Let's face it, for the past decade Apple IS Jobs. Sure, they have a great team of employees around the world, but the truly breathtaking, game-changing, business-driving stuff, is so heavily influenced by Steve there is no rational way to think otherwise.
That's right. I doubt he just sits at his desk doing the accounts all day. My understanding is he works on the actual products.
Oh FFS, you'd swear the world as we know it will change to tomorrow!
If anything the iPad will be a computer screen that's a little lighter on the arm than a laptop. We can already read newspapers/magazines on our laptops. It seems you'll be able to twist things around a bit more fancy with your fingers. And for that all this hype?
That's the magic of it. Before anything is even out the hype has been insane, and you can't say Apple was all behind that. It was, and is, hype that feeds of itself, like an inverse black hole.
Jobs told him it was a flop, before it was released.
this is correct - I don't know why people keep saying jobs was wrong about the segway - here's the actual meeting
Quote:
"What does everyone think about the design?" asked Doerr, switching subjects.
"What do you think?" said Jobs to Tim. It was a challenge, not a question.
"I think it's coming along," said Tim, "though we expect?" "I think it sucks!" said Jobs.
His vehemence made Tim pause. "Why?" he asked, a bit stiffly.
"It just does."
"In what sense?" said Tim, getting his feet back under him. "Give me a clue."
"Its shape is not innovative, it's not elegant, it doesn't feel anthropomorphic," said Jobs, ticking off three of his design mantras.
"You have this incredibly innovative machine but it looks very traditional." The last word delivered like a stab. Doug Field and Scott Waters would have felt the wound; they admired Apple's design sense. Dean's intuition not to bring Doug had been right. "There are design firms out there that could come up with things we've never thought of," Jobs continued, "things that would make you shit in your pants."
There wasn't much to say to that, so after a pause Tim began again: "Well, let's keep going, because we don't have much time today to-" "We do have time," said Doerr curtly, changing his own ground rules. "We want to get Steve's and Jeff's ideas."
"The problem at this point is lead time in our schedule," said Tim. Jobs snapped his head from Doerr on one side to Dean on the other, as if he'd been slapped. "That's backwards," he said, his voice rising.
"Screw the lead times. You don't have a great product yet! I know burn rates are important, but you'll only get one shot at this, and if you blow it, it's over."
Oh FFS, you'd swear the world as we know it will change to tomorrow!
If anything the iPad will be a computer screen that's a little lighter on the arm than a laptop. We can already read newspapers/magazines on our laptops. It seems you'll be able to twist things around a bit more fancy with your fingers. And for that all this hype?
What does it take to get you excited - a mission to Mars? :-) This is the guy that did the Mac, iPod and iPhone saying it's the most important thing he's ever done (if the quote is to be believed).
The puff piece on Jobs career gloss over many of Jobs' failures.
The Apple Lisa
The Hiring of Scully
NeXT failure to find a niche (it was not started as an OS company, but as a hardware vendor to compete with MS and Apple)
The eMate
The Mac Cube
Apple TV
Don't forget the Apple HiFi, that was so unsuccessful people don't even remember it, despite the fact it's their only real product that's gone into the living room to replace something already there.
?This will be the most important thing I?ve ever done.?
is true, than it will be.
I would suggest that his 'latest creation' is not his goal to save the print industry, or any other industry for that matter. I suspect that his 'latest creation' will simply be to ease our way of obtaining, perusing, dissecting, discerning, learning, creating, editing and disseminating information in virtualy every aspect of our daily life.
As such, The Truth Will Set You Free.
Like his Mac, iPod, iPhone and retail/virtual store paradigms, he set a wave of innovations throughout their respective fields of play and they continue to do so.
As history tells us, it will repeat itself. But whatever his 'latest creation' is or how successful it may be, it will be the most important thing he has ever done.
I would not be so quick to write off the Apple TV yet.
I would write it off, cause Apple's living room success story isn't going to be a wireless Apple box, it's going to be a wireless Apple Television. You'll turn it on it'll make a "bong!", you'll type in your iTunes password and use your iTunes TV subscription. The first TV that is auto-setup! I don't mean auto-tune.
"One TV, One Remote, More Power."
And what's more, with iTunes Cloud you'll have all your content on your TV without ever syncing!
I really didn't think Steve would love this more than MAC, but after analyzing Apple and looking into the future I think he sees this new OS as the great drive for Apple. I think Apple is thinking right for moving away from conventional computer control, like mouse and keyboard. This might have a better against PCs.
