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Electric Car Challenger LeEco Calls Apple Product Design 'Obsolete'
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This CEO is talking sense. It's a blunt critique, but it's pretty accurate. While iPhone SE is still an attractive unit, the device is completely uninspired and a lazy rehash.
I hate comparing Apple to five years earlier, but Apple five years earlier wouldn't have rehashed an old design. Apple completely mucked up releasing a large iPhone 6 while leaving the 4 inch behind. The 6 was designed to appease carriers and increase carrier profits as larger phones invite more data usage than smaller phones.
Apple has completely forgotten about advancing its customers ahead of carriers and shareholders. In the end it will be customers that keep Apple alive. Please remember that, Apple.
I hate comparing Apple to five years earlier, but Apple five years earlier wouldn't have rehashed an old design. Apple completely mucked up releasing a large iPhone 6 while leaving the 4 inch behind. The 6 was designed to appease carriers and increase carrier profits as larger phones invite more data usage than smaller phones.
Apple has completely forgotten about advancing its customers ahead of carriers and shareholders. In the end it will be customers that keep Apple alive. Please remember that, Apple.
The last successful Jobs product introduction is nearing maturity. Don't need to be an insider to see that.
The iPhone has not had any real innovation recently. Don't need to be an insider to see that.
No new breakthrough products have been released since Jobs. Don't need to be an insider to see that.
Apple was going to revolutionize the TV industry, failed to happen under Cook. Don't need to be an insider to see that.
Guess we can learn an awful lot about Apple by not being an insider. Can we tell the future? Nope. But you can't rule out my opinion either. I hope Apple is working really hard to make me wrong. But, I don't see the basic behaviors i would expect to see, even as an outsider, to expect anything else.
Here Mr Yueting, I fixed interview transcript for you..............
"Apple only has individual apps. This was the right choice during the first generation of mobile net, when CPUs and the mobile network speeds were not fast enough. However now we're moving into the next era of mobile internet, these problems no longer exist. Moreover, having separate apps just means great obstacles in the government surveillance experience. We hope to break down these obstacles.
One of the most important reasons [for slowing sales] is that Apple's innovation has become extremely slow. For example, a month ago Apple launched the iPhone SE. From an industry insider's perspective, this is a product with a very low level of crackable technology. We think this is something they just shouldn't have done.
As an industry leader, Apple should be developing more cutting-edge products. The iPhone was still a leader five years ago after being launched in 2008 but now the concept has fallen behind.
We believe the next generation of mobile internet will be more open to government intervention, more surveillance oriented instead of being a closed to government eyes loop. Ironically, Apple's over-dominance, lack of internet-thinking and the closed off nature of its systems, all hindered overall surveillance and control over the internet mobile industry."
No need to thank me.
"Apple only has individual apps. This was the right choice during the first generation of mobile net, when CPUs and the mobile network speeds were not fast enough. However now we're moving into the next era of mobile internet, these problems no longer exist. Moreover, having separate apps just means great obstacles in the government surveillance experience. We hope to break down these obstacles.
One of the most important reasons [for slowing sales] is that Apple's innovation has become extremely slow. For example, a month ago Apple launched the iPhone SE. From an industry insider's perspective, this is a product with a very low level of crackable technology. We think this is something they just shouldn't have done.
As an industry leader, Apple should be developing more cutting-edge products. The iPhone was still a leader five years ago after being launched in 2008 but now the concept has fallen behind.
We believe the next generation of mobile internet will be more open to government intervention, more surveillance oriented instead of being a closed to government eyes loop. Ironically, Apple's over-dominance, lack of internet-thinking and the closed off nature of its systems, all hindered overall surveillance and control over the internet mobile industry."
No need to thank me.
This word, "Internet". I do not think it means what you think it means.
To the point about increasing mobile network speeds: yes, mobile network speeds are (slowly) increasing. More rapidly increasing, though, is the power which can be put in the individual phone. In computing terms, his statement is as foolish as saying "Using RAM made a lot of sense when hard disks spun at 4200 rpm and were really slow; now that we have SSD speeds we don't need local memory and should just write everything to flash". The problem is, just as much as SSD is faster than old hard drive technologies, memory access and CPU cache accesses have decreased in latency and increased in throughput many times over. Which is why you don't see no-RAM computers out there, still.
