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Apple has lost the functional high ground
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[Steve Connor] “The glory of the free market is that if you’re not happy with the products that a Company is making you can always go elsewhere.
The suggestions that Tim Cook’s social focus and charitable activities are somehow harming the quality of Apple products are frankly ludicrous.”
I feel like many people have rose colored glasses when it comes to Apple’s previous track record. Some of these have been previously mentioned but just off the top of my head but things like the Mobile Me failure, Ping, antenna-gate, Titanium Macbook paint pealing, Mac Pro 1,1 GFX card recall, iPod Nano scratches, uneven backlighting on MBP displays, excessive tolerance in mobile device displays (some very blue, some very yellow), 2010/2011 MBP GFX card failures, iMovie ’08 being so horrible that Apple started giving away iMovie ’06 for free, etc.,.
Yes, I probably have spent too much time on Mac-centric forums but my point is there was never a time when it was all sunshine and lollipops under Jobs. If anything I would expect there to be more complaining now than in the past because there are so many more people using Apple products today than, say, 15 years ago. Also, didn’t Apple stock hit a record high late last year?
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[Bill Davis] “I’m still not seeing those stories from the other NLE software vendors vendors.”
And I assume you go looking for those stories as intently as you go looking for people talking about X? Like I mentioned in the previous thread you said this up in, people have brought up Avid and PPro in this very forum on multiple occasions. Some people take part in the discussion and some people dismiss the discussion, but the discussions are going on even if they don’t show up on your radar.
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[Mitch Ives] “You don’t see the two as related? I do…”
No.
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[Mitch Ives] “Of course it goes without saying, that I am not only accorded the same right, but the same weight as well… or do you disagree on that?
“Your right is unassailable, weight, however is an infinitely variable factor for everyone when discussing opinions 🙂
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[Steve Connor] “Your right is unassailable, weight, however is an infinitely variable factor for everyone when discussing opinions :)”
Well said Steve… I was hoping for something witty from you. Well done…
Mitch Ives
Insight Productions Corp.“Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.” – Winston Churchill
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[Bill Davis] “Not even a week into the new year and somebody has to post the obligatory piece indicating that Apple has “lost it” and that their history of constant improvement and business success is all just a passing thing. “
I didn’t interpret the article as saying that Apple has lost it or even as predicting failure — just cautioning that their priorities may be “poorly weighted.”
I think the criticism is constructive and has some validity. See my examples of the real-world effects in our industry of this big and fast OS dev cycle in another post below.
[Bill Davis] “I’m still reading stories about how Apple software (absolutely including FCP X) inspires people to do exceptional work. I’m still not seeing those stories from the other NLE software vendors vendors. At least not at the same level of passion. Don’t know why. Maybe those stories are out there – but if so, The one’s I’ve seen are NOT bubbling up organically from excited users. But coming out of formal PR machines. “
Well, you do mainly hang out with FCP X users, right? Every piece of DCC software I can think of with a user community has at least a few really passionate people doing — and discussing — exceptional work.
You want to see innovative and exceptional work? Join those user communities. Or just swing by the Adobe, Autodesk, The Foundry, MAXON, Quantel or SGO booths this year at NAB, where you’ll see working artists showing off the cool work they did in their own preferred products — and often showcasing work that would have been more difficult to do on any other product.
Walter Soyka
Designer & Mad Scientist at Keen Live [link]
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
@keenlive | RenderBreak [blog] | Profile [LinkedIn] -
Well, Steve, a free market of ideas also means that I’m able to criticize overrated operations officers like Tim Cook when I want….and begin drawing attention to his core failures and talking about getting him replaced if he doesn’t improve.
By the way, I see a very strong correlation between his social focus and Apple’s decline. He’s the CEO, and he sets the tone for the whole company. I think burdening Apple with the perks and the social engineering interest is definitely distracting it from a focus on product quality. It’s certainly taking some of Tim’s precious time that he could spend making Apple’s products better. It also attracts new employees that are more likely to be there for the perks instead of making great products.
Mitch and I aren’t the only ones who feel this way. Steve Jobs didn’t feel the need to do that either, and he’s clearly the man that made Apple what it was in its heyday.
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Los Angeles Cameraman
Canon C300 (x2), Zeiss CP.2 lenses, P2 Varicam, etc.
http://www.lacameraman.com -
I would think that such a huge corporation with so many employees and sub contractors, particularly in third world countries should be socially aware. If Jobs success was at the expense of social philanthropy, then I would consider Apple to have been a lesser company under his leadership.
As film makers we so often deal with the inequities of life. Lauding the shareholder return or the look of a beveled edge at the expense of our fellow humans seems to be the antithesis of what we so often strive to show in films and documentaries.
Stay with the moral high ground please Tim. Apple are still making shirt loads of cash.
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[Helmut Kobler] “Well, Steve, a free market of ideas also means that I’m able to criticize overrated operations officers like Tim Cook when I want….and begin drawing attention to his core failures and talking about getting him replaced if he doesn’t improve.
“Of course you’re free to criticise, no-one has said you’re not!
I’m also free to disagree with your thoughts, there are a large number of reasons why Apple may be losing the functional high ground, I just happen to think a CEO trying to make a decent and more moral company isn’t one of them.
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[Helmut Kobler] “By the way, I see a very strong correlation between his social focus and Apple’s decline. “
Is there something about this decline that can be quantified? I ask because in the last few months the iPhone 6/6+ became the best selling smart phones of 2014, Apple posted record profits, a record stock price and the American Consumer Satisfaction Index ranked Apple as #1 in the personal computer category.
Is Tim Cook Steve Jobs? No, and I do wonder how Apple is going to do long term without Jobs and his RDF but it’s like the Bulls losing Michael Jordan, there is just no replacing someone that unique so you have to find a new way to win. And so far Apple is winning. Maybe Tim’s actions are endearing the Mac faithful & general public to the brand at a time when corporations are being vilified & consumer electronics are trendy and disposable?
I think the watch is going to determine the company’s course over the next few years as I don’t see anything iPod/iPhone/iPad-like in their inventory other than that. AppleTV? Nope. Beats music streaming service? That’s just to offset the ground iTMS is losing. I’m sure once the watch is released though it will sell like gangbusters for a while even if the reviews aren’t awesome.
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