SoylentNews

kaszz writes:

Many startups want to design something that mimics the fit and finish of an Apple product, but it's a good way to go out of business.

What happened when Apple wanted to CNC machine a million MacBook bodies a year? They bought 10k CNC machines to do it. How about when they wanted to laser drill holes in MacBook Pros for the sleep light but only one company made a machine that could drill those 20 µm holes in aluminum? It bought the company that made the machines and took all the inventory. And that time when they needed batteries to fit into a tiny machined housing but no manufacturer was willing to make batteries so thin? Apple made their own battery cells. From scratch.

Other things that Apple often does that can cause problems for a startup include white plastic (which is the most difficult color to mold), CNC machining at scale (too expensive), Laser drilled holes (far more difficult than it may seem), molded plastic packaging (recycled cardboard is your friend), and 4-color, double-walled, matte boxes + HD foam inserts (It's not unusual for them to cost upwards of 12 US$/unit at scale. And then they get thrown away.).

If you see a feature on an Apple device you want to copy, try to find it on another company's product. If you do, it's probably okay to design into your product. Otherwise, lower your expectations. I assure you it'll be better for your startup.

Foxconn, the Apple supplier that doubled factory pay after a spate of worker suicides, buys 800 programmable Robodrills from Fanuc every month - for about 62 000 US$ each - to make the stainless steel band that wraps around the iPhone. The Fanuc Robodrill is the world's common CNC machine measured by installation numbers and by total value thanks to Apple.

Seems form and style are essential for the marketplace (yuck).

Edit: It's come to our attention that this was originally submitted to Slashdot by Hugh Pickens and some of the text appears to have been copied. We apologize for the mis-attribution. Further, this practice is frowned upon, you must write an original submission when submitting article summaries.