From an arc-of-technology-history perspective, Apple's approach (putting that computing power on the device with the exception of where multi-device inputs are useful) is far superior to Google's and LeEco's (by the way, how the hell are you supposed to say that?) approach of selling marginally cheaper devices (most of the actual cost savings is just shoddy workmanship and cutting corners, not less expensive components going in, hence "marginally") and expecting people to subsidize their cheapness by buying more expensive bandwidth.
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This guy talks like a very bad CEO. That is, when I am looking for a job in the tech industry I look around for what kinds of things the CEOs and other director-level people in the company say in public. This guy has a >$4B company and talks like he was just given this half-baked strategy yesterday, barely understands it, and is just echoing little snippets of what he thinks he heard. All buzzwords and bravado with no uniting theme behind it.
Almost always, when you see someone like this in charge of a major company, the real brains behind the company are keeping quiet in the background. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that (1) you really don't know a thing about what the company is intending to do, what kind of company it is, etc, and (2) you won't know when the real brains behind the scenes leave or find more interesting things to do with their time. I would never invest in such a company - and buying into an "ecosystem" is absolutely an investment in a company - and absolutely would never entertain the thought of working for them. This distrust of corporate-speak is nearly universal amongst good engineers and technicians, which makes it almost impossible for a company headed by a bozo such as this to gain any actual technological advantage (at least, without throwing briefcases of money at the project, which can buy the time but not loyalty of upper-mid-level engineers but still won't get you the real rock stars).
All in all, we probably won't hear from this guy or his company again. His billions of dollars in valuation will take time to disintegrate, but I suspect that's the only story he'll ever make.
To the point about increasing mobile network speeds: yes, mobile network speeds are (slowly) increasing. More rapidly increasing, though, is the power which can be put in the individual phone. In computing terms, his statement is as foolish as saying "Using RAM made a lot of sense when hard disks spun at 4200 rpm and were really slow; now that we have SSD speeds we don't need local memory and should just write everything to flash". The problem is, just as much as SSD is faster than old hard drive technologies, memory access and CPU cache accesses have decreased in latency and increased in throughput many times over. Which is why you don't see no-RAM computers out there, still.
From an arc-of-technology-history perspective, Apple's approach (putting that computing power on the device with the exception of where multi-device inputs are useful) is far superior to Google's and LeEco's (by the way, how the hell are you supposed to say that?) approach of selling marginally cheaper devices (most of the actual cost savings is just shoddy workmanship and cutting corners, not less expensive components going in, hence "marginally") and expecting people to subsidize their cheapness by buying more expensive bandwidth.
[doublepost=1461612419][/doublepost]
This guy talks like a very bad CEO. That is, when I am looking for a job in the tech industry I look around for what kinds of things the CEOs and other director-level people in the company say in public. This guy has a >$4B company and talks like he was just given this half-baked strategy yesterday, barely understands it, and is just echoing little snippets of what he thinks he heard. All buzzwords and bravado with no uniting theme behind it.
Almost always, when you see someone like this in charge of a major company, the real brains behind the company are keeping quiet in the background. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that (1) you really don't know a thing about what the company is intending to do, what kind of company it is, etc, and (2) you won't know when the real brains behind the scenes leave or find more interesting things to do with their time. I would never invest in such a company - and buying into an "ecosystem" is absolutely an investment in a company - and absolutely would never entertain the thought of working for them. This distrust of corporate-speak is nearly universal amongst good engineers and technicians, which makes it almost impossible for a company headed by a bozo such as this to gain any actual technological advantage (at least, without throwing briefcases of money at the project, which can buy the time but not loyalty of upper-mid-level engineers but still won't get you the real rock stars).
All in all, we probably won't hear from this guy or his company again. His billions of dollars in valuation will take time to disintegrate, but I suspect that's the only story he'll ever make.
