I don't see why you think Pogue is any less knowledgable than Mossberg. Is it because he has no issue, and Mossberge did, when he tried it, that is?
That's part of it. The other aspect is he doesn't even "get it". Of course, I don't blame him for not "getting it", since he didn't seem to have observed it or trust what he's seen in pics and on youtube.
On the other hand, I'm amazed at Mossberg. I don't know that I would have had such conviction about my own observations as he did (with such few statistics) that I would write about the iP4's lower reliability in a first review.
Quote:
As for my being biased, well, you don't know much about people.
I know enough to know everyone is biased and that people will go to great lengths to defend untenable positions even after being shown they're wrong.
I intend to bring this up in a few threads, not to hijack them, but simply to remind people the issue still exists. The hijacking will depend on everyone else.
You know the person or person(s) who's always interjecting "Apple is DOOMED!"? Well, I've got some catching up to do.
Let Apple know now that you want Field Test Mode restored to iOS 4.
OK, you have hijacked this thread, IMO.
You brought it up, made a lot of OT posts.
Now, please drop it for this thread!
If you feel you must bring it up in other threads, you certainly are free to do so. But, consider stating your positions and assertions in 2 or 3 posts, then drop it in that thread, too. Otherwise, people, who come to the thread, to discuss the topic of the thread, will ignore you or just leave the thread.
I only posted a tiny comment that elicited some remarks that warranted response.
I call bullshit ... you posted after 3 posts that were on topic and baited the whole thread (off topic) ..... of course they replied ... which means you "achieved your objective". Congrats, but a hijacker in denial is still a hijacker.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Foo2
Few people read older threads any more--everybody had a real nice 4th of July and is ready to move on!--but the problem persists.
That's because most rational people don't have an anti-Apple agenda and have decided to accept Apple's explanation, for now at least, and will wait and see what the proposed update wll bring ....but then I don't think you could ever be accused of being rational, at least not judging by your posting record .... and judging by the majority of posts on this subject, most of the over two million iPhone 4 users ... still don't have a problem. Not only that, but it seems to me that the greater majority of the posts on this subject are spent replying to you and your kind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Foo2
I intend to bring this up in a few threads, not to hijack them, but simply to remind people the issue still exists. The hijacking will depend on everyone else.
Of course you do, that's your hidden agenda showing. Again, I call bullshit ... you're acting like "the boy who cried wolf" .... and so that with each post you become less meaningful .... if the mods had any guts around here you would have been silenced a long time ago, but maybe they don't care about the quality of this site anymore .... just the volume ....sad. A good reason to look elsewhere, I imagine.
You have a serious issue understanding the simple principle of percentage when used for comparisons. If you compare 2010 with 2009, you use the 2009 figure as the base; if you compare 2009 with 2010, you use 2010 as the base. It is impossible for a change of 50% to be 50% in both directions.
Say you earn $40,000 a year in 2009. You get a pay rise of 50% for 2010 taking you up to $60,000. Now the business says they're having a bad patch so you go onto half time working and indulge yourself in side projects. Your pay now goes down by 50%. Will your pay be the same as before your pay rise? No. 50% of $60,000 is $30,000, not $40,000. Unless you can't divide by 2 of course! \
In 2009 you were earning one third less ie 33% less than after you received your 50% pay rise. Simples. jragosta was right.
Mac
Yeah. I think we all understand that. But if you're looking back, you can do what he did. I think he understands this pretty well, and so do I.
Have you ever watched any of those "Home Shopping" channels on TV where the buyers/users call in?
It seems those channels are really selling companionship and a friendly person to talk to with a sympathetic ear-- the merchandise is merely a means to this end.
... They should call them Apple Shrinks!
.
Too many people home all day with no one to talk to. Buying also makes many people feel good about themselves.
I don't think it's absolutely necessary to continually have new product lines to have better than average growth. Remember, there are lots of areas in the world where Apple is nowhere near the top in their complete product line. I would think future success could be continued by concentration on what they have and where they are represented in the world marketplace .... being the best with a few items sure beats being average with many, IMHO. As well, we still don't know, with any degree of certainty, what the server farm is going to be used for.
Too many products can dilute their efforts, I think ...... Just my 2¢.
