Maybe I'd acquire Freescale, and made their first priority to be making kick-ass chips for Apple.
I'd be running polls on the site of every product where people easily could tell their opinion on the product, so that the common opinion would be widely known both to people, and Apple. This to ensure that products are meeting consumer expectations.
Also, I'd made sure that any Mac sold is usable and not bottlenecked in any way (i.e. made 512MB RAM standard, even if it'd rise prices).
The most important thing when you run a high tech company like Apple, and that you are not belonging to the world standart, is to be innovative. Two years in advance, you have to find out, what will be the fashion, or the next big thing. See the example of Iomega : three years ago, the ZIP rules, nearly nobody buy them, or use it : an USB key is more versatile.
SJ is the king of this game, dispite, all his faults, he is a visionary man. He see in advance what will be the future, and what turn he should make. Sometimes his vision is in advance with the capacity of production, but I don't think that any people here can replace him.
SJ is a genius, we are not, otherwise prove the contrary and build your own company : you only need a garage to do so ...
Stop comparing apples to oranges. It is a known fact that unless you are a gamer, people want to spend as little as possible on their computers and they go for the best deals.
Then how does that explain $3000 Dell computers? If everyone wants the cheapest computer then why do PCs exist over $2000 when so much power is supposed to be available at $999?
Quote:
Step 1 Find out who is running the hardware division and fire them.
Why? Apple hardware isn't cheap but the design is respectable. Just because they don't deliver trash means that someone should get fired.
Quote:
Step 2 Remove the 4 tier structure that has ran off all its marketshare
It's been gone for a while now. Where does the iPod fit? Or Airport? With multiple iBook and Powerbook models the Quadrant strategy is really no more.
Quote:
Step3 get the consumer products(pods emac)& software out into consumer stores meaning walmart,sears,Best buy and lots of others. you cant sell to the consumer if you arent in any stores.
Apple Retail. 100+ store and growing. Apple keeps all the profits.
The problem with threads like this is this. None of you are I are MBAs. You think of things from a consumer perspective and that is dangerous because many consumers are a fickle lot.
You don't need an MBA degree to know that reducing the price must be followed by a marked increase in sales. In dferigmu plans he's cutting the price of Powermacs and Powerbook but hasn't giving any information on how many increased sales will result. If you drop $300 from a Powermac then you will need to sell roughly at least %50 more units. Thus 180k units today would require 270k units at $300 cheaper. Now ask yourself are 90 thousand additional buyers going to purchase Powermacs based on the cost savings. Those are hard things to predict. Apple is best to remain conservative.
Paper with mba on it doesnt mean squat to me, if these brilliant so called brains are so smart then where is my 2.5? or why dont they have a imac to sell? Bullshit! the hardware is a mess. no G4 laptop can stand close to the new pc laptops. their performance will trash G4. Mac world and MacAddict both stated that the dual 2.0 was only about equal to P4 at over 3.0. no more fastest Computer adds is there? 1 model to sell with a video card? look the hardware may have style but its still a mess. im not talking toys like pods and express im talking computers. Powermac makes sure that everything under it is crippled,lame and almost obsolete when you buy it. G4 in laptops make sure that every Pc outhere will smoke your new G4. i said it before and i will again. the hardware is a mess. why else would the best OS in the world own a paltry 3% market. where did 97% of the buying public go and why? Hardware Hardware Hardware. its been floundering around for years and still is due to 4 tier crap of not building for the consumer but building for ego's and the art & bean counters at Apple. marketshare will not be gained until you cater to the customer. Apple caters to no one. consumer is king not apple. step 1 fire who is in charge.
If good computer = speed, then go with another PC. If a computer is a commodity to you, then go with another kind of PC. Apple has never been the leader in chip speed nor price, and they will NEVER meet or beat other PCs in these areas. They had a brief interlude with having a fast chip when the G3 first came out, and that moment has passed. Bye-bye. It won't come back.