Apple's conservative leadership had nearly run itself out of business both by failing to successfully develop its own new desktop operating system technology while also chasing the ultimately failed concept of stylus-based tablet computing with the Newton platform
Long time reader and fan, never posted. But I think it is inaccurate to even imply that the Newton project rose to the level of significance needed to be blamed with "nearly run[ning Apple] out of business"... it was always a niche product and I can believe the rumors that it was cancelled by Jobs simply because it was originated by Sculey.
And as another poster said -- the article glosses over many failures of Jobs: The cube, like other products, failed because it was a complete FORM without FUNCTION.... grossly overpriced, non-expandable, under-powered, etc. And how many people have bought Macs and the first thing they do is toss the Apple supplied mice and keyboards (not so much these days, but true for MANY years). I still won't buy an iMac because you can't even replace the disk drive WHEN (not IF) it fails or should you actually want a bigger one!
Apple will always be a niche player as long as they, like yesterday, insist on 40% profit margins --- Bill Gates may have sold CRAP for many years, but he recognizes the value of selling a LOT of it and building market share. Steve Jobs does not.
And what happened to all the fanboys who declared that Jobs/Apple would destroy the corrupt system of cellphone mega monopolies??? Where are they these days. Not only did Jobs NOT destroy these monopolies, he made them even stronger by providing an immensely popular phone and doing everything within the power of the considerable engineering talent at Apple to keep it locked and fully and firmly in the service of these same monopolies. And by refusing to even unlock the phones AFTER THE CONTRACT is paid for in full, preventing people from doing what they want with property that they have paid a very high price to buy!
I sit in Palm Springs California, in an area with NO ATT service -- although all around me it does exist. Therefore no ATT iPhone. Although I have a very good T-Mobile signal... which is also GSM, but for which I can't legitimately buy the iPhone.
And, don't get me wrong. I love the Mac OS. My first Mac was the original 128K Macintosh, which was upgraded to the 512 E (?) Mac, which was upgraded to the MacPlus (I think.. too long ago) --- I appreciate what Mr. Jobs has done for Apple --- brought it to life and brought it back to life. But, he is not perfect. He makes mistakes. Sometimes very expensive mistakes.
I am interested to see what tomorrow brings. But, if it's tied only to ATT --- no tablet for me either!
The continuing conflation of Jobs with Apple is troubling. The correct sentiment would have been "the most important thing Apple's ever done."
Also how do you go from Tablets are for surfing the net in the bathroom to this is the most important thing I have ever done? For a product that hasn't even been released yet I would say the iPod is still the most important product Apple has ever done. Its the product that helped the company skyrocket.
Old Macheads who perform penance to Apple for their lack of faith, whips themselves with AppleTalk cables and shoves SCSI terminators into their nostrils.
It was a joke. The love-heart represents the word "unicorn", i.e. this tablet cannot live up to the hype. It's called sarcasm.
can't live up to the hype how?
Macintosh transformed the computing industry. 26 years later all computers basically look like the original Macintosh (from a UI perspective).
before the iPod, the MP3 player market was about in the state the tablet market is today. Companies had tried, there wasn't much success. The iPod changed that because Apple was the first company to have the whole solution. Apple didn't just transform the MP3 player industry, they defined and dominated it. Selling MP3 players in numbers nobody really dreamed was possible.
iPhone transformed the cell phone industry. 2 1/2 years later "innovation' in the cell phone industry consists of releasing a phone that superficially looks like an iPhone. The android, the pre, etc.
What does live up to the hype even mean for the Apple tablet and how long does it take to know the answer?
If the tablet follows a similar growth curve of the iPod and iPhone, it certainly lived up to the hype. Nobody has a tablet computer today that has a chance of following that kind of growth curve.
If the industry itself grows out of the niche market and into the mainstream with competitors copying Apple, it's also lived up to the hype.
if 10 years from now mainstream computers look more like the tablet and less like the Macintosh, then it's exceeded the hype.
Is it simply an evolution of iPod touch (same ui, only a larger screen) or an industry changer. We get an idea tomorrow, but won't really be able to judge it for a year or two. I have to think that Apple has some innovation up it's sleeve beyond simply putting a larger screen on an iPod touch. If that was all there was to it, it would have leaked by now. The extent of the secrecy behind this suggests there's more to it.
Comments
Let's face it, for the past decade Apple IS Jobs. Sure, they have a great team of employees around the world, but the truly breathtaking, game-changing, business-driving stuff, is so heavily influenced by Steve there is no rational way to think otherwise.
That's right. I doubt he just sits at his desk doing the accounts all day. My understanding is he works on the actual products.
Oh FFS, you'd swear the world as we know it will change to tomorrow!
If anything the iPad will be a computer screen that's a little lighter on the arm than a laptop. We can already read newspapers/magazines on our laptops. It seems you'll be able to twist things around a bit more fancy with your fingers. And for that all this hype?