That kind of thinking gets companies into trouble. Becoming complacent over current product lines is a bad place to be. The only reason why Apple is so successful now is because that thinking hasn't been theirs. After all, the computer and iPod line had been doing pretty well. Why go further? Then the iPhone line was doing pretty well. Why go further. Now the iPad line is doing pretty well. Why go any further is what you're saying. but that's wrong, just as it was before.
Rabbits out of hats, as I've been calling it. But to sustain earnings growth, each successive rabbit has to be bigger than the one before. So far, they've been able to pull off that extremely difficult trick. Apple's luck will run out eventually -- but not anytime soon if they can ride the iPhone and iPad wave for another couple of years.
Let's see if we can get this thread back on track!
There's some discussion out there that the iPod has run out of steam, and even some discussion that this bodes ill for Apple's longer term prospects.
But then I read that they're possibly looking to bump up the Touch with iPhone 4 capability and I see in it confirmation of the presence of a kind of cross-pollination where one form factor feeds another form factor and so forth.
In other words, I don't think Apple is focusing on the size of the rabbits; I think it's looking at the implications of one form factor's changes on another form factor. Beyond that, it is probably looking at form factors it doesn't presently "touch" that can be seen in a different light by what it has discovered.
If one then realizes that what Apple "sees" is a great deal more than what you or I are priviledged to see (thanks to their penchant for secrecy), then it is easy to see how they could keep surprising us with new products. And it is also possible to see this continuing into the future for a long time to come.
Time will inevitably show whether or not I'm right about this, but if I am then it's logical to presume that Apple's share price will remain on an upward trajectory for many years to come.
Oh, and I am fairly confident that we won't be seeing anything even remotly approaching a "double-dip" in the U.S. economy! That's mostly just hype from the Right who would dearly love to see such an eventuality, sick little buggers that they are....
There is one thing I'm concerned with that could slow Apple's growth. That's the degree to which the App Store is closed. While I agree with the basic concept, I think Apple takes it too far. With all of the reports lately that developers are beginning to focus on Android, despite the lack of money to be made there, one of iOS's biggest advantages may be squandered.
Apple is getting the kind of reputation it never had before. It's becoming "Big Brother". I hope that trend stops. Apple has to let some small profits go so that they can gather bigger ones.
As part of that, I don't understand how developers like that guy recently removed from the store was allowed in in the first place. This isn't the first time a developer has done something contrary to the rules Apple has.
Apple is getting the kind of reputation it never had before. It's becoming "Big Brother". I hope that trend stops. Apple has to let some small profits go so that they can gather bigger ones.
That seems like an impossible thing to prevent when you are the largest tech company in the world and soon to be the largest company in the world based on comparative growth rates of the other companies with massive market caps.
I am surprised that more of Apple's business isn't compared to Big Brother. Futurama has made this comparison several times, most recently last week for the "EyePhone" episode which is actually inserted in the eye socket.
That seems like an impossible thing to prevent when you are the largest tech company in the world and soon to be the largest company in the world based on comparative growth rates of the other companies with massive market caps.
I am surprised that more of Apple's business isn't compared to Big Brother. Futurama has made this comparison several times, most recently last week for the "EyePhone" episode which is actually inserted in the eye socket.
If they stop disallowing so many apps, that would help. If they carefully explained exactly why an app wouldn't be allowed before developers developed them, that would help. If they didn't censor apps, that would help. They have to tell morality groups that just like other platforms, they won't censor, that's up to parents. I see that MS has stated they will censor as well. That's MS, let them do it.
If they stop disallowing so many apps, that would help. If they carefully explained exactly why an app wouldn't be allowed before developers developed them, that would help. If they didn't censor apps, that would help. They have to tell morality groups that just like other platforms, they won't censor, that's up to parents. I see that MS has stated they will censor as well. That's MS, let them do it.
What is ?so many? and what percentage is that of all the apps they review each week? I imagine it?s quite low.
I know we like to see the internet as open but this is a store that Apple is responsible for. I don?t think being virtual means that Apple shouldn?t be allowed to choose what kind of products they sell. Wal-Mart does sell porn but I don?t see anyone getting upset about that.
Speaking of porn, the internet has been a great place for porn to thrive before the iPhone, now, and indefinitely, as far as I can tell. Apple funded the best browser engine for the mobile web, has backed HTML5 and other open standards and has created complex JS engines that I see them working both ends of the business. If they were internally concerned about questionable material they wouldn?t have invested so much time and money into making Safari such a treat to use and given questionable content vendors a great place to push their wares. What is preventing the porn industry from doing what they did to with the desktop browser for the past two decades on the mobile browser, too?
