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I meant human resources - there's not a ton of Engineering/Product Management talent sitting around even if Apple has a ton of money to pay for it. If they did

I meant human resources - there's not a ton of Engineering/Product Management talent sitting around even if Apple has a ton of money to pay for it. If they did have unlimited resources you would have seen more attention to Mac product lineup and they wouldn't have gotten rid of the Airport unit after not updating it for a while.

chx 10y ago
I find it very, very hard to believe that a company with two hundred billion dollars in cash would have a problem hiring any amount of people at any level. Everyone has a price. In other words, if you need to hire super engineers at a staggering million bucks a year, well, didn't Apple make 45B last year? That's enough for 45 000 such super people while I bet a few dozens would make big changes.
- techdragon 10y ago
  This works "normally"... however apple is not normal. There is a borderline ridiculous level of control being exercised by the design team. Jobs was Ive's boss, he set boundaries and goals. Cook is empowering Ive to set design direction and as gifted as he is... apple is not an "art" company, it makes products for use. As much as Ive waxes on about Dieter Rams he can't hope to avoid screwing it up eventually because he lacks balance... unless Cook or Apple shorten his leash, Ive will be the cause of Apple's slow decline into its death, built on a road strewn with arguably beautiful objects.
  - matwood 10y ago
    That's fine. It is not a problem of limited resources then, and instead a problem of Apple management. There was an article last week about how the management style of Apple is breaking down at scale.
    - thomasjudge 10y ago
      source?
      - lobster_johnson 10y ago
        I suspect parent meant this: http://www.vox.com/new-money/2016/11/27/13706776/apple-functional-divisional http://www.vox.com/new-money/2016/11/27/13706776/apple-funct...
  - greedo 10y ago
    As much as I'd like to blame Ive for the delays, it's not that simple. If his sign off is required for every new iteration of Apple hardware, that's one thing. But updating existing products doesn't require a redesign each update. Replacing a GPU, or a CPU doesn't require Yoda like insight into perfection. If Apple isn't updating the Mac line frequently enough, it's because they're choosing not to.
appleiigs 10y ago
Regardless of cash, does Apple have the reputation to hire and attract the best? I am assuming so. With the recent missteps, maybe you're right. It seems like they currently don't have enough talent to steer such a huge ship.
- dasil003 10y ago
  Is lack of talent the only reason to discontinue a product? My money is on the more general concept of focus, and specifically focusing on the future. This is not a new thing, Apple has always operated this way, so it's totally in character now as it was during the Jobs era. I definitely believe Apple has a plan far beyond what we are privvy to, and that that plan is focused on the long-term. But that said I'm skeptical of Apple's to deliver on the next big thing. Amazon and Google are the ones on the cutting edge of cloud services which I believe are shaping the next sea change, and Apple is playing catchup. I'm definitely biased, but I feel like nerfing the Mac and shrinking it's accessory line could lead to a reverse halo effect where all the influencers leave, and before Apple knows what happened their App Store ecosystem dries up and all the cool stuff is now happening somewhere else.

chx 10y ago

I find it very, very hard to believe that a company with two hundred billion dollars in cash would have a problem hiring any amount of people at any level. Everyone has a price. In other words, if you need to hire super engineers at a staggering million bucks a year, well, didn't Apple make 45B last year? That's enough for 45 000 such super people while I bet a few dozens would make big changes.

techdragon 10y ago
This works "normally"... however apple is not normal. There is a borderline ridiculous level of control being exercised by the design team. Jobs was Ive's boss, he set boundaries and goals. Cook is empowering Ive to set design direction and as gifted as he is... apple is not an "art" company, it makes products for use. As much as Ive waxes on about Dieter Rams he can't hope to avoid screwing it up eventually because he lacks balance... unless Cook or Apple shorten his leash, Ive will be the cause of Apple's slow decline into its death, built on a road strewn with arguably beautiful objects.
- matwood 10y ago
  That's fine. It is not a problem of limited resources then, and instead a problem of Apple management. There was an article last week about how the management style of Apple is breaking down at scale.
  - thomasjudge 10y ago
    source?
    - lobster_johnson 10y ago
      I suspect parent meant this: http://www.vox.com/new-money/2016/11/27/13706776/apple-functional-divisional http://www.vox.com/new-money/2016/11/27/13706776/apple-funct...
- greedo 10y ago
  As much as I'd like to blame Ive for the delays, it's not that simple. If his sign off is required for every new iteration of Apple hardware, that's one thing. But updating existing products doesn't require a redesign each update. Replacing a GPU, or a CPU doesn't require Yoda like insight into perfection. If Apple isn't updating the Mac line frequently enough, it's because they're choosing not to.

appleiigs 10y ago

Regardless of cash, does Apple have the reputation to hire and attract the best? I am assuming so. With the recent missteps, maybe you're right. It seems like they currently don't have enough talent to steer such a huge ship.

dasil003 10y ago
Is lack of talent the only reason to discontinue a product? My money is on the more general concept of focus, and specifically focusing on the future. This is not a new thing, Apple has always operated this way, so it's totally in character now as it was during the Jobs era. I definitely believe Apple has a plan far beyond what we are privvy to, and that that plan is focused on the long-term. But that said I'm skeptical of Apple's to deliver on the next big thing. Amazon and Google are the ones on the cutting edge of cloud services which I believe are shaping the next sea change, and Apple is playing catchup. I'm definitely biased, but I feel like nerfing the Mac and shrinking it's accessory line could lead to a reverse halo effect where all the influencers leave, and before Apple knows what happened their App Store ecosystem dries up and all the cool stuff is now happening somewhere else.