
Why doesn’t anybody copy Apple? - orrsella
http://www.asymco.com/2013/02/19/why-doesnt-anybody-copy-apple/
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cek
As the author points out, Apple is fairly unique in its command of vertical
integration. Its products are unique not on their feature merits, but because
of the way they are conceived, designed, built, sourced, manufactured,
shipped, marketed, sold, opened, held, and used.

There's another part of this: Apple is fairly unique amongst it's (asymmetric)
competitors (e.g. Google, MS, Samsung) in that it only focuses on one
customer: The Consumer.

In my experience the behaviors and culture of an organization (large or small)
that focuses on the Consumer as a customer is _diametrically incompatible_
with the behaviors and culture of an organization that focuses on Business as
a customer. (I feel super strongly that this is a key reason Microsoft's
products are often good, but not excellent; the consumer ones and the business
ones).

EDIT: I decided to write a full blog post as a response:
[http://ceklog.kindel.com/2013/02/19/why-nobody-can-copy-
appl...](http://ceklog.kindel.com/2013/02/19/why-nobody-can-copy-apple/)

~~~
tristan_juricek
It seems like this "diametric incompatability" could be a good subject for
case study blog articles.

Off the top of my head is the shifting of "sponsored links" to take over the
initial position in some Google search results. It seems like you'd have a lot
more examples of "where these companies get derailed". I know I'd find value
in that. :)

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officemonkey
If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.

Consider the TV question: there are boxes that are technically capable of
providing the "anything you want to watch, anytime, anywhere." You can buy a
Roku or a Raspberry Pi running XBMC right now for less than $100. The remote
control interfaces are tolerably intuitive.

The problem is content. The winner in this space will provide "everything,
anytime, anywhere." You're not going to get all the major US networks, world
networks (BBC), cable juggernauts (ESPN, HBO), to agree to the "anytime
anywhere" model.

Therefore it's a social (ie: legal) problem rather than a technical problem.
As long as the legal system remains a quagmire of international content deals,
you're not going to get first-run Japanese anime, Eastenders, Game of Thrones,
and Michigan State football games on your TV on a single Roku-like box unless
you're a pirate, a VPN whiz, or both.

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craftman
Toyota has a known, controlled and improved process with has been copied (with
various success) accross the whole industry. It was possible because Toyota
process are conscious, observed and controlled.

Apple process are not conscious. They probably have a lot of talented and
devoted persons each doing their best and at the end, it works (at least more
often than competitors). However, this is mostly inconscious and hardly
repeatable.

That's why there is this Jobs tale: everybody think that if a company has a
Jobs clone, he would probably replicate the same spirit, attract same talents
and produce same results. This kind of recipe can not be repeated with enough
confidence to become an industry standard (such as lean, for instance).

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hanleybrand
Are we sure that Microsoft/Google/Samsung/Etc project managers aren't telling
themselves that they're "doing it like Apple does it?"

I also believe that apple has/had a design critique culture that most people
in technology and business wouldn't be able to recognize for what it is/was --
including most apple employees. Although there is supposedly an uptick in MFAs
getting jobs in tech, so maybe some folks do see it.

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j2kun
Because Apple products really aren't that much better than everything else? I
have a top-of-the-line iMac and I have just as many problems with it as I do
with my windows machine. Little stupid problems that shouldn't happen, too,
like not recognizing headphones (hardware) and not playing well with standard
third-party software.

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r00fus
Got examples? This was the case back in 2005 when I had an iMac (flaky support
+ lots of "repair disk" issues), but recently I was surprised that my 2008 MB
Unibody (+aftermarket SSD) had better support for things like my BT headsets
than my 2011 Thinkpad and in general just does it's job quietly.

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tonetheman
Apple likes to sue. The end.

~~~
kaolinite
Everyone likes to sue.

~~~
tonetheman
Apple really likes to sue? :)

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bengunnink
If you believe Apple, people copy them all the time.

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Uchikoma
Because it's hard work.

