IntenseDebate

15 years ago @ asymco - Mobile device OS upgra... · 0 replies · +3 points

I should have stated that I was talking about what I've seen in the software industry: companies skimping on QA to get the software out the door. It's sometimes seen as a cost with no revenue attached to it. It often isn't sufficiently budgeted. Those companies that fail to plan well for QA also put out mediocre (at best) products. It's short sighted. The value of QA (in software at least) is down the road you get happier customers. The problem is that it doesn't add anything to this quarter's numbers.

I didn't mean to imply the argument against QA is a valid one. :) But it seems like that isn't stopping carriers...

15 years ago @ asymco - Mobile device OS upgra... · 5 replies · -6 points

The argument doesn't seem that different than the argument for/against better quality assurance.

15 years ago @ asymco - Disney (still) loves A... · 0 replies · +7 points

Or is Disney waiting for the damages to pile up before suing?

15 years ago @ Speedliting - I Think That Someone C... · 0 replies · +4 points

Whether you think the business model is broken or not doesn't have anything to do with the fact that someone else was being a jerk by distributing his work.

15 years ago @ Speedliting - I Think That Someone C... · 0 replies · +1 points

By your logic, I'm not a writer, but I write software, so it's ok for me to steal books, because I think they're priced too high? After all, they're just words. If there's a typo, it's not like anyone HAS to go back and fix it, unlike software, where bugs can make something unusable.

Writers get to make a living, but software engineers don't?

I don't mind people using free software alternatives. If you like OpenOffice and Linux, have at it. But don't steal my work and somehow call it just.

If you don't like the price of something at a high end grocery store, do you just take it? And don't give me the tired response of something non-tangible doesn't cost anything. Software costs me 40 to 80 hours a week of my effort, and time away from my family. If you don't like the price, buy something else, but don't steal my blood sweat and tears.

15 years ago @ asymco - Two turkeys don't make... · 0 replies · +3 points

Thanks. Makes sense.

I think the analogy is more like Apple made a Model T, and everyone (including Apple) is now making advances in transmission, stereos, armrests, etc. Then while everyone is competing with Apple in automobiles, Apple goes and invents an airplane, and everyone starts competing there.

So I agree, Apple is not the only innovator, but they continue to lead the direction of the innovations.

15 years ago @ asymco - Two turkeys don't make... · 2 replies · +4 points

I misunderstood your post. Sorry about that.

There is one kind of "better": Apple's margins. People are willing to pay more for Apple's devices. ;)

Out of curiosity, can you give a few examples of things you want to do that your iPhone won't let you do (without jailbreaking)? (I'm not going to argue about them, I hate reading arguments about how what others want is right or wrong.)

15 years ago @ asymco - Two turkeys don't make... · 4 replies · +3 points

Many continue to mistake a checklist of features for design of a product.

Apple was first to remove carrier demands from the phone hardware and software in order to make something better for the consumer. Apple does not innovate individual features, they design complete products. For every feature you can find in any piece of Apple hardware, you can find someone else who did it first.

The iPod was not a hit because Apple was first to play MP3s from a portable hard drive. It was the first easily usable portable music player. Apple accomplished this by putting the consumers' interests first and getting the music distributors to get out of the way.

Apple did the same thing with the carriers, getting them out of the way of the consumers getting a usable smart phone.

Apple led the way again in tablet computing, carefully choosing which features, software and hardware mattered most to them. They're not always right, but they're right more often than the competition.

Apple is conservative when choosing hardware and software. They do not use bleeding edge technology in their consumer devices. They didn't invent flash memory, touch screens, mice, trackpads, etc. They just put all the pieces together in a way that makes sense for most people, that works, and reduces friction between the consumer and the task at hand.

15 years ago @ asymco - Two turkeys don't make... · 0 replies · +1 points

"Huh? The whole iPod Shuffle/Nano thing must be a fluke then, because if those are commodity items I don't know what is! "

The iPods are still part of a larger ecosystem, but lets call them commodities for the sake of argument.

Do you think that the management that is so good at the current Apple will stick around for the commoditized Apple? Do you think their leverage due to its non-commodity offerings will still be there when they're all commodities? What fraction of Apple's revenue is commoditized? Apple can do just fine with commodities, but that's not who they are. I think the people will move on, or the products they sell will move on.

"And as far as tablets go, the iPad is far more of a commodity item"

That makes no sense. By what definition is the iPad a commodity?

"'Apple is too expensive' (which is pretty much what you are implying) "

I said nothing of the sort. I have no idea how you got from what I wrote to what you say I implied. I'm backing up the truck on Apple stock and options. I think it's undervalued.

15 years ago @ asymco - Two turkeys don't make... · 3 replies · +2 points

"At such time when there will be nothing to follow Android will be the king of the last commoditized innovation"

This assumes two things:
1. There will be a time when there is nothing to follow.
2. Apple will either be unable or unwilling to sell a commodity.

I think the latter is likely. It's not in their corporate culture (though that can change).

I think the former will take quite a while. There are still a lot of hard problems to solve or at least make easier.

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