What is “so many” and what percentage is that of all the apps they review each week? I imagine it’s quite low.
I know we like to see the internet as open but this is a store that Apple is responsible for. I don’t think being virtual means that Apple shouldn’t be allowed to choose what kind of products they sell. Wal-Mart does sell porn but I don’t see anyone getting upset about that.
Speaking of porn, the internet has been a great place for porn to thrive before the iPhone, now, and indefinitely, as far as I can tell. Apple funded the best browser engine for the mobile web, has backed HTML5 and other open standards and has created complex JS engines that I see them working both ends of the business. If they were internally concerned about questionable material they wouldn’t have invested so much time and money into making Safari such a treat to use and given questionable content vendors a great place to push their wares. What is preventing the porn industry from doing what they did to with the desktop browser for the past two decades on the mobile browser, too?
It's likely a few hundred, considering Job's remarks on percentages. But it isn't the number that's important. Many developers aren't developing apps because they know, or suspect they will be rejected. It's also the perception that matters here. The publicity given to this may be way out of proportion to the seriousness of the issue, but it makes that seriousness seem to be much more. It's one major reason why Android id getting so much developer attention as time goes on. more, in fact, that iOS 4 is getting. This is NOT good!
Eventually, it will impact Apple's sales, and who knows if that hasn't happened already? Yes, it's true that Apple is selling every iOS device it can have made, and plus. But those sales could be even higher. As Android devices overtake iOS devices, this will have a larger impact. If the perception is that things are moving against Apple, they WILL move against Apple. Such is the way it works.
Apple is a bit too cocky. They're no longer the underdog who is seen as having to protect itself from bigger rivals. Now IT is one of the bigger rivals to others. People look at the underdog differently from the, er, overdog. It's one reason why MS is regarded the way it is. If Apple is seen muscling others, people will look at it that way too. And then sales will suffer, as Apple is mostly a consumer company, and consumers are fickle. They roll with the tide, whereas business and government is more steadfast.
That kind of thinking gets companies into trouble. Becoming complacent over current product lines is a bad place to be.
I couldn't agree more, except that's not what I said. I was replying to your post #60 in which you posed the question: "Apple has pulled itself into an expectation of coming up with explosive growth products. What if that's not possible going forward?" ....
In my reply ( post #96) my first sentence was: I don't think it's absolutely necessary to continually have new product lines to have better than average growth. The rest of my reply basically says there is a lot of new growth available, imho, with the products they already supply.
Quote:
Originally Posted by melgross
Why go any further is what you're saying. but that's wrong, just as it was before.
If you're going to put "words in my mouth", please make sure they fit.
I suppose the misunderstanding occurred because I didn't include your whole post ... I just assumed that you would remember it.
I couldn't agree more, except that's not what I said. I was replying to your post #60 in which you posed the question: "Apple has pulled itself into an expectation of coming up with explosive growth products. What if that's not possible going forward?" ....
In my reply ( post #96) my first sentence was: I don't think it's absolutely necessary to continually have new product lines to have better than average growth. The rest of my reply basically says there is a lot of new growth available, imho, with the products they already supply.
If you're going to put "words in my mouth", please make sure they fit.
I suppose the misunderstanding occurred because I didn't include your whole post ... I just assumed that you would remember it.
Sorry, if what I said didn't exactly fit your statements. But I was responding to the comments you made. The gist of my earlier post was that Apple is depending on having major new lines of products. Those lines aren't deep. They're shallow. So they have few products. Apple isn't interested in presenting products that are the same as others, but with an Apple label, unless they're products that "bind" together Apple's other products, or make them able to bind to services.
What I mean by that is that they make monitors, because the MacPro needs one, and so do laptops at times. They make a router, because you need a network these days to get your Macs on the internet, and to speak to each other. They have software designed to sell more Macs, etc.
But as most of Apple's growth comes from the major new product lines, what happens IF they have no more new major product lines? That can become a problem. There's no guarantee that Apple will continue to lead a category, or that they will ever lead it. Look at the iPhone. It started with a small percentage, grew a lot, and is now being pursued by Android. The iPad has more of an advantage, as it's really the first "successful" tablet. But how long will it be before again, Android becomes a serious competitor and slows its growth?
