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Apple Board of Directors 'Concerned' About the Speed of Innovation?
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Or they can do the right thing and go after Wall Street firms that are shorting the stock based possibly criminal fraudulent forecasts.
Look at New York Times and NYSE archives to see what happened to Ford Motor Company and Eastman Kodak the year after their founder died. Same song played by a new band.
Meh...
Non event. Al Gore is simply upset over the new Plastic Shipping Containers for the iPhone 5C. He wanted to stay with cellulose based material. Probably started the rumor.
Non event. Al Gore is simply upset over the new Plastic Shipping Containers for the iPhone 5C. He wanted to stay with cellulose based material. Probably started the rumor.
I just bought a 27" iMac to replace my 2008 Macbook Pro Unibody. Being "Glued together" is not an issue. You buy the $20 iFixit kit with the tools to take it apart and the adhesive to put it back together. Once inside you'll find a real desktop hard drive, a slot for an SSD and that's about it. Sure it will take a little longer than a "regular" computer to open up but that's fine.
And, yes it doesn't have that optical drive. And I could care less. I dropped my Macbook Pro a while back. Took me 6-12 months to realize that the fall killed the optical drive. I went to Best Buy and bought a USB 2.0 HP drive that works fine. That was in 2012. I think I have used that drive 5 times since I bought it. With good Internet and USB Sticks I rarely se the drive.
That being said, I Love the 27" iMac. I have it hooked up to a 24" Samsung 2343bwx (love a 51" desktop) monitor and the display on the iMac is light years ahead of the Samsung. It's just a great computer and a great display - fast, very good color display, and moderately expandable. Can't wait to pup 16GB in it.
True. I was using them in 1999 with Windows 98.
They were pretty crap due to hardware limitations (abysmal battery life, touch screen responsiveness) and OS limitations (widgets too small for fingers, stylus required, all the other issues associated with windows).
They were portable PCs pretty much.
Major Game Changers - Last 3 disrupted each of their sectors. 6 years between iPod and iPhone. 3 between iPhone and iPad.
1998 - New iMac
2001 - iPod - disrupted Music/CD
2007 - iPhone - disrupted Mobile/Cellular
2010 - iPad - disrupted desktop/PC
Minor Game Changes
2005 - Mac Mini - Didn't disrupt, only innovated better.
2006 - MacBook Pro/Mac Pro
2008 - MacBook Air
Not sure wtf the board is expecting more then this...2013-2014 is right on schedule for a new product segment/major game changers.
1998 - New iMac
2001 - iPod - disrupted Music/CD
2007 - iPhone - disrupted Mobile/Cellular
2010 - iPad - disrupted desktop/PC
Minor Game Changes
2005 - Mac Mini - Didn't disrupt, only innovated better.
2006 - MacBook Pro/Mac Pro
2008 - MacBook Air
Not sure wtf the board is expecting more then this...2013-2014 is right on schedule for a new product segment/major game changers.
I think a lot of people under-estimate the significance of icloud. Yes it has issues.
But the concept (multi-application key-value sync) is something nobody has attempted before, and is something that Steve Jobs talked about during an interview in the 90s (at work, if anyone is interested there's a video on youtube I can perhaps find later).
But the concept (multi-application key-value sync) is something nobody has attempted before, and is something that Steve Jobs talked about during an interview in the 90s (at work, if anyone is interested there's a video on youtube I can perhaps find later).
These types are worst the arm chair quarterbacks. At least with football, only the outcome of a game which is entertainment for most is in jeopardy.
I saw it on Fox News, man, it must be true!
I saw it in the Internet, man, it must be true!
I saw it on the radio. It's utter BS.
The first x86 tablet as well as converged tablet/PC OS - it's innovative, just plagued by horrible marketing and execution.
What else are they innovating - digital console gaming distribution, cloud based PaaS solutions across different markets via Azure, touchless TV controls (something Apple could've done back in 2011 but slept on)
This isn't even on the market yet.
What else are they innovating - the first user customizable handsets, handsets with built-in AI chips, touchless phone interaction, and EVERYTHING that comes out of X Lab.
Passbook = proprietary junk that most people don't even use.
41 MP is for oversampling and lossless digital zoom. On top of that, it has a Zeiss lens, second biggest sensor behind the 808, and a xenon flash.
What else are they innovating - pretty much everything noteworthy in smartphone camera tech, including the first phone with Lytro style capture, due out in 2014
How has Apple been innovating lately? I'd really like to know, because all I see is fast follower feature adoption (dual LED flash, high speed vid recording), marginal innovations (activation lock), and superficial changes that are polarizing (reskinning iOS 6, making the Mac Pro look like a trash can.