That's the magic of it. Before anything is even out the hype has been insane, and you can't say Apple was all behind that. It was, and is, hype that feeds of itself, like an inverse black hole.
"What good is it, besides surfing the web in the bathroom?" ~Steve Jobs
Not in English really, but it's pretty much like that the gang of designers should be led to the success...
"What good is it, besides surfing the web in the bathroom?" ~Steve Jobs
"I believe OS/2 is destined to be the most important operating system, and possibly program, of all time." (1987)
"Spam will be a thing of the past in two years' time." (2004)
~Bill Gates
Jobs told him it was a flop, before it was released.
this is correct - I don't know why people keep saying jobs was wrong about the segway - here's the actual meeting
"What does everyone think about the design?" asked Doerr, switching subjects.
"What do you think?" said Jobs to Tim. It was a challenge, not a question.
"I think it's coming along," said Tim, "though we expect?" "I think it sucks!" said Jobs.
His vehemence made Tim pause. "Why?" he asked, a bit stiffly.
"It just does."
"In what sense?" said Tim, getting his feet back under him. "Give me a clue."
"Its shape is not innovative, it's not elegant, it doesn't feel anthropomorphic," said Jobs, ticking off three of his design mantras.
"You have this incredibly innovative machine but it looks very traditional." The last word delivered like a stab. Doug Field and Scott Waters would have felt the wound; they admired Apple's design sense. Dean's intuition not to bring Doug had been right. "There are design firms out there that could come up with things we've never thought of," Jobs continued, "things that would make you shit in your pants."
There wasn't much to say to that, so after a pause Tim began again: "Well, let's keep going, because we don't have much time today to-" "We do have time," said Doerr curtly, changing his own ground rules. "We want to get Steve's and Jeff's ideas."
"The problem at this point is lead time in our schedule," said Tim. Jobs snapped his head from Doerr on one side to Dean on the other, as if he'd been slapped. "That's backwards," he said, his voice rising.
"Screw the lead times. You don't have a great product yet! I know burn rates are important, but you'll only get one shot at this, and if you blow it, it's over."
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/archive/3533.html
The puff piece on Jobs career gloss over many of Jobs' failures.
The Apple Lisa
The Hiring of Scully
NeXT failure to find a niche (it was not started as an OS company, but as a hardware vendor to compete with MS and Apple)
The eMate
The Mac Cube
Apple TV
They also left out some important points.
NeXTs Acquisition of Renderman
The Formation of Pixar
I believe this tablet, if announced, can be a game changer. I have wanted a functional tablet for years, I even own a Fujitsu tablet -- which sucks.
If he delivers a blinding brilliant product, but misses the price point, it will still be a failure.
I would not be so quick to write off the Apple TV yet.
Oh and I loved my Lisa
"I believe OS/2 is destined to be the most important operating system, and possibly program, of all time." (1987)
"Spam will be a thing of the past in two years' time." (2004)
~Bill Gates
Yes but if this thing becomes big then bill gates was right. He said in like 2001 that tablet computers will be big.
Oh FFS, you'd swear the world as we know it will change to tomorrow!
If anything the iPad will be a computer screen that's a little lighter on the arm than a laptop. We can already read newspapers/magazines on our laptops. It seems you'll be able to twist things around a bit more fancy with your fingers. And for that all this hype?
What does it take to get you excited - a mission to Mars? :-) This is the guy that did the Mac, iPod and iPhone saying it's the most important thing he's ever done (if the quote is to be believed).
The puff piece on Jobs career gloss over many of Jobs' failures.
The Apple Lisa
The Hiring of Scully
NeXT failure to find a niche (it was not started as an OS company, but as a hardware vendor to compete with MS and Apple)
The eMate
The Mac Cube
Apple TV
Don't forget the Apple HiFi, that was so unsuccessful people don't even remember it, despite the fact it's their only real product that's gone into the living room to replace something already there.
As history tells us, it will repeat itself. But whatever his 'latest creation' is or how successful it may be, it will be the most important thing he has ever done.
In the Think Different commercial, Apple said you can't ignore certain people because "they change things."
You're easy to market to, I see.
I would not be so quick to write off the Apple TV yet.
I would write it off, cause Apple's living room success story isn't going to be a wireless Apple box, it's going to be a wireless Apple Television. You'll turn it on it'll make a "bong!", you'll type in your iTunes password and use your iTunes TV subscription. The first TV that is auto-setup! I don't mean auto-tune.
"One TV, One Remote, More Power."
And what's more, with iTunes Cloud you'll have all your content on your TV without ever syncing!
You're easy to market to, I see.
