... I think Steve's real brilliance was his ability to lay out in succession all the things that needed to occur to move to the next level of whatever vision he had for the future of the company. And it played out flawlessly.
And I think Tim Cook is extremely competent and methodical and is pushing Steve's vision further, possibly further than Steve himself would have.
That's exactly what I think. I'd add that Steve was an expert in picking milestones between what Apple could ship now and what he wanted Apple to ship in the future. And in working with Jony Ive to make those milestones interesting and successful products. For example, the iMac's progression from CRT blob to all-in-one with LCD screen. I wouldn't be surprised if Steve and Jony decided that the ultimate goal would be a fully recyclable 5mm thick iMac, essentially just a screen, with wireless mouse and keyboard (and not just 5mm at the very edges). Might have been possible in 2001, but it would have cost $50K.
So what's the first practical step toward the ultimate iMac goal? Flat panel with an arm. Next step? All-in-one construction with plastic shell. Next step? Thinner all-in-one construction with aluminum shell. Next step? Thinner with no aluminum border around the screen bezel. And so it goes until the final goal is possible. Each generation makes the old one look terribly dated. Each generation is desirable and incorporates technological and design advances far beyond the previous. And I think that step-by-step development toward a pre-determined ultimate goal can be applied to iPad, iPhone, Apple TT, Beats, and all future Apple products.
I’m quite bothered that our space program would do anything whatsoever but engender interest in space and work to expand human presence there. We have other agencies to manage Earth-based crap.
Originally Posted by GTR
Seriously, I don't think you realise the gravity of the situation. The costs can be astronomical.
All right, now I have to work ‘apoapsis’ into a joke somehow.
*LiquidMetal is still a semi questionable acquisition... Haven't seen big wins from this.
There have been signs of this deal coming to fruition; Apple renewing cross-licensing deal for another year, LiquidMetal manufacturing no longer being exclusive to a single company, and the many patents released by Apple in the manufacturing of the material.
This says two things to me...
1. Apple is still very much interested in LiquidMetal
2. Now they are free to contract out manufacturing to a company or companies of their choosing.
LiquidMetal wasn't an acquisition, it is an exclusive licensing of the material by Apple in exchange for cross-licensing of all manufacturing methods and processes Apple patents.
I’m quite bothered that our space program would do anything whatsoever but engender interest in space and work to expand human presence there. We have other agencies to manage Earth-based crap.
Thats good spending, cant wait to see the results.
What results? Wall Street still believes Apple is doomed due to companies like Xiaomi who have increased the quality of their smartphones so much as to put great pressure on iPhone sales. Analysts believe R&D is worth very little and Apple doesn't have enough money to build increasingly better products than their less wealthy rivals. Wall Street obviously doesn't think that high R&D spending can bring back "innovation" to Apple because "Apple innovation" was supposedly based on Steve Jobs' magic.
Although I'm sure there is no precise ratio of R&D spending to high-selling successful products I think a company that does spend more on R&D has a better chance of holding a lead over rivals. Don't hold me to that conclusion. It's more of a hope than anything else. I'm sure there must be plenty of companies who have spent far more over the years for R&D than Apple and have never come close to having Apple's wealth and success.
Rather than studying that asteroid they should catch it in earth's orbit and mine it for resources.
That’s the idea. They’re going to put it in orbit around the Moon and then send guys up there to measure composition and get a feel for what’s where in them so that we know where to shoot our mining equipment in the 2020s.
If you missed the good part of that, I’ll pull it out: WE’RE SENDING PEOPLE TO THE MOON TO NOT LAND ON IT. Waste of resources. But man, that view.
Anyway, people on Mars by 2025 is the only acceptable goal.
Meanwhile, Microsoft just laid off 20,000 employees. If you haven't yet read the layoff memo from Elop it is one of the most Epic of all time! It is like something from right out of the movie "Office Space". Make a note of how many times the word phone is mentioned in the memo! It shows how powerful Apple, and the iPhone, is to put Microsoft in such a precarious position! I am not sure why Microsoft bought Nokia, Elop has a hard time explaining it! See for yourself!
