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He will be. He _will_ be. Obligatory SW:ESB reference aside, I think that the danger Bill may not be cognizant of is just how advantageous vertical integratio

by kposehn 11y ago

He will be. He _will_ be. Obligatory SW:ESB reference aside, I think that the danger Bill may not be cognizant of is just how advantageous vertical integration is for companies like Apple. Other companies disregard it at their peril. The thing is, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool car guy. I love cars, and probably will never own an electric car. I prefer my snarling twin-turbo V8 german bruisers that have an extremely high rubber-to-tarmac transmission rate. But: I know which way the wind is blowing.

Animats 11y ago
"Bill may not be cognizant of is just how advantageous vertical integration is for companies like Apple." The CEO of Ford not being aware of the advantages of vertical integration? That's a joke. Until 1989, Ford made its own steel. They still operate foundries and rolling mills. The Ford River Rouge plant was once the most vertically integrated auto plant in the world - iron ore came in at one end and cars came out the other. Apple doesn't make iPhones. Foxconn makes iPhones.
- kposehn 11y ago
  That's the thing - until 1989. The current leadership may not be, but that doesn't mean they weren't in the past.
gamblor956 11y ago
Once got to hear the tax director of Cisco give a talk about Silicon Valley "innovation." He was from Pittsburgh, and used to work for Detroit (not sure which company). In a nutshell, his talk came down to this: Every business innovation that Silicon Valley thinks it created, Detroit thought of first, decades ago, and implemented, decades ago, and moved on, decades ago. Vertical integration used to be a big thing in the automobile world; at one point everything was done in house. Once they began standardizing assemblies and other parts, they began farming out parts to external suppliers because there was no reason for them to control every aspect of the manufacturing process; it was cheaper to let one or more external suppliers handle that. Everything old is new again.

by kposehn 11y ago

Animats 11y ago

"Bill may not be cognizant of is just how advantageous vertical integration is for companies like Apple." The CEO of Ford not being aware of the advantages of vertical integration? That's a joke. Until 1989, Ford made its own steel. They still operate foundries and rolling mills. The Ford River Rouge plant was once the most vertically integrated auto plant in the world - iron ore came in at one end and cars came out the other. Apple doesn't make iPhones. Foxconn makes iPhones.

kposehn 11y ago
That's the thing - until 1989. The current leadership may not be, but that doesn't mean they weren't in the past.

gamblor956 11y ago

Once got to hear the tax director of Cisco give a talk about Silicon Valley "innovation." He was from Pittsburgh, and used to work for Detroit (not sure which company). In a nutshell, his talk came down to this: Every business innovation that Silicon Valley thinks it created, Detroit thought of first, decades ago, and implemented, decades ago, and moved on, decades ago. Vertical integration used to be a big thing in the automobile world; at one point everything was done in house. Once they began standardizing assemblies and other parts, they began farming out parts to external suppliers because there was no reason for them to control every aspect of the manufacturing process; it was cheaper to let one or more external suppliers handle that. Everything old is new again.