If they stop disallowing so many apps, that would help. If they carefully explained exactly why an app wouldn't be allowed before developers developed them, that would help. If they didn't censor apps, that would help. They have to tell morality groups that just like other platforms, they won't censor, that's up to parents. I see that MS has stated they will censor as well. That's MS, let them do it.
Why do I get the impression that you're trying to "walk on both sides of the fence" .. at the same time?
Sorry, if what I said didn't exactly fit your statements. But I was responding to the comments you made. The gist of my earlier post was that Apple is depending on having major new lines of products. Those lines aren't deep. They're shallow. So they have few products. Apple isn't interested in presenting products that are the same as others, but with an Apple label, unless they're products that "bind" together Apple's other products, or make them able to bind to services.
What I mean by that is that they make monitors, because the MacPro needs one, and so do laptops at times. They make a router, because you need a network these days to get your Macs on the internet, and to speak to each other. They have software designed to sell more Macs, etc.
But as most of Apple's growth comes from the major new product lines, what happens IF they have no more new major product lines? That can become a problem. There's no guarantee that Apple will continue to lead a category, or that they will ever lead it. Look at the iPhone. It started with a small percentage, grew a lot, and is now being pursued by Android. The iPad has more of an advantage, as it's really the first "successful" tablet. But how long will it be before again, Android becomes a serious competitor and slows its growth?
All good questions ... maybe we just have to have faith in Apple retaining it's passion for excellence which seems to be a part of its DNA. Plus, I guess, that it's just not realistic to expect continuous growth at the same level that they are performing at now.
What I see, at some point, is a bit of leveling off ... while they concentrate on expanding their marketplace worldwide with what they have now.. By that time something else will come along that we can't even imagine now. I also think that iAd is going to generate a ton of revenue for them, and that's just starting.
I don't expect to be around much more than another 20 years or so and I think Apple will just be fine in that time frame. As for Android ... they'll gain some market share, but I don't see them keeping Apple from doing well. Two different companies .. two different philosophys ... room for both, imho.
Comments
I don't see why you think Pogue is any less knowledgable than Mossberg. Is it because he has no issue, and Mossberge did, when he tried it, that is?
That's part of it. The other aspect is he doesn't even "get it". Of course, I don't blame him for not "getting it", since he didn't seem to have observed it or trust what he's seen in pics and on youtube.
On the other hand, I'm amazed at Mossberg. I don't know that I would have had such conviction about my own observations as he did (with such few statistics) that I would write about the iP4's lower reliability in a first review.
As for my being biased, well, you don't know much about people.
I know enough to know everyone is biased and that people will go to great lengths to defend untenable positions even after being shown they're wrong.
You REALLY don't know me at all!
Likewise. But we're both people.
I intend to bring this up in a few threads, not to hijack them, but simply to remind people the issue still exists. The hijacking will depend on everyone else.
You know the person or person(s) who's always interjecting "Apple is DOOMED!"? Well, I've got some catching up to do.
Let Apple know now that you want Field Test Mode restored to iOS 4.
OK, you have hijacked this thread, IMO.
You brought it up, made a lot of OT posts.
Now, please drop it for this thread!
If you feel you must bring it up in other threads, you certainly are free to do so. But, consider stating your positions and assertions in 2 or 3 posts, then drop it in that thread, too. Otherwise, people, who come to the thread, to discuss the topic of the thread, will ignore you or just leave the thread.
TIA
.
I only posted a tiny comment that elicited some remarks that warranted response.
I call bullshit ... you posted after 3 posts that were on topic and baited the whole thread (off topic) ..... of course they replied ... which means you "achieved your objective". Congrats, but a hijacker in denial is still a hijacker.
Few people read older threads any more--everybody had a real nice 4th of July and is ready to move on!--but the problem persists.
That's because most rational people don't have an anti-Apple agenda and have decided to accept Apple's explanation, for now at least, and will wait and see what the proposed update wll bring ....but then I don't think you could ever be accused of being rational, at least not judging by your posting record .... and judging by the majority of posts on this subject, most of the over two million iPhone 4 users ... still don't have a problem. Not only that, but it seems to me that the greater majority of the posts on this subject are spent replying to you and your kind.
I intend to bring this up in a few threads, not to hijack them, but simply to remind people the issue still exists. The hijacking will depend on everyone else.