Meanwhile, Microsoft just laid off 20,000 employees. If you haven't yet read the layoff memo from Elop it is one of the most Epic of all time! It is like something from right out of the movie "Office Space". Make a note of how many times the word phone is mentioned in the memo! It shows how powerful Apple, and the iPhone, is to put Microsoft in such a precarious position! I am not sure why Microsoft bought Nokia, Elop has a hard time explaining it! See for yourself!
I’d prefer a partnership with SpaceX. Flying a plane to space was always a silly idea.
Well, it was a cargo plane for space station parts, a satellite launcher, with a crew capacity for fixing stuff like the Station and the Hubble. They worked the platform, in other words.
It's true the boosters needed were a problem in the case of both disasters. Were the trade-offs worth it? I'd say ask the veteran crew members. We simple observers don't have much to form an opinion on.
Do you have a link handy on that moon-orbit asteroid plan?
I don't see Microsoft exiting Surface until they see what Apple's next move is with iPad.
Probably correct, but how long will MS continue to throw money at Surface with no near-term or any-term prospects for profits? Just guessing, but I think they'll abandon Surface in about a year.
Well, it was a cargo plane for space station parts, a satellite launcher, with a crew capacity for fixing stuff like the Station and the Hubble. They worked the platform, in other words.
Still, a proper rocket can do that better. Space X’s plan for the Mars Crew Transporter in the late 2020s is up to 100 people at a time. AND THEY’LL DO IT. BECAUSE MUSK IS DELICIOUSLY INSANE. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH Seriously, Apple needs to get in bed with him as soon as possible. First by writing custom software for the Tesla vehicle lineup and then by backing a source of income that will make the company trillionaires. With all the money anyone could ever need or want on hand, making computers becomes even less a job and more ‘because you love it’. That would improve HCI, I think.
Do you have a link handy on that moon-orbit asteroid plan?
By testing the capabilities needed for a crewed mission to the Red Planet in the 2030s NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Mission will greatly advance NASA’s human path to Mars.
It means absolutely nothing whatsoever. NASA couldn’t care less about going to Mars, and they couldn’t care less about testing to see what we need to get there. Never mind that this mission won’t do diddly in that regard, anyway!
Probably correct, but how long will MS continue to throw money at Surface with no near-term or any-term prospects for profits? Just guessing, but I think they'll abandon Surface in about a year.
Hopefully Apple will force that to happen sooner rather than later.
Here's another comparison. The Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai cost approx. 1.5 Billion. Apples R&D this year so far is 4 billion. Campus 2 to cost an estimated 5 billion. I'm not anti-apple spending by any means, just an interesting comparison as to what they're up to.
It also depends on labor cost. 1.5 billion in construction buys more man-hours than in high tech r&d. Especially if you build a skyscraper underpaying Bangladesh workers and only a few top engineers and architects are paid what the apple engineer is probably paid. 150 workers on the khalifa earn what the average engineer in Cupertino does...
I remember when I went to work for Big Big Pharma, and the mantra for Big P Project Management (like drug projects), was "The entire purpose for project management is to eliminate all reasons to say 'YES' to this compound as a profitable drug as quickly as possible. That allows us to kill them early and focus those R&D monies on those proven to improve medicine." In essence, the goal of management is to maximize profits by minimizing R&D on 'proven losers,' and instead, figure out ways to make proven winners more profitable, by faster time to market, lower cost to manufacture, complete market awareness, longer lifespan, and greater breadth of use,
Later, hearing Steve Jobs say:
Catches the crux of Apple: Say yes to the critical few, and say no early. Do focused R&D on the things you say Yes to. Avoid doing R&D on things that don't make sense. Then spend on ruthless efficiency of delivery to the the market.
So I disagree. Don't become a Xerox PARC. Don't become an IBM. Let the millions of smart people do unfocused R&D, then either buy them out early, or 'buy-in' (like LiquidMetal* and Authentec) for exclusivity and or refining the process to fit the goals (reducing the cost of sapphire production), Where you have a problem to be solved, and theirs is the solution to use.
*LiquidMetal is still a semi questionable acquisition... Haven't seen big wins from this.
