I was saying this morning that I hope Apple takes the next 12-18 months and really focuses on quality. With Vista and the momentum they have in the market right now, they don't need crazy new products to keep growing. What Apple needs is quality.
The opposite is sadly true. If Apple keeps putting out innovative hardware that have the quality problems--heat, screens, build, batteries, etc.--and keeps shipping early beta software and pretends it is ready for customers, Apple's growth will stagnate and ultimately Apple will become niche again.
I would love to see Apple put the hold on "newness" and make OS X, iPhone OS, itunes, iWork, and iLife top quality again. There was once a time when "it just worked" was part of the secret formula. Now that the world and the media are finally paying attention to Apple with an open mind about buying their products, it would be epically tragic for Apple to blow it because of their shoddy manufacturing and the apparent policy of knowingly shipping products that are not ready for the market just to hit deadlines. (Yes, I am saying there is no way people at Apple did not know of these issues.)
The truth of the matter is this: Apple has been shipping beta products for the past two years and then fixing the issues in the market. Whether it is the massive bug fixes in Leopard or the rapid iteration of motherboards in the MacBooks to stop the computers from doing sudden safety shut downs due to the heat, Apple has been knowingly shipping products that are not commercial quality.
The good news is Apple got humiliated pulling these stunts with Steve's hot project, the iPhone. If this had been FileMaker or the Xserve, these games would have gone on forever.
But now Apple has a huge black eye in the major press about the iPhone's hardware and software and mobileme, and the blood in the water is quickly pointing the mainstream media to the other problems with their computer hardware and software.
And the bad news is Apple can't react fast enough. These aren't quick fixes. These are serious bug patches, re-designs, and working with Chinese factory owners to get the quality up.
Most importantly, this is a culture fix. Like the US car companies which let shoddy quality become a cultural norm, Apple must now change its culture so that its teams do not allow beta products to ship just because of a management deadline. Once a culture of quality is lost in an organization, it is almost impossible to get back--just ask Ford, GM, et al.
I love Apple's products, but these are dangerous times for the company. The decisions Steve and his team make now will dramatically impact Apple's future over the next decade or two.
I just hope Apple's leadership is not dumb enough to believe the "only 2% of users were effected" BS from middle management. That type of big company thinking will be the end of Apple.
