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posted by martyb on Friday January 30 2015, @05:10PM   Printer-friendly
from the On-a-desk->In-a-Pocket->???? dept.

James B. Stewart writes in the NYT that in 1998 Bill Gates said in an interview that he “couldn’t imagine a situation in which Apple would ever be bigger and more profitable than Microsoft" but less than two decades later, Apple, with a market capitalization more than double Microsoft’s, has won. The most successful companies need a vision, and both Apple and Microsoft have one. But according to Stewart, Apple’s vision was more radical and, as it turns out, more farsighted. Where Microsoft foresaw a computer on every person’s desk, Apple went a big step further: Its vision was a computer in every pocket. “Apple has been very visionary in creating and expanding significant new consumer electronics categories,” says Toni Sacconaghi. “Unique, disruptive innovation is really hard to do. Doing it multiple times, as Apple has, is extremely difficult."

According to Jobs' biographer Walter Isaacson, Microsoft seemed to have the better business for a long time. “But in the end, it didn’t create products of ethereal beauty. Steve believed you had to control every brush stroke from beginning to end. Not because he was a control freak, but because he had a passion for perfection.” Can Apple continue to live by Jobs’s disruptive creed now that the company is as successful as Microsoft once was? According to Robert Cihra it was one thing for Apple to cannibalize its iPod or Mac businesses, but quite another to risk its iPhone juggernaut. “The question investors have is, what’s the next iPhone? There’s no obvious answer. It’s almost impossible to think of anything that will create a $140 billion business out of nothing.”

 
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  • (Score: 2, Offtopic) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday January 30 2015, @05:15PM

    by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Friday January 30 2015, @05:15PM (#139546) Homepage

    You need to already have an iPhone to use your iWatch?

    No fucking thanks. Suck it, Crapple.

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  • (Score: 2) by pnkwarhall on Saturday January 31 2015, @01:53AM

    by pnkwarhall (4558) on Saturday January 31 2015, @01:53AM (#139703)

    This comment is NOT off-topic. If this is actually true (not worth my time to look into that, frankly), then it's totally relevant in the context of Apple's success at "creating and expanding significant new consumer electronics categories".

    On-topic this thread/off-topic this article -- Where are my recently promised mod points? I'd correct this if I could.

    --
    Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
    • (Score: 3, Informative) by TheRaven on Saturday January 31 2015, @10:38AM

      by TheRaven (270) on Saturday January 31 2015, @10:38AM (#139789) Journal
      The original iPod needed a Mac, but they didn't really take off until they released one that worked with Windows as well. That doesn't necessarily mean that it was a mistake to release the first version as Mac-only, but it does mean that it would have been a mistake not to release the Windows version.
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      • (Score: 2) by pnkwarhall on Saturday January 31 2015, @05:16PM

        by pnkwarhall (4558) on Saturday January 31 2015, @05:16PM (#139842)

        There are probably technical reasons for releasing the Mac-only version first. But I'm sure the company also takes into account the element of unattainability (where only a privileged minority can have something) that can heighten desire.

        --
        Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 31 2015, @02:16AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 31 2015, @02:16AM (#139708)

    I've got no problem with smartwatches requiring a smartphone to work, or even doing Dick Tracy style phonecalls. But iOS only is lame.