Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Levy and cannibals

Steven Levy gives an interesting comment: "Apple is a company which is not afraid to cannibalize."
No other company with a highly successful laptop line would ever introduce a device which could replace many of those laptops. Especially when that device is half the price!! Think about that. They must be fantastically ballsy and stone-certain of the game-busting success of the pad for allowing this to happen. Their profit on a pad is much smaller than on their notebooks. If the pad turns out to mainly replace notebooks, Apple has not so much shot themselves in the foot, as in the balls.

Also, unlike Microsoft, they have been able to get past the OS and user-interface that they have invested millions of man-hours in, ditch it, and start from scratch. Microsoft tried to make tablets which run Windows, and it just doesn't work.

11 comments:

Timo Lehtinen said...

Also, unlike Microsoft, they have been able to get past the OS and user-interface that they have invested millions of man-hours in, ditch it, and start from scratch.

What do you mean? The OS running on iPad is the same Mac OS X that Apple bought from NeXT and has been using since 2000. Yes, in it Cocoa has been replaced with Cocoa Touch, but that is only skin deep. Plus, Cocoa Touch runs on Macs nowadays too (in the development environment).

The iPad is a Unix device!

Hentai said...

I've no love for MS, but at least MS don't tell me which software I can('t) install on my machine.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

OK, sometimes I do not distinguish clearly enough between "OS" and "user interface", which of course is a grave error.

Hentai: have you tried installing iMovie on your Windows computer?

Bronislaus Janulis / Framewright said...

Eolake,

Those of us who are Apple fans, who had iPhoto, iMovie, iDvd, before Windows knew about digital cameras at all; well, we know what's going on. Apple isn't perfect, Bill Gates is a very smart businessman, and Steve Jobs, and Apple are innovators. iPhoto, iMovie, iDvd, Garage band, etc., are products that allow people to just work with the digital world easily, creatively, and innovatively.

Simple photo and movie editing; Apple, easy Dvd production, Apple, the GUI, Apple, the mouse, Apple, music production and editing, cheap and easy, Apple, a "smart" phone that the average idiot can use, Apple, the "netbook" for the 21st C., Apple, in Eolakes new favorite toy. Apple has made a difference through the company, in a way that Bill and Melinda Gates are just trying to do through their foundation. Do you really think Bill and Melinda are too stupid to see the impact Apple has had on everyday lives? Bill and Melinda may ultimately be the bigger angels, but Steve Jobs has been the driving force behind how we interact and work with information and data in the 21st century. Get over it!

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

"Get over it"? Did it somehow sound like like I disagree with anything you say there?

Bruce said...

I agree with you. Apple does this a lot. The Mac cannibalized the Apple II. The iPhone and iPod touch cannibalized the high end, the most profitable part, of the iPod line.

Michael Burton said...

Part of it is understanding that if you don't kill your existing business with the Next Big Thing, somebody else will.

Technology marches on, and it's more comfortable to be in front of the marching feet rather than under them.

Anonymous said...

"Get over it"? Did it somehow sound like like I disagree with anything you say there?

What do you expect from Bron? He is a moron and a complete asshole.

Killshot said...

I disagree, the iPad does not replace the notebook, nor is it intended to replace the notebook. The point is to fill a space in the market that no one has successfully done yet.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

That is true, but many of us are sure that it *will* replace a regular computer for many people who are justifiably confused by a PC/Mac interface, and who only need to do some surfing, some reading, and light email. Those are many people.

TC [Girl] said...

BJ said...
"...Garage band..."

Don't remind me about GB!! Wanted a MacPro and GB *so* badly that I can STILL "taste" it!! :-( ... (Don't ask; it's complicated! But I *did* want to play w/it!! :-D