Meanwhile, Microsoft just laid off 20,000 employees. If you haven't yet read the layoff memo from Elop it is one of the most Epic of all time! It is like something from right out of the movie "Office Space". Make a note of how many times the word phone is mentioned in the memo! It shows how powerful Apple, and the iPhone, is to put Microsoft in such a precarious position! I am not sure why Microsoft bought Nokia, Elop has a hard time explaining it! See for yourself!
Comments
... I think Steve's real brilliance was his ability to lay out in succession all the things that needed to occur to move to the next level of whatever vision he had for the future of the company. And it played out flawlessly.
And I think Tim Cook is extremely competent and methodical and is pushing Steve's vision further, possibly further than Steve himself would have.
That's exactly what I think. I'd add that Steve was an expert in picking milestones between what Apple could ship now and what he wanted Apple to ship in the future. And in working with Jony Ive to make those milestones interesting and successful products. For example, the iMac's progression from CRT blob to all-in-one with LCD screen. I wouldn't be surprised if Steve and Jony decided that the ultimate goal would be a fully recyclable 5mm thick iMac, essentially just a screen, with wireless mouse and keyboard (and not just 5mm at the very edges). Might have been possible in 2001, but it would have cost $50K.
So what's the first practical step toward the ultimate iMac goal? Flat panel with an arm. Next step? All-in-one construction with plastic shell. Next step? Thinner all-in-one construction with aluminum shell. Next step? Thinner with no aluminum border around the screen bezel. And so it goes until the final goal is possible. Each generation makes the old one look terribly dated. Each generation is desirable and incorporates technological and design advances far beyond the previous. And I think that step-by-step development toward a pre-determined ultimate goal can be applied to iPad, iPhone, Apple TT, Beats, and all future Apple products.
I’m quite bothered that our space program would do anything whatsoever but engender interest in space and work to expand human presence there. We have other agencies to manage Earth-based crap.
All right, now I have to work ‘apoapsis’ into a joke somehow.
*LiquidMetal is still a semi questionable acquisition... Haven't seen big wins from this.
There have been signs of this deal coming to fruition; Apple renewing cross-licensing deal for another year, LiquidMetal manufacturing no longer being exclusive to a single company, and the many patents released by Apple in the manufacturing of the material.
This says two things to me...
1. Apple is still very much interested in LiquidMetal
2. Now they are free to contract out manufacturing to a company or companies of their choosing.
LiquidMetal wasn't an acquisition, it is an exclusive licensing of the material by Apple in exchange for cross-licensing of all manufacturing methods and processes Apple patents.
I’m quite bothered that our space program would do anything whatsoever but engender interest in space and work to expand human presence there. We have other agencies to manage Earth-based crap.
Agreed.
There will unfortunately not be any significant spending on space until we have an enemy/war there.
Thats good spending, cant wait to see the results.
What results? Wall Street still believes Apple is doomed due to companies like Xiaomi who have increased the quality of their smartphones so much as to put great pressure on iPhone sales. Analysts believe R&D is worth very little and Apple doesn't have enough money to build increasingly better products than their less wealthy rivals. Wall Street obviously doesn't think that high R&D spending can bring back "innovation" to Apple because "Apple innovation" was supposedly based on Steve Jobs' magic.
Although I'm sure there is no precise ratio of R&D spending to high-selling successful products I think a company that does spend more on R&D has a better chance of holding a lead over rivals. Don't hold me to that conclusion. It's more of a hope than anything else. I'm sure there must be plenty of companies who have spent far more over the years for R&D than Apple and have never come close to having Apple's wealth and success.
That’s the idea. They’re going to put it in orbit around the Moon and then send guys up there to measure composition and get a feel for what’s where in them so that we know where to shoot our mining equipment in the 2020s.
If you missed the good part of that, I’ll pull it out: WE’RE SENDING PEOPLE TO THE MOON TO NOT LAND ON IT. Waste of resources. But man, that view.
Anyway, people on Mars by 2025 is the only acceptable goal.
Meanwhile, Microsoft just laid off 20,000 employees. If you haven't yet read the layoff memo from Elop it is one of the most Epic of all time! It is like something from right out of the movie "Office Space". Make a note of how many times the word phone is mentioned in the memo! It shows how powerful Apple, and the iPhone, is to put Microsoft in such a precarious position! I am not sure why Microsoft bought Nokia, Elop has a hard time explaining it! See for yourself!