Really? On Verizon over 50% of smartphone activations last quarter were iPhones. Same for AT&T
http://appleinsider.com/articles/13...phones-in-q2-54-of-68m-total-smartphone-sales
While Sprint doesn't say the percentage they sold a boatload of iPhones:
http://www.tuaw.com/2013/07/30/sprint-sold-1-4m-iphones-in-q2-2013/
Even T-Mobile sold a boatload of them:
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/08/08/the-which-and-why-of-t-mobiles-iphone-sales-bump/
Oh, and there's this one for the USA:
http://www.zdnet.com/nielsen-tries-...winning-the-u-s-smartphone-market-7000019067/
Note Apple's 40% to Samsung's 24%
So tell me who is outselling who?
Every time I see the huge Samsung phone I wonder who carries that thing in their pocket. The Droid X I had was about the limit for size for me. I don't want people to say "Is that a phone in your pocket or are you happy to see me?" or look like a jackass holding a huge phone to my ear.
How is the new MacPro lazy but the Cube awesome? Because the former was not introduced by Steve Jobs and the later was?
Come on Apple! INNOVATE!!! INNOVATE!!!!
The board is desperate for more money.
The name of the game isn't about making great products.
Its about how many innovations you can make in a certain amount of time.
The board is desperate for more money.
The name of the game isn't about making great products.
Its about how many innovations you can make in a certain amount of time.
So they are going back to mainframe type technology. Thats all PaaS is - putting your stuff in the datacenter. And Azure is underwhelming as it's still way too Microsoft centric and expensive. If you want to dabble in the cloud, Amazon S3 is a much better way to go.
And Touchless TV? Please. People are already concerned about the fact that the new XBOX watches your every move. I doubt they are clamouring to look like an ass waving, jumping, or talking to their TV. That could be a PITA when a family starts doing it to confuse the TV.
Oooh, customized faceplates. Nokia called from 1998 and wanted their idea back. And it's not even customization. It's pick this front from these few colors, pick this back from these few colors, oh, and we'll engrave it too. Want somewhat "true" customization - head over to Nike ID and design yourself a pair of sneakers.
Same issue with touchless phone that touchless TV has. And it's going to get old saying "Google Now..." At least the voice in my car requires me to touch a button to activate it.
The cloud is irrelevant when one's ISP controls the last mile.
Unless you have a solution for that, iCloud will be a solution looking for a problem.
Didn't you know that screen size is the new "innovation"? If only Tim Cook knew to slap a 5" screen on the iPhone, he'd be called a genius.
Actually... I think it was because there are now dozens of manufacturers selling hundreds of smartphones running Android. It doesn't take much to make a phone and put Android on it. And the behavior of other companies is out of Apple's control.
As for sacrificing margin... there's no way Apple would compete with some of the ultra low-cost Android phones out there. There are Android smartphones that sell for under $100 unlocked. Granted they are terrible little phones... but they tick the box of being an Android smartphone.
Apple has no desire to compete in that space... they don't sell budget phones.
So it's kinda silly to compare the market share of Apple... to dozens of other companies who sell a wide range of phones.
Android phones have a wide price range from $80 to $800... while Apple phones only cover $450 to $850
So yeah... Android has tremendous market share compared to Apple. But there are some issues:
- Android is many manufacturers... Apple is a single manufacturer
- Android covers a wide range of prices, low-end to flagship... Apple is only mid-range to flagship
Is there any surprise Android overtook Apple in smartphone market share?
I bet the Apple boys at Cupertino are saying the same thing about "inferior Android". And now look at where Apple is. When you under estimate the competition and you think that your invincible you get knocked in the mouth.
And Apple just can't release a large screen device overnight like Android OEM's can. Apple may have added a paint job to iOS but they still haven't made iOS flexible and I don't think they can at this point. If Apple up's the screen resolution on iPhone 6 all the apps will be letterboxed again. And if Apple uses a non-standard iPad resolution for the mini it becomes a mess.
People don't appreciate how Android can handle so many screen sizes and resolutions. This is exactly why Apple can't update hardware on a yearly basis. Now ask yourself, which OS is inferior?
Dude, you should try innovating, like changing the file extension from m4a to m4r - bingo, it's now a ringtone!
This is a rumor, so obviously the grains of salt required to swallow or agree with it is inversely proportional to one's own outlook for Apple. That said, I think the board has every right to be concerned about Apple's forward outlook, based on a number of factors.
1.) The current macroeconomic picture. Computers, tablets and smartphones are discretionary items, doubly so when they carry premium price like those sold by Apple. Triply so when the implicit policy of Apple has become forcible obsolescence despite those higher costs. The current economic situation increasingly cannot, and ultimately will not, support that business model. And I have heard it many time before that people with money will still buy Apple's products. The richest person in the world only has so many relatives for whom they can purchase iPhones, and then you're faced with market saturation. This can be mitigated for a time, but only through lower-cost offerings. That's why Apple has created the 5C for emerging markets. We've also seen it in the iPad sales figures and the problem will only get worse. Why? Because people need jobs to buy Apple's product and the labor participation rate is in the toilet. Low cost offerings are the only near-term safe bet and Apple has less to offer to sweeten its platform than it did even two years ago.