#1. He's right
#2. He totally ripped off Tesla design
#3. So yeah he's right but the mofo's company can't design worth ****.
#2. He totally ripped off Tesla design
#3. So yeah he's right but the mofo's company can't design worth ****.
Worked with many from the PRC. Most consider the current Chinese "royalty" are those descended from those whom were on the Long March with Mao. I'd like to see this guys lineage.
Internet might not be a problem in China but is still a huge problem in Germany where mobile coverage is broken and data plans are ridiculously limited and expensive.
It also shows a political philosophy. What we are seeing is a technology "cold war" of independently run services vs. a collective central service.
Some are trying to return to the mainframe days with a big monolithic processing power with minimal clients working the data. Others want very powerful client devices with a web of cross communication with no central authority.
As usual, the centralized power structure will loose becoming a burden upon itself. Remember what happened to IBM and RIM.
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Thus is he is a big and rich LeTroll.
Maybe I overestimate the electricity draw of those huge screens but intuitively I don't want an electric car with that much crap using the batteries I'm trying to drive with.
Before the 6, this site was full of people bashing on Apple for not making a larger phone. After the 6, it was full of people declaring the 4-inch phone and the 5S in particular as the pinnacle of design perfection and a Steve Jobs talisman and that they would hold onto theirs until it falls apart. I see the SE as a way of keeping both constituencies happy while also making a modern iPhone that could be more affordable to people for whom the flagship is financially daunting, thus opening their ecosystem to more users. Is it 3D holograms or whatever we expect "innovation" to look like? No, but it's a pretty good business move. I would argue that Apple could be doing more and definitely be more generous in its advances model to model, but this CEO presides over a company that openly copies Apple's phone designs in a country whose economy is built on piracy and copying so I'm a little amused at his comments.
This guy is very Steve Jobs like, arrogant, confident, a visionary, self made in a big way.
What I would do right now is take a closer look at this guy. Forget Samsung. This guy is a leader and confident enough to step up. Co-partnering with Faraday (terrible name for a car) means he can well be supplying the US market electric vehicles in the near future.
I like the guy. In a lot of ways he's very American in his directness and confidence. America should realise they are looking at the complete rise of a new global superpower that will dominate every area of manufacturing, will likely be great at design.
What I would do right now is take a closer look at this guy. Forget Samsung. This guy is a leader and confident enough to step up. Co-partnering with Faraday (terrible name for a car) means he can well be supplying the US market electric vehicles in the near future.
I like the guy. In a lot of ways he's very American in his directness and confidence. America should realise they are looking at the complete rise of a new global superpower that will dominate every area of manufacturing, will likely be great at design.
This is too funny... This guy stands there in Steve Jobs clothes... from 2010 no less... and says Apple is outdated. Tip to all Steve wannabes: black shirts having nothing to do with it. Nothing. Get your own dream (and wardrobe.) lol! And for the record, art is never outdated or obsolete.
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So to him..."'... For a car hardware take 3rd priority? ... Lol
Internet 1st, software 2nd? ? ?
Internet 1st, software 2nd? ? ?
I thought the same thing?! Is that really what it is?
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Just look at the interior photo. Is there a reason the car is driving down the middle of the road, not in a lane?!
If Apple is worth anything, they will not even give this guy a response. Instead, just do a product release with some cheap shot jokes alluding to him.
Maybe in 15 years someone when someone invents something that will replace those stupid-looking helmets.
I would not be surprised if he was ordered to wear armor by Party Internal Security.
ChiCom's have a long history of staging political assassination attempts and other overt drama to drum up support (commonly called a "put up job"). This can draw sympathy from the masses or suppress dissent with "an example made."
Right out of Mao's playbook.
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Same thing was said in the era of SGI, VPL, BodyElectric and DataGloves about twenty years ago.
While many claim they have solved the Vertigo Bug that was plaguing systems a generation ago, all of these new VR offerings have yet to get a full consumer liability vetting and trails. Also, there is not one "killer app" nor mass marketed hardware platform that creates a critical mass market. We are still in an infancy and not even at a Golden Age of VR.