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If You Were Steve Jobs...

Shake 'n' Bake

Shake 'n' Bake

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Mar 2, 2009
2,186
2
Albany
I searched MRoogle and couldn't find anything similar, so here goes.

If you were Steve, what would you do?

Mac: I'd give a matte screen option on everything, have the cases of the computers come in colored aluminum like the iPods or white plastic or clear (i.e. put the "i" back in iMac). I'd try getting Core 2 Quad and or i7 into some computers, I'd add Blu-Ray, TV Tuners, some real video cards on the lower-end models. Lower the price of the mini back to $499. Bump up the MBA's specs. Maybe a new mini-tower and or cheaper laptop.

iPod: Make a 32 GB iPhone, have the Classic, Touch, and iPhone come in colors like the nano. Maybe put a hard disk option in the Touch and iPhone lineup, give them both wireless n.

:apple: TV: Make it the real deal; add a TV tuner, larger HDDs, and have it able to do general storage.

Time Capsule: Lower the price! Do a Drobo like version with 4 3.5'' slots, a 1 TB, 1 disk model, a 2 TB, 1 or 2 disk (for RAID) models, and a 2 disk 4 TB model.

What would you do?
 
i agree

All the things you want would make apple lose money...

I wouldn't do anything i like the mac line the way it is, except I would kill the white MacBook and make the mini all aluminum.

It would also be really cool to have a black aluminum MacBook option for all MacBooks, like the back of the new iMacs.

new-apple-imac.jpg
 
Liam8 said:
All the things you want would make apple lose money...

I wouldn't do anything i like the mac line the way it is, except I would kill the white MacBook and make the mini all aluminum.

It would also be really cool to have a black aluminum MacBook option for all MacBooks, like the back of the new iMacs.

[*]
Click to expand...

How would any of my ideas make Apple lose money? It opens up the Mac to a bunch of different people and and a $499 mini would lure more switchers.
 
ButtUglyJeff said:
I actually think Macbooks that match the Nanos would sell very well. It would probably boost sale of both Macbooks and iPod Nanos. But I wouldn't go any further in the Mac line than that.......
Click to expand...

Precisely. I've also got a thing for seeing how stuff works, so I'd like to put a see-through option on everything, especially the iPT and iPhone.
 
Liam8 said:
All the things you want would make apple lose money...

I wouldn't do anything i like the mac line the way it is, except I would kill the white MacBook and make the mini all aluminum.

It would also be really cool to have a black aluminum MacBook option for all MacBooks, like the back of the new iMacs.

[*]
Click to expand...

You know the back of the iMac is made of plastic, right?
 
Shake 'n' Bake said:
I searched MRoogle and couldn't find anything similar, so here goes.

If you were Steve, what would you do?

Mac: I'd give a matte screen option on everything, have the cases of the computers come in colored aluminum like the iPods or white plastic or clear (i.e. put the "i" back in iMac). I'd try getting Core 2 Quad and or i7 into some computers, I'd add Blu-Ray, TV Tuners, some real video cards on the lower-end models. Lower the price of the mini back to $499. Bump up the MBA's specs. Maybe a new mini-tower and or cheaper laptop.

iPod: Make a 32 GB iPhone, have the Classic, Touch, and iPhone come in colors like the nano. Maybe put a hard disk option in the Touch and iPhone lineup, give them both wireless n.

:apple: TV: Make it the real deal; add a TV tuner, larger HDDs, and have it able to do general storage.

Time Capsule: Lower the price! Do a Drobo like version with 4 3.5'' slots, a 1 TB, 1 disk model, a 2 TB, 1 or 2 disk (for RAID) models, and a 2 disk 4 TB model.

What would you do?
Click to expand...

Hard disk option in touch and iPhone will never happen. We're supposed to be moving ahead here -- a disk option would be terrible in these devices.

Colored iMacs won't ever happen, either. That's just not where Apple is going.
 
Shake 'n' Bake said:
How would any of my ideas make Apple lose money? It opens up the Mac to a bunch of different people and and a $499 mini would lure more switchers.
Click to expand...
It would also cut sharply into the Mini's profit per unit.

As for the other options. TV Tuners have been done before by Apple and it failed the same goes for other manufacturers there just is not a huge demand for this. Especially since you can not just simply receive the HD signal directly from HDMI from your cable/satellite box, so you could only get over the air HD. There are cable cards but that still does not allow for On Demand. There are expansion card makers that do fairly well with TV Tuner cards but these can be used by a wide range of computers. Apple would have to reengineer their line-up to accept specially engineered TV Tuner cards, except for the Mac Pro.

The multiple cases would mean more production lines and less cases produced per line increasing the cost per enclosure.

Your other options seem reasonable but prices would have to go up with expanded capabilities. Definitely the regular tower should be built I think those would sell well.
 