People buy Macs for other reasons, though obviously most don't have the same priorities as them.
no G4 laptop can stand close to the new pc laptops. their performance will trash G4.
Oddly, Apple PowerBook sales just spiked upward. People don't judge laptops the way they judge desktops, and if you're looking at the whole package, I defy you to find a notebook that can go toe-to-toe with a PowerBook.
Quote:
why else would the best OS in the world own a paltry 3% market.
Because most people don't even consider Macs an option. PC means Windows, and Windows means PC. Contrary to your argment, the machines in Apple's lineup that have succeeded most in convincing people otherwise have been the notebooks, and specifically the iBook — the slowest, least configurable, least expandable machine in the entire lineup.
Your sense of what people look for in a computer is completely alien to the consumer market.
If good computer = speed, then go with another PC. If a computer is a commodity to you, then go with another kind of PC. Apple has never been the leader in chip speed nor price, and they will NEVER meet or beat other PCs in these areas. They had a brief interlude with having a fast chip when the G3 first came out, and that moment has passed. Bye-bye. It won't come back.
People buy Macs for other reasons, though obviously most don't have the same priorities as them.
you may be right on anger management but as far as Apple goes this has held true for years.Apple has the best software and the worst hardware. whats changed? they now have the worst hardware but it now has style.
you may be right on anger management but as far as Apple goes this has held true for years.Apple has the best software and the worst hardware. whats changed? they now have the worst hardware but it now has style.
worst hardware ? Take some pills ! . Yes my dual G5 is really the worst hardware, undoubtely, and so is my powerbook 17 inch.
1) Banish the QuickTime registration banner for ever. I can't think of one thing that has generated more ill will from non-Apple computer users than that one damn dialog box.
2) As others have said above, get the product announcement to availability time under control. Stuff happens, but it has become an troublesome pattern over the past year for Apple.
3) Create an Apple UI Zealot/Enforcer who's job it is to ensure all the piddly little crap in the Finder and other Apple products that drives people crazy but can be easily fixed, actually does get fixed.
4) Develop a Linux Strategy. So many Apple people I talk to consider Linux just a crappy unix compared to OS X. In reality it is the natural stepping stone for vast numbers of Windows users to OS X.
Some ideas:
* A native version of iTunes for Linux
* Port one or more OS X API's to Linux
* Create an Apple Linux distro designed to be an intermediate step before people make the final leap to real Apple hardware.
5) Get rid of the stupid 'Switcher' stuff. It just sounds lame.
Paper with mba on it doesnt mean squat to me, if these brilliant so called brains are so smart then where is my 2.5? or why dont they have a imac to sell? Bullshit! the hardware is a mess.
Of course not you don't have one. Apple has clearly stated that the iMac and the 2.5 are contrained by the chips. Surely you new that and just fancy making rhetorical questions.
Quote:
Mac world and MacAddict both stated that the dual 2.0 was only about equal to P4 at over 3.0. no more fastest Computer adds is there?
Aurora thanks!! Nice ratio so doing easy Math 2Ghz G5= 3Ghz Pentium 4. That means each Gigahertz of G5 is equivalent to 1.5Ghz of Pentium 4 Power. Thus the PowerPC G5 2.5Ghz computer is equivalent to a Pentim 4 3.75Ghz which is faster than they ship. So I guess the PPC 2.5 is the fastest computer right?
Aurora it's all good you're just a tough cookie to crack. Stick around and you'll like what the future offers. I was perusing some of Apple's financial and there are some interesting things in there but two stood out.
Back in 1999 Apple had about 6900+ employees. Back then the iMac was beginning to take hold but Apples R&D spending was high. I noticed that today even with the cool looking stuff we have today Apple has increased their R&D budet and they have over 10k employees now. So basically in 5 years they have added %50 more employees and increased R&D spending %50 to propel the platform forward.
