4 ms·

On the contrary - they've usually raced headfirst into abandoning old technologies for the hot new thing (early to have only CD and no floppy, early to get rid

by azernik 10y ago

On the contrary - they've usually raced headfirst into abandoning old technologies for the hot new thing (early to have only CD and no floppy, early to get rid of CD drive altogether, early to go to USB-C, early to go to 802.11ac, etc.) They've used their weight to create a one-company network effect for up-and-coming standards and technology.

ctdonath 10y ago
Early? All of those changes were made after long using old technologies. I wouldn't consider it "raced headfirst into abandoning", more like "everyone wanted to abandon those old technologies but couldn't survive being the first to, so Apple made the move and everyone soon followed".
- kbenson 10y ago
  I don't think you really contradicted anything the GP said, and in some cases you supported it. Apple raced headfirst into abandoning old technologies, which everyone wanted to do but couldn't easily, and was able to pull it off because of their market position and status. Others soon followed. So,"early" not as in before expected, but during the beginning of that time (i.e. more akin to "first").
DigitalJack 10y ago
Using their weight, huh. Apple hit 10% market share with the Mac for the first time in 2012. I think it's something like 15% now.
- jdmichal 10y ago
  Their "weight" extends beyond their market share. As an easy example: There are many people that don't own an iPhone 7, but who also know that the iPhone 7 tossed the headphone jack.
- AnAfrican 10y ago
  well yes. If the share was calculated by individual PC models and not by company, even in the PC business, there would be a bunch of Apple stuff ranking quite high. So they can scale on many aspects much better than their competition. (plus they still have margins)
- nailer 10y ago
  Do you think laptops are the dominant computing device?
  - DigitalJack 10y ago
    No. The context of the post is the one I replied to, which is often the case in a forum with threads, if that helps you out.
    - nailer 10y ago
      Glad you're aware of context, but apple jumping into new tech is responsible for their massive dominance of consumer computer computing which, you'll be pleased to be informed about, is mainly done on phones and tablets.
      - DigitalJack 10y ago
        Wow, you got me there. Apple ditched the floppy because they knew they could leverage the iphone 5 years later. And because they have a phone, they could totally ditch the cdrom, because, like, who wants to use a CD on their phone, right? And the ethernet jack! Man, I felt stupid having to plug my phone into the wall for the internets. But that headphone jack. Their phone totally blazed that trail, getting rid of that. Wait, what? The Macbook dropped it in 2015? Surely though, most people that have an iphone use a mac right? That's the leverage point! Well no, only about 10% of iphone users had a mac in 2015. Even if it was 1-1, what difference would it make? There's no leverage to be had. iphones work with windows last I checked, and the growing trend is not bothering to "sync" your phone with a computer at all.
        nailer 10y ago
        Have you read https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html yet?
- hota_mazi 10y ago
  7% worldwide in 2016 [1]. [1] https://9to5mac.com/2016/04/11/apple-mac-market-numbers-idc/ https://9to5mac.com/2016/04/11/apple-mac-market-numbers-idc/
- snowwrestler 10y ago
  The last time I looked, the market share leader for desktop/laptop computers held just over 20%. Apple is a top-5 computer supplier in the U.S., top-10 worldwide.

by azernik 10y ago

ctdonath 10y ago

Early? All of those changes were made after long using old technologies. I wouldn't consider it "raced headfirst into abandoning", more like "everyone wanted to abandon those old technologies but couldn't survive being the first to, so Apple made the move and everyone soon followed".

kbenson 10y ago
I don't think you really contradicted anything the GP said, and in some cases you supported it. Apple raced headfirst into abandoning old technologies, which everyone wanted to do but couldn't easily, and was able to pull it off because of their market position and status. Others soon followed. So,"early" not as in before expected, but during the beginning of that time (i.e. more akin to "first").

DigitalJack 10y ago

Using their weight, huh. Apple hit 10% market share with the Mac for the first time in 2012. I think it's something like 15% now.

jdmichal 10y ago
Their "weight" extends beyond their market share. As an easy example: There are many people that don't own an iPhone 7, but who also know that the iPhone 7 tossed the headphone jack.
AnAfrican 10y ago
well yes. If the share was calculated by individual PC models and not by company, even in the PC business, there would be a bunch of Apple stuff ranking quite high. So they can scale on many aspects much better than their competition. (plus they still have margins)
nailer 10y ago
Do you think laptops are the dominant computing device?
- DigitalJack 10y ago
  No. The context of the post is the one I replied to, which is often the case in a forum with threads, if that helps you out.
  - nailer 10y ago
    Glad you're aware of context, but apple jumping into new tech is responsible for their massive dominance of consumer computer computing which, you'll be pleased to be informed about, is mainly done on phones and tablets.
    - DigitalJack 10y ago
      Wow, you got me there. Apple ditched the floppy because they knew they could leverage the iphone 5 years later. And because they have a phone, they could totally ditch the cdrom, because, like, who wants to use a CD on their phone, right? And the ethernet jack! Man, I felt stupid having to plug my phone into the wall for the internets. But that headphone jack. Their phone totally blazed that trail, getting rid of that. Wait, what? The Macbook dropped it in 2015? Surely though, most people that have an iphone use a mac right? That's the leverage point! Well no, only about 10% of iphone users had a mac in 2015. Even if it was 1-1, what difference would it make? There's no leverage to be had. iphones work with windows last I checked, and the growing trend is not bothering to "sync" your phone with a computer at all.
      - nailer 10y ago
        Have you read https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html yet?
hota_mazi 10y ago
7% worldwide in 2016 [1]. [1] https://9to5mac.com/2016/04/11/apple-mac-market-numbers-idc/ https://9to5mac.com/2016/04/11/apple-mac-market-numbers-idc/
snowwrestler 10y ago
The last time I looked, the market share leader for desktop/laptop computers held just over 20%. Apple is a top-5 computer supplier in the U.S., top-10 worldwide.