Of course you do, that's your hidden agenda showing. Again, I call bullshit ... you're acting like "the boy who cried wolf" .... and so that with each post you become less meaningful .... if the mods had any guts around here you would have been silenced a long time ago, but maybe they don't care about the quality of this site anymore .... just the volume ....sad. A good reason to look elsewhere, I imagine.
If things continue as they are, they should have just enough cash to buy Microsoft.
If Microsoft continues the way they are, you'll have just enough cash to buy it.
You have a serious issue understanding the simple principle of percentage when used for comparisons. If you compare 2010 with 2009, you use the 2009 figure as the base; if you compare 2009 with 2010, you use 2010 as the base. It is impossible for a change of 50% to be 50% in both directions.
Say you earn $40,000 a year in 2009. You get a pay rise of 50% for 2010 taking you up to $60,000. Now the business says they're having a bad patch so you go onto half time working and indulge yourself in side projects. Your pay now goes down by 50%. Will your pay be the same as before your pay rise? No. 50% of $60,000 is $30,000, not $40,000. Unless you can't divide by 2 of course!
In 2009 you were earning one third less ie 33% less than after you received your 50% pay rise. Simples. jragosta was right.
Mac
Yeah. I think we all understand that. But if you're looking back, you can do what he did. I think he understands this pretty well, and so do I.
Have you ever watched any of those "Home Shopping" channels on TV where the buyers/users call in?
It seems those channels are really selling companionship and a friendly person to talk to with a sympathetic ear-- the merchandise is merely a means to this end.
... They should call them Apple Shrinks!
.
Too many people home all day with no one to talk to. Buying also makes many people feel good about themselves.
What do you do when the fire department sends an arsonist to the blaze?
Check out the column length of off topic posts by a "mod" in this thread.
Guilty!
We always seem to get off topic for a while. Not the worst thing to happen as long as we get back.
I don't think it's absolutely necessary to continually have new product lines to have better than average growth. Remember, there are lots of areas in the world where Apple is nowhere near the top in their complete product line. I would think future success could be continued by concentration on what they have and where they are represented in the world marketplace .... being the best with a few items sure beats being average with many, IMHO. As well, we still don't know, with any degree of certainty, what the server farm is going to be used for.
Too many products can dilute their efforts, I think ...... Just my 2¢.
That kind of thinking gets companies into trouble. Becoming complacent over current product lines is a bad place to be. The only reason why Apple is so successful now is because that thinking hasn't been theirs. After all, the computer and iPod line had been doing pretty well. Why go further? Then the iPhone line was doing pretty well. Why go further. Now the iPad line is doing pretty well. Why go any further is what you're saying. but that's wrong, just as it was before.
Yes, it's not like AI is a U.S. court of law. It's not about fairness and impartiality here.
And we try to be. I know I try to be.
Rabbits out of hats, as I've been calling it. But to sustain earnings growth, each successive rabbit has to be bigger than the one before. So far, they've been able to pull off that extremely difficult trick. Apple's luck will run out eventually -- but not anytime soon if they can ride the iPhone and iPad wave for another couple of years.
Let's see if we can get this thread back on track!
There's some discussion out there that the iPod has run out of steam, and even some discussion that this bodes ill for Apple's longer term prospects.
But then I read that they're possibly looking to bump up the Touch with iPhone 4 capability and I see in it confirmation of the presence of a kind of cross-pollination where one form factor feeds another form factor and so forth.
In other words, I don't think Apple is focusing on the size of the rabbits; I think it's looking at the implications of one form factor's changes on another form factor. Beyond that, it is probably looking at form factors it doesn't presently "touch" that can be seen in a different light by what it has discovered.
If one then realizes that what Apple "sees" is a great deal more than what you or I are priviledged to see (thanks to their penchant for secrecy), then it is easy to see how they could keep surprising us with new products. And it is also possible to see this continuing into the future for a long time to come.
Time will inevitably show whether or not I'm right about this, but if I am then it's logical to presume that Apple's share price will remain on an upward trajectory for many years to come.
Oh, and I am fairly confident that we won't be seeing anything even remotly approaching a "double-dip" in the U.S. economy! That's mostly just hype from the Right who would dearly love to see such an eventuality, sick little buggers that they are....
Apple is getting the kind of reputation it never had before. It's becoming "Big Brother". I hope that trend stops. Apple has to let some small profits go so that they can gather bigger ones.