We're just now ready to start enjoying the fruits of their labor but much work remains. I'm positive of the direction that Apple is headed. You will be to in time.
3: make kickass new versions of each app in the arsonals above, OSX ONLY
4: Release OSX_X86 for $149. (break even on the OS to move the software)
5: Make sure that apple hardware always runs faster and looks cooler than the x86 OEMs and make sure people know it.
6: develop an office suit
6: buy a networking company
7: make an aio dummy terminal (network boot, see EDU EMAC sans optical drive) in the $450-500 range, to sell at cost for corprate clients, ala buy our servers, software and switches and get all of the dummy terminals you need at $400-5500.
8: change name to Seve Jobs and wear black shirts and jeans all over the vally.
Call me absolutely fricken nuts, but I would start selling everybody's hardware...Dell, IBM, anyone really, I would place their products right inside my store and sell them...If someone wanted a cheap solution, I would provide it with the crappy PC, but I would have my own CONTROLLED environment with Apple products next to the PCs, and the customers could browse around. By controlled, I don't mean altered, I just mean that all my keys from the keyboard would not be missing from PC zealots, etc. So, whatever the customer would want we could provide, get some profit from places outside of Cupertino and use that to invest into my own products. This would help other companies see Apple in a more positive light, and not so elitist. Plus the pressure of selling all of our inventory and playing that game would be gone.
I would make key software buyouts; Macromedia, Adobe, etc. and make them hella better on the Mac, as they should be.
In a perfect world this would work, because I would be giving the consumer what they want in cheap with the PCs we would sell, and I would still be getting paid, and I could still make our computers the elite and not compromise due to price...
But, I do love the way the company is moving as of recent times, and I see it doing things on a good timeline, though it may not be fast enough for me! I am continually impressed with what they can do with what others call hindered hardware, hell we have real-time effects on our crappy G5s, the PC can't touch it even with its Terahertz processors....So, it answers my needs and the needs of others more than adequately already...I am patient and content with current offerings thanks to the terrific software, which is what really matters anyway.
For those of who are relatively new to Apple, they made PCI Cards that had a Pentium processor and its own ram on a Card, and it was just as fast as a real pc, didnt need to have a clunky pc.
Software emulation (so far) isnt an alternative to a real pc.
Apple doesn't need to buy Adobe or Macromedia. They handle the Web and Print publishing areas just fine.
Where Apple is getting just demolished is in lack of business apps. I should be able to create a Apple Small Business Pack for less than 10 grand.
Xserve lite- $2000 OSX Server 10.4 10 client
Apple Office- $1495 10 client WP,Spreadsheet,Keynote,,DB
Apple Assembly- $499 10 client Groupware app.
Apple Remote D- $299 10 client for easy management
bMacs- $4000 5pk of headless Macs with 17" LCD.
Apple needs to address where they are weak. Licensing software and getting on the business desktop. I think they should make a concerted effort to small biz and work their way up.
Apple doesn't need to buy Adobe or Macromedia. They handle the Web and Print publishing areas just fine.
Where Apple is getting just demolished is in lack of business apps. I should be able to create a Apple Small Business Pack for less than 10 grand.
Xserve lite- $2000 OSX Server 10.4 10 client
Apple Office- $1495 10 client WP,Spreadsheet,Keynote,,DB
Apple Assembly- $499 10 client Groupware app.
Apple Remote D- $299 10 client for easy management
bMacs- $4000 5pk of headless Macs with 17" LCD.
Apple needs to address where they are weak. Licensing software and getting on the business desktop. I think they should make a concerted effort to small biz and work their way up.
and where does apple make money there, bMacs- $4000 5pk of headless Macs with 17" LCD.? can such a thing cost sub $750(the per unit price) to build?