I'm not the one with an Apple logo and a loveheart graphic in my sig.
I'm not the one with an Apple logo and a loveheart graphic in my sig.
It was a joke. The love-heart represents the word "unicorn", i.e. this tablet cannot live up to the hype. It's called sarcasm.
Apple's conservative leadership had nearly run itself out of business both by failing to successfully develop its own new desktop operating system technology while also chasing the ultimately failed concept of stylus-based tablet computing with the Newton platform
Long time reader and fan, never posted. But I think it is inaccurate to even imply that the Newton project rose to the level of significance needed to be blamed with "nearly run[ning Apple] out of business"... it was always a niche product and I can believe the rumors that it was cancelled by Jobs simply because it was originated by Sculey.
And as another poster said -- the article glosses over many failures of Jobs: The cube, like other products, failed because it was a complete FORM without FUNCTION.... grossly overpriced, non-expandable, under-powered, etc. And how many people have bought Macs and the first thing they do is toss the Apple supplied mice and keyboards (not so much these days, but true for MANY years). I still won't buy an iMac because you can't even replace the disk drive WHEN (not IF) it fails or should you actually want a bigger one!
Apple will always be a niche player as long as they, like yesterday, insist on 40% profit margins --- Bill Gates may have sold CRAP for many years, but he recognizes the value of selling a LOT of it and building market share. Steve Jobs does not.
And what happened to all the fanboys who declared that Jobs/Apple would destroy the corrupt system of cellphone mega monopolies??? Where are they these days. Not only did Jobs NOT destroy these monopolies, he made them even stronger by providing an immensely popular phone and doing everything within the power of the considerable engineering talent at Apple to keep it locked and fully and firmly in the service of these same monopolies. And by refusing to even unlock the phones AFTER THE CONTRACT is paid for in full, preventing people from doing what they want with property that they have paid a very high price to buy!
I sit in Palm Springs California, in an area with NO ATT service -- although all around me it does exist. Therefore no ATT iPhone. Although I have a very good T-Mobile signal... which is also GSM, but for which I can't legitimately buy the iPhone.
And, don't get me wrong. I love the Mac OS. My first Mac was the original 128K Macintosh, which was upgraded to the 512 E (?) Mac, which was upgraded to the MacPlus (I think.. too long ago) --- I appreciate what Mr. Jobs has done for Apple --- brought it to life and brought it back to life. But, he is not perfect. He makes mistakes. Sometimes very expensive mistakes.
I am interested to see what tomorrow brings. But, if it's tied only to ATT --- no tablet for me either!
The continuing conflation of Jobs with Apple is troubling. The correct sentiment would have been "the most important thing Apple's ever done."
Also how do you go from Tablets are for surfing the net in the bathroom to this is the most important thing I have ever done? For a product that hasn't even been released yet I would say the iPod is still the most important product Apple has ever done. Its the product that helped the company skyrocket.
And whip ourselves with FW400 cables.
Edit: Make that ADC cables.
Old Macheads who perform penance to Apple for their lack of faith, whips themselves with AppleTalk cables and shoves SCSI terminators into their nostrils.
"I find your lack of faith disturbing..."
It was a joke. The love-heart represents the word "unicorn", i.e. this tablet cannot live up to the hype. It's called sarcasm.
can't live up to the hype how?
Macintosh transformed the computing industry. 26 years later all computers basically look like the original Macintosh (from a UI perspective).
before the iPod, the MP3 player market was about in the state the tablet market is today. Companies had tried, there wasn't much success. The iPod changed that because Apple was the first company to have the whole solution. Apple didn't just transform the MP3 player industry, they defined and dominated it. Selling MP3 players in numbers nobody really dreamed was possible.
iPhone transformed the cell phone industry. 2 1/2 years later "innovation' in the cell phone industry consists of releasing a phone that superficially looks like an iPhone. The android, the pre, etc.
What does live up to the hype even mean for the Apple tablet and how long does it take to know the answer?
If the tablet follows a similar growth curve of the iPod and iPhone, it certainly lived up to the hype. Nobody has a tablet computer today that has a chance of following that kind of growth curve.
If the industry itself grows out of the niche market and into the mainstream with competitors copying Apple, it's also lived up to the hype.
if 10 years from now mainstream computers look more like the tablet and less like the Macintosh, then it's exceeded the hype.
Is it simply an evolution of iPod touch (same ui, only a larger screen) or an industry changer. We get an idea tomorrow, but won't really be able to judge it for a year or two. I have to think that Apple has some innovation up it's sleeve beyond simply putting a larger screen on an iPod touch. If that was all there was to it, it would have leaked by now. The extent of the secrecy behind this suggests there's more to it.