

The Seed of Apple's Innovation - maurycy
http://www.businessweek.com/print/bwdaily/dnflash/oct2004/nf20041012_4018_db083.htm?chan=gl

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bendemott
A great article. I have seen a lot about what Steve is talking about at
corporations I've worked at. Plainly stated it is true that marketing makes
money! - But incentive reveals motive. There are a lot of words we use instead
of 'greed' like 'good business sense' - but if a companies primary motivation
is greed it will fail, and if its secondary motivation is survival, it will
just resemble the stages of grief. I have worked in technology a lot - and
people in management will always say to me "I don't care how you get it done
... just get it done." That is ok for other industries, for the automotive,
and carpentry industries a manager can get by with that attitude, but what if
your 8th grade math teacher told you the same thing? - Would you really learn
anything about math? And that's what we need to take from this story, it takes
SOMEONE with intellectual fortitude to 'bring it all together' like Steve so
pointedly stated.

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unalone
Greed isn't necessarily bad. If it means figuring out what service millions of
people will pay money for, then yes, you're making money. but you're also
creating a useful service. The two often go hand in hand.

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thalur
Creating a good product because your greed says it will get you more money is
ok, but I think the point is that if you flip it round - create a good product
because you want your product to be good - you get a better product and
potentially more money.

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unalone
Okay, yes. Agreed.

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tyohn
"Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business
enterprise has two--and only two--basic functions: marketing and innovation.
Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. - Peter
Drucker. As Steve seems to points out - Apple lost site of one of those while
he wasn't there now they have it back.

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13ren
Totally agree, although great technical innovation and marketing is no
guarantee of success if the industry is disrupted.

Jobs is unique in that _he_ disrupts the industry (well, he facilitates it):
Apple, Pixar, iPod

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netcan
"It's because when you buy our products, and three months later you get stuck
on something, you quickly figure out [how to get past it]. And you think,
"Wow, someone over there at Apple actually thought of this!" And then three
months later you try to do something you hadn't tried before, and it works,
and you think "Hey, they thought of that, too." And then six months later it
happens again. There's almost no product in the world that you have that
experience with, but you have it with a Mac. And you have it with an iPod."

He (Jobs) has a real feel for where to put his finger. I'd flip it. With
products, you (I) run into little walls where I think "how could I possibly be
the only one to bang his knee on this?"

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13ren
I like their products, and buy them, but the above is not my experience (great
to aim at; very hard to do): Apple's LCD display had a really annoying design
(splayed supports, where I want to move my mouse; no connection to a PC - to
be fair, they fixed both issues in the next version). ITunes on Windows is
awful. My iPod headphones are really annoying.

But I have had the above experience every time with another product: vim (the
editor). Whenever I'd think of a cool feature, it would already be
implemented, with lots of associated features that I hadn't thought of yet.
Impressive. OTOH, hard to find the damn features, unless you already have the
idea for them (like google). So, vim could be better designed in that sense
(no, I don't know how one would do that).

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13ren
_HP's primary goal was to make great products. And our primary goal here is to
make the world's best PCs -- not to be the biggest or the richest._

 _We have a second goal, which is to always make a profit -- both to make some
money but also so we can keep making those great products._

The garage where HP started is purported to be the beginning of silicon
valley.

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pasbesoin
Has the Business Week site been cleaned up from its recent compromise (that
was Business Week, wasn't it?)? I've been avoiding the site until I hear the
"all clear".