1. Let employees bring their dogs onto the Apple Campus again (always thought he was a big meanie for banning dogs at work)
2. Fire a_greer for releasing OS X_X86 and kill it
3. Fire ijerry for putting PCs in Apple Stores and kill that idea too
4. Fire the head of Hardware and find someone who actually grasped the concept that we sell computers (or used to)
(All these firings would have the added advantage of putting the troops at ease by convincing them the more things changed, the more they stay the same)
5. Get my new head of Hardware to do something, ANYTHING, to the iMac so people might actually want to buy the damn things
6. Up the RAM in new Macs
7. Update AW
8. Stop treating countries outside the US like second-class citizens
9. Throw PC users another bone to encourage them to snap out of it (maybe Safari)
10. Figure out a way to stop the record labels from screwing my company and every music lover on the planet over
11. Go for a fly in my new Gulfstream Jet (actually I'd probably do that one first).
Comments
I'd be running polls on the site of every product where people easily could tell their opinion on the product, so that the common opinion would be widely known both to people, and Apple. This to ensure that products are meeting consumer expectations.
Also, I'd made sure that any Mac sold is usable and not bottlenecked in any way (i.e. made 512MB RAM standard, even if it'd rise prices).
SJ is the king of this game, dispite, all his faults, he is a visionary man. He see in advance what will be the future, and what turn he should make. Sometimes his vision is in advance with the capacity of production, but I don't think that any people here can replace him.
SJ is a genius, we are not, otherwise prove the contrary and build your own company : you only need a garage to do so ...
Stop comparing apples to oranges. It is a known fact that unless you are a gamer, people want to spend as little as possible on their computers and they go for the best deals.
Then how does that explain $3000 Dell computers? If everyone wants the cheapest computer then why do PCs exist over $2000 when so much power is supposed to be available at $999?
Step 1 Find out who is running the hardware division and fire them.
Why? Apple hardware isn't cheap but the design is respectable. Just because they don't deliver trash means that someone should get fired.
Step 2 Remove the 4 tier structure that has ran off all its marketshare
It's been gone for a while now. Where does the iPod fit? Or Airport? With multiple iBook and Powerbook models the Quadrant strategy is really no more.
Step3 get the consumer products(pods emac)& software out into consumer stores meaning walmart,sears,Best buy and lots of others. you cant sell to the consumer if you arent in any stores.
Apple Retail. 100+ store and growing. Apple keeps all the profits.
The problem with threads like this is this. None of you are I are MBAs. You think of things from a consumer perspective and that is dangerous because many consumers are a fickle lot.
You don't need an MBA degree to know that reducing the price must be followed by a marked increase in sales. In dferigmu plans he's cutting the price of Powermacs and Powerbook but hasn't giving any information on how many increased sales will result. If you drop $300 from a Powermac then you will need to sell roughly at least %50 more units. Thus 180k units today would require 270k units at $300 cheaper. Now ask yourself are 90 thousand additional buyers going to purchase Powermacs based on the cost savings. Those are hard things to predict. Apple is best to remain conservative.
If good computer = speed, then go with another PC. If a computer is a commodity to you, then go with another kind of PC. Apple has never been the leader in chip speed nor price, and they will NEVER meet or beat other PCs in these areas. They had a brief interlude with having a fast chip when the G3 first came out, and that moment has passed. Bye-bye. It won't come back.
People buy Macs for other reasons, though obviously most don't have the same priorities as them.
Originally posted by Aurora
no G4 laptop can stand close to the new pc laptops. their performance will trash G4.
Oddly, Apple PowerBook sales just spiked upward. People don't judge laptops the way they judge desktops, and if you're looking at the whole package, I defy you to find a notebook that can go toe-to-toe with a PowerBook.
why else would the best OS in the world own a paltry 3% market.
Because most people don't even consider Macs an option. PC means Windows, and Windows means PC. Contrary to your argment, the machines in Apple's lineup that have succeeded most in convincing people otherwise have been the notebooks, and specifically the iBook — the slowest, least configurable, least expandable machine in the entire lineup.
