An Apple A Day

Yesterday was an Apple heavy day. My older brother offered me an AppleTV. Don't know what I'm going to do with it. I don't have an HDTV. Even if I had an HDTV, I'm not sure what I'd do with it. I look forward to finding out though.

I also spoke with a client. He came into my office and mocked my PC. He has several Apple products, several meaning a dozen. An iPad for each kid, iPhones for the kids, couple of laptops, iMac, Apple server, a real connoisseur. We eventually got around to discussing Steve Jobs. I've just finished a book about how to give a presentation like Steve Jobs and in the book the author goes into great detail about the product rollout presentations that Jobs conducted. This client thought that Apple's days would be numbered without Jobs. We both agreed that what we liked most about Apple was that it was cutting edge, iPod, iPhone, iTunes both cutting edge technologies. How astonished was I to read an article (here) entitled "How Apple Foot-Dragged to Victory - Steve Jobs's formula for success: Don't Rush" by Holman Jenkins, Jr. in the Wall Street Journal.

In this article, which is a compelling read, Mr. Jenkins argues that it was not the pace of innovation that made Apple so successful, it was the way in which they innovated and the design behind the innovations.

"Let's try out a hypothesis: Mr. Jobs's slowness is the key to Apple's success. His focus on the device, his emphasis on perfecting the user experience, meant holding back, not overreaching. The iPod would only be a music player. The iPhone and iPad would be Web-browsing devices that wouldn't play most of the video on the Web. Apple TV remains "a hobby" (his words) because there's no way yet to deliver an acceptable user experience. And notice that each of these device categories had been around for five or 10 years by the time Apple entered (clobbered) them."

It's an interesting train of thought to take, and the article is quite convincing. Much more emphasis on design and function than on revolutionary devices. Perhaps its not the revolutionary the piece of equipment is designed to address, but it's the design of the equipment that makes it revolutionary. Kinda like what Chris said in Northern Exposure when he used a catapualt to launch a piano: "It's not the thing you fling, it's the fling itself."

Back to my client? What about the future of Apple. Jenkins offers this.

"Of course, this fundamental strategy orientation might now change. Apple has allowed itself to be drawn into a battle for mobile-platform market share with Google's Android. Apple's management is increasingly focused on growing an ecosystem rather than on creating devices. The Microsofting of Apple may be at hand, the company becoming a feckless and inefficient user of capital as it seeks to protect itself on every front from every perceived threat to its privileged position. Before long, Apple might even need a Steve Jobs to come back and save it again."