2.) Apple's political/social reputation. I can remember, not so long ago, when that phrase would've prompted a blank look, and rightly so. Corporate partisanship has no place in our legislation or due process, especially in a period where those entities share such intimacy with lawmakers. Yet, Apple got involved in the Prop 8 debate with the amicus brief. I'm not here to debate my personal politics or those of anyone else. It is not the place of a corporate body to attempt to subvert democratic process. If standing law is unconstitutional, I'm quite certain that nine sitting justices, collectively, probably have the wherewithal to determine that on their own. The whole deplorable occasion was a farce predicated on Cook's personal agenda on the one hand, and the company's desire to pander to a particular subset of the population on the other. That, coupled with the recent revelations about Prism, has given the company a black eye with significant parts of its prospective user base. And yes, I know Apple denied being complicit in any information-gathering. If you believe that, I also have a handsome bridge to sell you in Manhattan.
3.) Tim Cook, in so many words. The man is a bean counter and corporate inertialist if I've ever layed eyes on one. Boards love them when times are flush because they don't rock the boat, and hate them in lean times because they don't row the boat. His stepping into Jobs' office, because he definitely cannot fill his shoes, was a task that I wouldn't have wished on my worst enemy. The degree of criticism he receives is admittedly unfair in the abstract. But the fact of the matter is that, love him or hate him, Jobs was among the most consistently innovative minds in the industry and, perhaps more importantly, what he did inspired innovation in others. Where would computers be without the Apple II? The Internet or OOP without the NeXT cube? The current wealth of digital media without that first iPod? The board, rightly, comprehend that Cook will not, and probably cannot, rise to the occasion required of the times and circumstances in which Apple finds itself.
These are just some of my thoughts. Flame away.
1.) The current macroeconomic picture. Computers, tablets and smartphones are discretionary items, doubly so when they carry premium price like those sold by Apple. Triply so when the implicit policy of Apple has become forcible obsolescence despite those higher costs. The current economic situation increasingly cannot, and ultimately will not, support that business model. And I have heard it many time before that people with money will still buy Apple's products. The richest person in the world only has so many relatives for whom they can purchase iPhones, and then you're faced with market saturation. This can be mitigated for a time, but only through lower-cost offerings. That's why Apple has created the 5C for emerging markets. We've also seen it in the iPad sales figures and the problem will only get worse. Why? Because people need jobs to buy Apple's product and the labor participation rate is in the toilet. Low cost offerings are the only near-term safe bet and Apple has less to offer to sweeten its platform than it did even two years ago.
2.) Apple's political/social reputation. I can remember, not so long ago, when that phrase would've prompted a blank look, and rightly so. Corporate partisanship has no place in our legislation or due process, especially in a period where those entities share such intimacy with lawmakers. Yet, Apple got involved in the Prop 8 debate with the amicus brief. I'm not here to debate my personal politics or those of anyone else. It is not the place of a corporate body to attempt to subvert democratic process. If standing law is unconstitutional, I'm quite certain that nine sitting justices, collectively, probably have the wherewithal to determine that on their own. The whole deplorable occasion was a farce predicated on Cook's personal agenda on the one hand, and the company's desire to pander to a particular subset of the population on the other. That, coupled with the recent revelations about Prism, has given the company a black eye with significant parts of its prospective user base. And yes, I know Apple denied being complicit in any information-gathering. If you believe that, I also have a handsome bridge to sell you in Manhattan.
3.) Tim Cook, in so many words. The man is a bean counter and corporate inertialist if I've ever layed eyes on one. Boards love them when times are flush because they don't rock the boat, and hate them in lean times because they don't row the boat. His stepping into Jobs' office, because he definitely cannot fill his shoes, was a task that I wouldn't have wished on my worst enemy. The degree of criticism he receives is admittedly unfair in the abstract. But the fact of the matter is that, love him or hate him, Jobs was among the most consistently innovative minds in the industry and, perhaps more importantly, what he did inspired innovation in others. Where would computers be without the Apple II? The Internet or OOP without the NeXT cube? The current wealth of digital media without that first iPod? The board, rightly, comprehend that Cook will not, and probably cannot, rise to the occasion required of the times and circumstances in which Apple finds itself.
These are just some of my thoughts. Flame away.
Really?!!
It's Fox News people! Are we really going to put any "stock" in what they have to say about, well... anything!
It's Fox News people! Are we really going to put any "stock" in what they have to say about, well... anything!