Your sense of what people look for in a computer is completely alien to the consumer market.
Originally posted by BuonRotto
Someone needs some anger management therapy.
If good computer = speed, then go with another PC. If a computer is a commodity to you, then go with another kind of PC. Apple has never been the leader in chip speed nor price, and they will NEVER meet or beat other PCs in these areas. They had a brief interlude with having a fast chip when the G3 first came out, and that moment has passed. Bye-bye. It won't come back.
People buy Macs for other reasons, though obviously most don't have the same priorities as them.
you may be right on anger management but as far as Apple goes this has held true for years.Apple has the best software and the worst hardware. whats changed? they now have the worst hardware but it now has style.
Originally posted by Aurora
you may be right on anger management but as far as Apple goes this has held true for years.Apple has the best software and the worst hardware. whats changed? they now have the worst hardware but it now has style.
worst hardware ? Take some pills !
1) Banish the QuickTime registration banner for ever. I can't think of one thing that has generated more ill will from non-Apple computer users than that one damn dialog box.
2) As others have said above, get the product announcement to availability time under control. Stuff happens, but it has become an troublesome pattern over the past year for Apple.
3) Create an Apple UI Zealot/Enforcer who's job it is to ensure all the piddly little crap in the Finder and other Apple products that drives people crazy but can be easily fixed, actually does get fixed.
4) Develop a Linux Strategy. So many Apple people I talk to consider Linux just a crappy unix compared to OS X. In reality it is the natural stepping stone for vast numbers of Windows users to OS X.
Some ideas:
* A native version of iTunes for Linux
* Port one or more OS X API's to Linux
* Create an Apple Linux distro designed to be an intermediate step before people make the final leap to real Apple hardware.
5) Get rid of the stupid 'Switcher' stuff. It just sounds lame.
Originally posted by Powerdoc
worst hardware ? Take some pills !
I'm unfortunate enough to be stuck with a dual G5 too. Perhaps there needs to be some sort of support group for unlucky sods like us?
Paper with mba on it doesnt mean squat to me, if these brilliant so called brains are so smart then where is my 2.5? or why dont they have a imac to sell? Bullshit! the hardware is a mess.
Of course not you don't have one. Apple has clearly stated that the iMac and the 2.5 are contrained by the chips. Surely you new that and just fancy making rhetorical questions.
Mac world and MacAddict both stated that the dual 2.0 was only about equal to P4 at over 3.0. no more fastest Computer adds is there?
Aurora thanks!! Nice ratio so doing easy Math 2Ghz G5= 3Ghz Pentium 4. That means each Gigahertz of G5 is equivalent to 1.5Ghz of Pentium 4 Power. Thus the PowerPC G5 2.5Ghz computer is equivalent to a Pentim 4 3.75Ghz which is faster than they ship. So I guess the PPC 2.5 is the fastest computer right?
Aurora it's all good you're just a tough cookie to crack. Stick around and you'll like what the future offers. I was perusing some of Apple's financial and there are some interesting things in there but two stood out.
Back in 1999 Apple had about 6900+ employees. Back then the iMac was beginning to take hold but Apples R&D spending was high. I noticed that today even with the cool looking stuff we have today Apple has increased their R&D budet and they have over 10k employees now. So basically in 5 years they have added %50 more employees and increased R&D spending %50 to propel the platform forward.
We're just now ready to start enjoying the fruits of their labor but much work remains. I'm positive of the direction that Apple is headed. You will be to in time.
Originally posted by Tuttle
I'm unfortunate enough to be stuck with a dual G5 too. Perhaps there needs to be some sort of support group for unlucky sods like us?
Good idea. I am going to change my sig
2: buy macromedia
3: make kickass new versions of each app in the arsonals above, OSX ONLY
4: Release OSX_X86 for $149. (break even on the OS to move the software)
5: Make sure that apple hardware always runs faster and looks cooler than the x86 OEMs and make sure people know it.