Shake 'n' Bake said:
How would any of my ideas make Apple lose money? It opens up the Mac to a bunch of different people and and a $499 mini would lure more switchers.
Click to expand...

Two kids on a corner are selling lemonade.

One kid has a lovely logo, a nice designed cup, and the product tastes good. This kid is also popular and is able to demand a premium for his/her product. The cost involves buying one type of cup, and the ingredients for that one type of lemonade. That kid destroys all expectations of earnings for a period of time.

You are the kid who has okay lemonade, but wants to unnecessary complicate things. Instead of buying one sleeve of cups, you decide you want to give people options of colors, including clear cups. So you buy 20 additional sleeves of cups. You either fill all the cups of all the colors in order to prevent people from waiting, but throw a lot away when it goes bad or a new type cups out. You also give all sort of options that only a few people want, but have to buy all of those things too.

Who runs the risk of losing money?
 
Wishful thinking, but a lot of these ideas are bad and the others go against Apple's "Design over Function" standards or cut into their profits.

And Apple needs to realize that people aren't stupid, either. The casual person probably won't buy an Apple TV, and the knowledgeable Tech person realizes that there is much better tech out there (hell, even an Xbox 360 does more for less if you already have an external HD or stream). It's no wonder the Apple TV has been mostly a failure.

Looking into the future (and a continued recession), I think Apple is going to have a harder time selling to people when going with a windows desktop or notebook is clearly a better value hardware and price wise. Sure, OS X is most definitely a superior system, but is it worth $400-500? That's about the premium you pay for the design and outdated hardware (except for the Mac Pro, which continues to use server quality parts and is a good value compared to, say, a BOXX system).

If I were Steve Jobs? I would focus on further subsidizing the iphone and getting it to a mass market (i.e. Verizon, T-Mobile) when their contract with AT&T is up, work to make the monthly plan affordable for people (like myself) who use their phone only for talk and text, and focus on making their computers more value-added for consumers (i.e. if you're going to charge $1200 for a iMac, at least add the discrete graphics card back).
 
I would try and make Apple embrace it's pro market that kept them in business throughout the nineties, instead of turning them away.

I would invest a lot more into build quality and customer service (even though both are already stellar).

I would stop reducing functionality in favour of thickness, whilst still making products thin.

I would sacrifice profit margins (not a huge amount, 30% to 20%) to increase sales and subsequently increase third party software, product awareness, acceptance and bring more money into the Apple market.

I would release OS X to (Apple certified) PC hardware.

I would scrap Mobile Me, or replace it with a free service.

In relation to my first point, I would make sure FCS3 kicks ass, because otherwise when this Apple = awesome fad dies, which it inevitably will at some point, Apple are screwed with no user base to keep them in business.

Also in relation to my above point and my first point, I would try and get Apple back into the education market with a bang.

I would stop skimping on features with the hope people will buy the next product up. Most people are not going to fork out an extra grand to get a decent screen.
 
velocityg4 said:
It would also cut sharply into the Mini's profit per unit.

As for the other options. TV Tuners have been done before by Apple and it failed the same goes for other manufacturers there just is not a huge demand for this. Especially since you can not just simply receive the HD signal directly from HDMI from your cable/satellite box, so you could only get over the air HD. There are cable cards but that still does not allow for On Demand. There are expansion card makers that do fairly well with TV Tuner cards but these can be used by a wide range of computers. Apple would have to reengineer their line-up to accept specially engineered TV Tuner cards, except for the Mac Pro.

The multiple cases would mean more production lines and less cases produced per line increasing the cost per enclosure.

Your other options seem reasonable but prices would have to go up with expanded capabilities. Definitely the regular tower should be built I think those would sell well.
Click to expand...

I see your point on the TV tuner. I hardly ever use mine. Though if your cable company doesn't encrypt their HD section, you can get the HD channels

buddyguyman said:
Wishful thinking, but a lot of these ideas are bad and the others go against Apple's "Design over Function" standards or cut into their profits.

And Apple needs to realize that people aren't stupid, either. The casual person probably won't buy an Apple TV, and the knowledgeable Tech person realizes that there is much better tech out there (hell, even an Xbox 360 does more for less if you already have an external HD or stream). It's no wonder the Apple TV has been mostly a failure.

Looking into the future (and a continued recession), I think Apple is going to have a harder time selling to people when going with a windows desktop or notebook is clearly a better value hardware and price wise. Sure, OS X is most definitely a superior system, but is it worth $400-500? That's about the premium you pay for the design and outdated hardware (except for the Mac Pro, which continues to use server quality parts and is a good value compared to, say, a BOXX system).

If I were Steve Jobs? I would focus on further subsidizing the iphone and getting it to a mass market (i.e. Verizon, T-Mobile) when their contract with AT&T is up, work to make the monthly plan affordable for people (like myself) who use their phone only for talk and text, and focus on making their computers more value-added for consumers (i.e. if you're going to charge $1200 for a iMac, at least add the discrete graphics card back).
Click to expand...

