to be Texas), flash memory in Korea, Japan and the US, camera module in Japan, Gorilla Glass in Kentucky, Japan and Korea etc, etc. Final assembly is only worth a fe…

If Samsung can manufacture 80% of their smartphones in Vietnam on 300 million smartphones, I can see why Apple couldn't move all their manufacturing to Vietnam and India.

I agree, that makes a lot more sense. Not so sure about India though, that's just to avoid punitive Indian import taxes. It would make little sense for export.

Re: How Tim Cook transformed Apple after Steve Jobs

#258

Post by petercooper » Tue, Feb 16, 2021, 10:38 AM UTC

himinlomax wrote: post #226

whoisjuan wrote: post #107

Apple is the best company in the world at operations. I don't know how they do it but: 1) Ever year they manage to diligently upgrade iphones/ipads, macbooks and watches. 2) Every year they make some progress in their quest of removing suppliers by becoming vertically integrated. They don't only remove the supplier. They beat their former suppliers specs. (e.g: M1 chip). 3) Every year they make some progress in their…

> I don't know how they do it but: Easy to answer. Well, it's not the complete answer but I think it's crucial: Small number of different products. Think about it, why was the first iPhone so good compared to the competition? On paper, it had a fraction of the competition's features. But as a result, what it did it did so much better.

They've also always charged enough of a premium to afford to do things (mostly) properly. Apple's brand value isn't just in name recognition but in being able to command this premium which in turn improves their brand image more.. a virtuous cycle.

Re: How Tim Cook transformed Apple after Steve Jobs

#259

Post by yreg » Tue, Feb 16, 2021, 10:41 AM UTC

jimmaswell wrote: post #143

culopatin wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is obviously not the case with all the wireless peripheral devices out there or they would not exist. Did you really believe that there is people out there putting up with keys being repeated randomly?

I'm sure it's better now, I just asked how much better.

Imho indistinguishable, at least outside of gaming.

Re: How Tim Cook transformed Apple after Steve Jobs

#260

Post by GekkePrutser » Tue, Feb 16, 2021, 10:43 AM UTC

tkgally wrote: post #187

yazaddaruvala wrote: post #63

Steve Jobs built consumer products that he wanted for himself, his family and friends. He would push for out of the box ideas while scrutinizing every detail of the product, optimized and repeated. Tim Cook builds the supply chain that he wants for himself, his shareholders and coworkers. He pushes for out of the box ideas while scrutinizing every detail of the supply chain, optimizes and repeats. Tim Cook builds sup…

> Apple no longer needs another Steve Jobs at the throne... Much as I respect Steve Jobs’ innovations, I tend to agree. As others have pointed out (though I can’t remember who or where), the iPad and iPhone marked an end point in several decades of advances in personal computing. A thin flat tablet that you operate with one finger! And it listens and talks and sees! Whenever I have read people lamenting the lack of s…

They're only an end point because Apple stopped innovating. Tim Cook is great as a process leader but he doesn't have an innovative vision.

For all his personal flaws Steve Jobs was all about innovation and didn't mind risking the company to achieve it.

Now Apple is in a stronger position than ever financially but it must the drive to innovate right now at any cost. It was really what made Apple great IMO.