6: develop an office suit
6: buy a networking company
7: make an aio dummy terminal (network boot, see EDU EMAC sans optical drive) in the $450-500 range, to sell at cost for corprate clients, ala buy our servers, software and switches and get all of the dummy terminals you need at $400-5500.
8: change name to Seve Jobs and wear black shirts and jeans all over the vally.
I would make key software buyouts; Macromedia, Adobe, etc. and make them hella better on the Mac, as they should be.
In a perfect world this would work, because I would be giving the consumer what they want in cheap with the PCs we would sell, and I would still be getting paid, and I could still make our computers the elite and not compromise due to price...
But, I do love the way the company is moving as of recent times, and I see it doing things on a good timeline, though it may not be fast enough for me! I am continually impressed with what they can do with what others call hindered hardware, hell we have real-time effects on our crappy G5s, the PC can't touch it even with its Terahertz processors....So, it answers my needs and the needs of others more than adequately already...I am patient and content with current offerings thanks to the terrific software, which is what really matters anyway.
God I wish apple would bring those back
For those of who are relatively new to Apple, they made PCI Cards that had a Pentium processor and its own ram on a Card, and it was just as fast as a real pc, didnt need to have a clunky pc.
Software emulation (so far) isnt an alternative to a real pc.
Where Apple is getting just demolished is in lack of business apps. I should be able to create a Apple Small Business Pack for less than 10 grand.
Xserve lite- $2000 OSX Server 10.4 10 client
Apple Office- $1495 10 client WP,Spreadsheet,Keynote,,DB
Apple Assembly- $499 10 client Groupware app.
Apple Remote D- $299 10 client for easy management
bMacs- $4000 5pk of headless Macs with 17" LCD.
Apple needs to address where they are weak. Licensing software and getting on the business desktop. I think they should make a concerted effort to small biz and work their way up.
Originally posted by hmurchison
Apple doesn't need to buy Adobe or Macromedia. They handle the Web and Print publishing areas just fine.
Where Apple is getting just demolished is in lack of business apps. I should be able to create a Apple Small Business Pack for less than 10 grand.
Xserve lite- $2000 OSX Server 10.4 10 client
Apple Office- $1495 10 client WP,Spreadsheet,Keynote,,DB
Apple Assembly- $499 10 client Groupware app.
Apple Remote D- $299 10 client for easy management
bMacs- $4000 5pk of headless Macs with 17" LCD.
Apple needs to address where they are weak. Licensing software and getting on the business desktop. I think they should make a concerted effort to small biz and work their way up.
and where does apple make money there, bMacs- $4000 5pk of headless Macs with 17" LCD.? can such a thing cost sub $750(the per unit price) to build?
2. Release an anniversary Mac every year. It'll be more expensive each year.
3. Buy the naming rights for the Arizona Cardinals stadium.
4. Give everyone that would stop by free iBooks...
no wait, this is not okay. Let me start over.
1. Headless mac that connects to HDTVs and records like Tivo
2. More DLDs, like a miniTablet which acts like a remote display, not a TabletPC
3. iPhone
4. HD based digital camera
2. Fire a_greer for releasing OS X_X86 and kill it
3. Fire ijerry for putting PCs in Apple Stores and kill that idea too
4. Fire the head of Hardware and find someone who actually grasped the concept that we sell computers (or used to)
(All these firings would have the added advantage of putting the troops at ease by convincing them the more things changed, the more they stay the same)
5. Get my new head of Hardware to do something, ANYTHING, to the iMac so people might actually want to buy the damn things
6. Up the RAM in new Macs
7. Update AW
8. Stop treating countries outside the US like second-class citizens
9. Throw PC users another bone to encourage them to snap out of it (maybe Safari)
10. Figure out a way to stop the record labels from screwing my company and every music lover on the planet over
11. Go for a fly in my new Gulfstream Jet (actually I'd probably do that one first).