My ideas don't go against the design over function philosophy, at least on the Mac. I think that more people would be drawn to the higher level of personalization.
 
Shake 'n' Bake said:
I searched MRoogle and couldn't find anything similar, so here goes.

If you were Steve, what would you do?

Mac: I'd give a matte screen option on everything, have the cases of the computers come in colored aluminum like the iPods or white plastic or clear (i.e. put the "i" back in iMac). I'd try getting Core 2 Quad and or i7 into some computers, I'd add Blu-Ray, TV Tuners, some real video cards on the lower-end models. Lower the price of the mini back to $499. Bump up the MBA's specs. Maybe a new mini-tower and or cheaper laptop.

iPod: Make a 32 GB iPhone, have the Classic, Touch, and iPhone come in colors like the nano. Maybe put a hard disk option in the Touch and iPhone lineup, give them both wireless n.

:apple: TV: Make it the real deal; add a TV tuner, larger HDDs, and have it able to do general storage.

Time Capsule: Lower the price! Do a Drobo like version with 4 3.5'' slots, a 1 TB, 1 disk model, a 2 TB, 1 or 2 disk (for RAID) models, and a 2 disk 4 TB model.

What would you do?
Click to expand...

If you ran Apple you would run it right into the ground. If you had stock into Apple you would think different. You're thinking as a consumer not as a businessman.

Apple really doesn't need to lower their prices, they know a certain group of people will buy their products no matter what. They also know some people will never buy Apple products so there's no need trying to go cheap. Look at Dell yeah they sell a lot of computers but they only sell cheap computer,
they're not making that much money
 
lsvtecjohn3 said:
If you ran Apple you would run it right into the ground. If you had stock into Apple you would think different. You're thinking as a consumer not as a businessman.

Apple really doesn't need to lower their prices, they know a certain group of people will buy their products no matter what. They also know some people will never buy Apple products so there's no need trying to go cheap. Look at Dell yeah they sell a lot of computers but they only sell cheap computer,
they're not making that much money
Click to expand...

Prove that Dell isn't making money.
 
Shake 'n' Bake said:
Prove that Dell isn't making money.
Click to expand...

I didn't say they weren't making money I said they not making that much money, and it's true look at their quarter numbers over the past five years. For as many computer they sell Apple makes more profit from their computers than Dell or any PC company does.
 
I say do away with the iMac.


Ok, ok stop booing and hissing. I know it sells pretty well, but I'm certain there's a large group of people who don't like the fact that their only apple option for a machine with 2 hard drives, PCI cards, etc starts at $2500 without a display. That, and anyone who's iMac display has died has been really pissed when they had to do incredibly expensive repairs or replace the whole machine.

If I were Steve Jobs I would replace the mini and the iMac with the "Mac"-- an idea from a recent thread here on MR. Picture a mac cube of about 6.5". The same internals as the current mac mini for the lowest end model, but with two 3.5" drive bays, and two or three PCI-X bays. Of course, the other necessary change would be to stop this absurd attitude with the pricing of displays. They cost twice as much as the competitors but they have only one input (right now). I think they could keep the price of the base model the same as the mac mini, maybe even lower since manufacturing might be cheaper with a simpler enclosure and cheaper parts (like the HD).
 
If I were steve jobs, first thing I would do is get Jony Ive and the Apple engineers to build me a custom mac laptop and a fully tricked out mac pro haha

Oh and a special iPhone as well. ;)
 
If I was Steve Jobs I would make a Every-Year Promotion.

Promo Day (January 1st) - 50% Off Retail Price. Expires: 30 Minutes After 12 O'Clock Midnight on December 31.

Dude, Guarantee Hells Going To Break Loose Each Year.

Again- MY THOUGHTS PEOPLE. MY OPINION.
 
This is a difficult decision, because changing things too drastically could have bad effects. So if I had to narrow it down...


First, include accidental damage protection into AppleCare. This would give consumers the choice of purchasing the standard warranty Apple's had for years, or paying a little extra for better coverage. If Dell and HP can do it, Apple should be able to as well.

Second, consider using solid state drives in lieu of standard hard drives. Perhaps just for consumer-based notebooks, like the MacBook. Based on how often MacBooks' drives fail, something that worked a little better would renew people's faith in the product.

And third, consider dropping the price on a couple machines in the product line. The MacBook is the most popular computer Apple offers: why not take $100-$200 off and help make sales skyrocket, especially right before back-to-school season?


Anyway, there's my thoughts.
 
ziggyonice said:
And third, consider dropping the price on a couple machines in the product line. The MacBook is the most popular computer Apple offers: why not take $100-$200 off and help make sales skyrocket, especially right before back-to-school season?
Click to expand...

It's called the back to school promotion, you get a rebate on an iPod. If you want to sell the iPod, you've gotten a ~$200 discount.
 
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