As part of that, I don't understand how developers like that guy recently removed from the store was allowed in in the first place. This isn't the first time a developer has done something contrary to the rules Apple has.
They must be more careful of this as well.
Apple is getting the kind of reputation it never had before. It's becoming "Big Brother". I hope that trend stops. Apple has to let some small profits go so that they can gather bigger ones.
That seems like an impossible thing to prevent when you are the largest tech company in the world and soon to be the largest company in the world based on comparative growth rates of the other companies with massive market caps.
I am surprised that more of Apple's business isn't compared to Big Brother. Futurama has made this comparison several times, most recently last week for the "EyePhone" episode which is actually inserted in the eye socket.
That seems like an impossible thing to prevent when you are the largest tech company in the world and soon to be the largest company in the world based on comparative growth rates of the other companies with massive market caps.
I am surprised that more of Apple's business isn't compared to Big Brother. Futurama has made this comparison several times, most recently last week for the "EyePhone" episode which is actually inserted in the eye socket.
If they stop disallowing so many apps, that would help. If they carefully explained exactly why an app wouldn't be allowed before developers developed them, that would help. If they didn't censor apps, that would help. They have to tell morality groups that just like other platforms, they won't censor, that's up to parents. I see that MS has stated they will censor as well. That's MS, let them do it.
If they stop disallowing so many apps, that would help. If they carefully explained exactly why an app wouldn't be allowed before developers developed them, that would help. If they didn't censor apps, that would help. They have to tell morality groups that just like other platforms, they won't censor, that's up to parents. I see that MS has stated they will censor as well. That's MS, let them do it.
What is ?so many? and what percentage is that of all the apps they review each week? I imagine it?s quite low.
I know we like to see the internet as open but this is a store that Apple is responsible for. I don?t think being virtual means that Apple shouldn?t be allowed to choose what kind of products they sell. Wal-Mart does sell porn but I don?t see anyone getting upset about that.
Speaking of porn, the internet has been a great place for porn to thrive before the iPhone, now, and indefinitely, as far as I can tell. Apple funded the best browser engine for the mobile web, has backed HTML5 and other open standards and has created complex JS engines that I see them working both ends of the business. If they were internally concerned about questionable material they wouldn?t have invested so much time and money into making Safari such a treat to use and given questionable content vendors a great place to push their wares. What is preventing the porn industry from doing what they did to with the desktop browser for the past two decades on the mobile browser, too?
What is “so many” and what percentage is that of all the apps they review each week? I imagine it’s quite low.
I know we like to see the internet as open but this is a store that Apple is responsible for. I don’t think being virtual means that Apple shouldn’t be allowed to choose what kind of products they sell. Wal-Mart does sell porn but I don’t see anyone getting upset about that.
Speaking of porn, the internet has been a great place for porn to thrive before the iPhone, now, and indefinitely, as far as I can tell. Apple funded the best browser engine for the mobile web, has backed HTML5 and other open standards and has created complex JS engines that I see them working both ends of the business. If they were internally concerned about questionable material they wouldn’t have invested so much time and money into making Safari such a treat to use and given questionable content vendors a great place to push their wares. What is preventing the porn industry from doing what they did to with the desktop browser for the past two decades on the mobile browser, too?
It's likely a few hundred, considering Job's remarks on percentages. But it isn't the number that's important. Many developers aren't developing apps because they know, or suspect they will be rejected. It's also the perception that matters here. The publicity given to this may be way out of proportion to the seriousness of the issue, but it makes that seriousness seem to be much more. It's one major reason why Android id getting so much developer attention as time goes on. more, in fact, that iOS 4 is getting. This is NOT good!
Eventually, it will impact Apple's sales, and who knows if that hasn't happened already? Yes, it's true that Apple is selling every iOS device it can have made, and plus. But those sales could be even higher. As Android devices overtake iOS devices, this will have a larger impact. If the perception is that things are moving against Apple, they WILL move against Apple. Such is the way it works.
Apple is a bit too cocky. They're no longer the underdog who is seen as having to protect itself from bigger rivals. Now IT is one of the bigger rivals to others. People look at the underdog differently from the, er, overdog. It's one reason why MS is regarded the way it is. If Apple is seen muscling others, people will look at it that way too. And then sales will suffer, as Apple is mostly a consumer company, and consumers are fickle. They roll with the tide, whereas business and government is more steadfast.