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/07/microsoft-lays-off-thousands-with-bad-memo.html
Sapphire and Liquidmetal research can't be cheap.
Who knows, they may have already moved on to investments in molecular assemblers or algae-based fuel cell systems.
Meanwhile, Microsoft just laid off 20,000 employees. If you haven't yet read the layoff memo from Elop it is one of the most Epic of all time! It is like something from right out of the movie "Office Space". Make a note of how many times the word phone is mentioned in the memo! It shows how powerful Apple, and the iPhone, is to put Microsoft in such a precarious position! I am not sure why Microsoft bought Nokia, Elop has a hard time explaining it! See for yourself!
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/07/microsoft-lays-off-thousands-with-bad-memo.html
Microsoft will lay off a whole lot more since they are abandoning the hardware and manufacturing initiatives that Ballmer pushed.
Apple's R&D spending as a % of total revenue is still lower than other companies. It just shows you how efficiently Apple spends their money.
Well, it was a cargo plane for space station parts, a satellite launcher, with a crew capacity for fixing stuff like the Station and the Hubble. They worked the platform, in other words.
It's true the boosters needed were a problem in the case of both disasters. Were the trade-offs worth it? I'd say ask the veteran crew members. We simple observers don't have much to form an opinion on.
Do you have a link handy on that moon-orbit asteroid plan?
I don't see Microsoft exiting Surface until they see what Apple's next move is with iPad.
Probably correct, but how long will MS continue to throw money at Surface with no near-term or any-term prospects for profits? Just guessing, but I think they'll abandon Surface in about a year.
Still, a proper rocket can do that better. Space X’s plan for the Mars Crew Transporter in the late 2020s is up to 100 people at a time. AND THEY’LL DO IT. BECAUSE MUSK IS DELICIOUSLY INSANE. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH Seriously, Apple needs to get in bed with him as soon as possible. First by writing custom software for the Tesla vehicle lineup and then by backing a source of income that will make the company trillionaires. With all the money anyone could ever need or want on hand, making computers becomes even less a job and more ‘because you love it’. That would improve HCI, I think.
Sure do.
I particularly like this sentence.
It means absolutely nothing whatsoever. NASA couldn’t care less about going to Mars, and they couldn’t care less about testing to see what we need to get there. Never mind that this mission won’t do diddly in that regard, anyway!
It also depends on labor cost. 1.5 billion in construction buys more man-hours than in high tech r&d. Especially if you build a skyscraper underpaying Bangladesh workers and only a few top engineers and architects are paid what the apple engineer is probably paid. 150 workers on the khalifa earn what the average engineer in Cupertino does...
Thanks for the link
I remember when I went to work for Big Big Pharma, and the mantra for Big P Project Management (like drug projects), was "The entire purpose for project management is to eliminate all reasons to say 'YES' to this compound as a profitable drug as quickly as possible. That allows us to kill them early and focus those R&D monies on those proven to improve medicine." In essence, the goal of management is to maximize profits by minimizing R&D on 'proven losers,' and instead, figure out ways to make proven winners more profitable, by faster time to market, lower cost to manufacture, complete market awareness, longer lifespan, and greater breadth of use,
Later, hearing Steve Jobs say:
Catches the crux of Apple: Say yes to the critical few, and say no early. Do focused R&D on the things you say Yes to. Avoid doing R&D on things that don't make sense. Then spend on ruthless efficiency of delivery to the the market.
So I disagree. Don't become a Xerox PARC. Don't become an IBM. Let the millions of smart people do unfocused R&D, then either buy them out early, or 'buy-in' (like LiquidMetal* and Authentec) for exclusivity and or refining the process to fit the goals (reducing the cost of sapphire production), Where you have a problem to be solved, and theirs is the solution to use.
*LiquidMetal is still a semi questionable acquisition... Haven't seen big wins from this.
Thanks for the link, Geoff!
Way to go, Stephen Flop!
Thanks for that link. Too bad the blog over at MS is not open for response.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/press/2014/jul14/07-17announcement2.aspx