That kind of thinking gets companies into trouble. Becoming complacent over current product lines is a bad place to be.
I couldn't agree more, except that's not what I said. I was replying to your post #60 in which you posed the question: "Apple has pulled itself into an expectation of coming up with explosive growth products. What if that's not possible going forward?" ....
In my reply ( post #96) my first sentence was: I don't think it's absolutely necessary to continually have new product lines to have better than average growth. The rest of my reply basically says there is a lot of new growth available, imho, with the products they already supply.
Why go any further is what you're saying. but that's wrong, just as it was before.
If you're going to put "words in my mouth", please make sure they fit.
I suppose the misunderstanding occurred because I didn't include your whole post ... I just assumed that you would remember it.
I couldn't agree more, except that's not what I said. I was replying to your post #60 in which you posed the question: "Apple has pulled itself into an expectation of coming up with explosive growth products. What if that's not possible going forward?" ....
In my reply ( post #96) my first sentence was: I don't think it's absolutely necessary to continually have new product lines to have better than average growth. The rest of my reply basically says there is a lot of new growth available, imho, with the products they already supply.
If you're going to put "words in my mouth", please make sure they fit.
I suppose the misunderstanding occurred because I didn't include your whole post ... I just assumed that you would remember it.
Sorry, if what I said didn't exactly fit your statements. But I was responding to the comments you made. The gist of my earlier post was that Apple is depending on having major new lines of products. Those lines aren't deep. They're shallow. So they have few products. Apple isn't interested in presenting products that are the same as others, but with an Apple label, unless they're products that "bind" together Apple's other products, or make them able to bind to services.
What I mean by that is that they make monitors, because the MacPro needs one, and so do laptops at times. They make a router, because you need a network these days to get your Macs on the internet, and to speak to each other. They have software designed to sell more Macs, etc.
But as most of Apple's growth comes from the major new product lines, what happens IF they have no more new major product lines? That can become a problem. There's no guarantee that Apple will continue to lead a category, or that they will ever lead it. Look at the iPhone. It started with a small percentage, grew a lot, and is now being pursued by Android. The iPad has more of an advantage, as it's really the first "successful" tablet. But how long will it be before again, Android becomes a serious competitor and slows its growth?
If they stop disallowing so many apps, that would help. If they carefully explained exactly why an app wouldn't be allowed before developers developed them, that would help. If they didn't censor apps, that would help. They have to tell morality groups that just like other platforms, they won't censor, that's up to parents. I see that MS has stated they will censor as well. That's MS, let them do it.
Why do I get the impression that you're trying to "walk on both sides of the fence" .. at the same time?
Why do I get the impression that you're trying to "walk on both sides of the fence" .. at the same time?
I'm not. Explain why you get that idea?
Sorry, if what I said didn't exactly fit your statements. But I was responding to the comments you made. The gist of my earlier post was that Apple is depending on having major new lines of products. Those lines aren't deep. They're shallow. So they have few products. Apple isn't interested in presenting products that are the same as others, but with an Apple label, unless they're products that "bind" together Apple's other products, or make them able to bind to services.
What I mean by that is that they make monitors, because the MacPro needs one, and so do laptops at times. They make a router, because you need a network these days to get your Macs on the internet, and to speak to each other. They have software designed to sell more Macs, etc.
But as most of Apple's growth comes from the major new product lines, what happens IF they have no more new major product lines? That can become a problem. There's no guarantee that Apple will continue to lead a category, or that they will ever lead it. Look at the iPhone. It started with a small percentage, grew a lot, and is now being pursued by Android. The iPad has more of an advantage, as it's really the first "successful" tablet. But how long will it be before again, Android becomes a serious competitor and slows its growth?
All good questions ... maybe we just have to have faith in Apple retaining it's passion for excellence which seems to be a part of its DNA. Plus, I guess, that it's just not realistic to expect continuous growth at the same level that they are performing at now.
What I see, at some point, is a bit of leveling off ... while they concentrate on expanding their marketplace worldwide with what they have now.. By that time something else will come along that we can't even imagine now. I also think that iAd is going to generate a ton of revenue for them, and that's just starting.
I don't expect to be around much more than another 20 years or so and I think Apple will just be fine in that time frame. As for Android ... they'll gain some market share, but I don't see them keeping Apple from doing well. Two different companies .. two different philosophys ... room for both, imho.