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Why is Apple diluting their brand? What happened to the simple product line? iPhone X this and iPhone X that is simply bad marketing. Are there product driven p

by woranl 8y ago

Why is Apple diluting their brand? What happened to the simple product line? iPhone X this and iPhone X that is simply bad marketing. Are there product driven people in Apple anymore?

beaconstudios 8y ago
I wonder if the same thing is happening to Apple as happened to Disney - the visionary founder died, and the company slowly lost its way and became a vehicle for corporate profiteering while resting on the laurels of the visionary's pre-existing ideas.
- King-Aaron 8y ago
  Relevant video, why xerox failed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1rXqD6M614 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1rXqD6M614
  - beaconstudios 8y ago
    funny how at the end he says "but that's ancient history, it doesn't really matter any more". Something about history repeating...
- ronilan 8y ago
  I don't know about Apple, but you are wrong about Disney. They may have been meandering for a while but over the last decade (and change), current leadership has made three multi-billion dollar visionary acquisitions that turned the company around and brought it back to its roots as a story teller and creator/curator of American pop culture. Financial results followed the vision not the other way around (https://www.boxofficemojo.com/studio/ https://www.boxofficemojo.com/studio/).
  - hn_throwaway_99 8y ago
    Walt Disney died in 1966. I'm assuming the parent poster meant the tougher times Disney faced between then and the start of the Disney Renaissance in the late 80s.
    - ronilan 8y ago
      Parent said: “company slowly lost its way”. They didn’t. They’ve been down, they’ve been up (so did Apple btw), down and up again, but as of 2019 Disney is as strong as ever (though we are in the “endgame” of this cycle). The narrative of vision lost with founder’s death, just doesn’t work for Disney’s history.
      - wetpaws 8y ago
        Recently I gave up and decided not to watch anything coming from a Disney - no pixar, no starwars movies, nothing. There's simply no point to bother, Disney brand is virtually a guarantee mark of a soulless, meaningless, corporate product with only point of generating cash. Yes, Disney is still strong, but I believe I'm not the only person that got tired of it.
  - beaconstudios 8y ago
    look at where Disney was going with his futurism and technological/sociological ideas as well though. And they may have done well recently (though I don't really think buying innovation from other companies counts as the company finding direction) but for the longest time they were known for being rent-seekers and just milking the old cartoons and fairytales for everything they could get.
hn_throwaway_99 8y ago
I posted this in another thread, but one thing I think that is hurting the iPhone upgrade cycle is that there are now so many iPhone versions no one can remember which "generation" they all are. Since 2016 we've got iPhone SE, 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus, X, XS, XS Max, and XR. With so many versions, I think there is less social pressure (internalized or real) to upgrade because it's not like people even really know how old your phone is by looking at it. Compare this with everything before, where Apple came out with at most 2 versions a year (a cheaper one and a more expensive one, e.g. the 5c/5s or the 6/6 Plus). In its attempts to grab at lots of different price points Apple is losing what differentiated it and made it special in the first place.
- diminish 8y ago
  XS reminds of an extra small version..
  - 2muchcoffeeman 8y ago
    So many people wish it was extra small!
skookumchuck 8y ago
Worse, my iphone says it is an MG5W2LL/A whatever the hell that is.
- saagarjha 8y ago
  It’s an iPhone 6. You’ll notice that Apple will market it that way, instead of by its model number.
  - colejohnson66 8y ago
    Specifically, a 16 GB Space Gray model https://www.theiphonewiki.com/wiki/Models https://www.theiphonewiki.com/wiki/Models
  - skookumchuck 8y ago
    Thanks! I find it peculiar that one has to go to the internet to translate the self-identification of the phone to what model Apple says it is.
cweiss 8y ago
So much this - It's hard to get invested in a product when it's a nebulous cloud rather than a bright point. This is so much like the Performa SKU sprawl that almost killed Apple in the days of old. The problem now is there's no Prodigal Son to swoop back in and kick things into shape.

by woranl 8y ago

Why is Apple diluting their brand? What happened to the simple product line? iPhone X this and iPhone X that is simply bad marketing. Are there product driven people in Apple anymore?

beaconstudios 8y ago

I wonder if the same thing is happening to Apple as happened to Disney - the visionary founder died, and the company slowly lost its way and became a vehicle for corporate profiteering while resting on the laurels of the visionary's pre-existing ideas.

King-Aaron 8y ago
Relevant video, why xerox failed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1rXqD6M614 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1rXqD6M614
- beaconstudios 8y ago
  funny how at the end he says "but that's ancient history, it doesn't really matter any more". Something about history repeating...
ronilan 8y ago
I don't know about Apple, but you are wrong about Disney. They may have been meandering for a while but over the last decade (and change), current leadership has made three multi-billion dollar visionary acquisitions that turned the company around and brought it back to its roots as a story teller and creator/curator of American pop culture. Financial results followed the vision not the other way around (https://www.boxofficemojo.com/studio/ https://www.boxofficemojo.com/studio/).
- hn_throwaway_99 8y ago
  Walt Disney died in 1966. I'm assuming the parent poster meant the tougher times Disney faced between then and the start of the Disney Renaissance in the late 80s.
  - ronilan 8y ago
    Parent said: “company slowly lost its way”. They didn’t. They’ve been down, they’ve been up (so did Apple btw), down and up again, but as of 2019 Disney is as strong as ever (though we are in the “endgame” of this cycle). The narrative of vision lost with founder’s death, just doesn’t work for Disney’s history.
    - wetpaws 8y ago
      Recently I gave up and decided not to watch anything coming from a Disney - no pixar, no starwars movies, nothing. There's simply no point to bother, Disney brand is virtually a guarantee mark of a soulless, meaningless, corporate product with only point of generating cash. Yes, Disney is still strong, but I believe I'm not the only person that got tired of it.
- beaconstudios 8y ago
  look at where Disney was going with his futurism and technological/sociological ideas as well though. And they may have done well recently (though I don't really think buying innovation from other companies counts as the company finding direction) but for the longest time they were known for being rent-seekers and just milking the old cartoons and fairytales for everything they could get.

hn_throwaway_99 8y ago

I posted this in another thread, but one thing I think that is hurting the iPhone upgrade cycle is that there are now so many iPhone versions no one can remember which "generation" they all are. Since 2016 we've got iPhone SE, 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus, X, XS, XS Max, and XR. With so many versions, I think there is less social pressure (internalized or real) to upgrade because it's not like people even really know how old your phone is by looking at it. Compare this with everything before, where Apple came out with at most 2 versions a year (a cheaper one and a more expensive one, e.g. the 5c/5s or the 6/6 Plus). In its attempts to grab at lots of different price points Apple is losing what differentiated it and made it special in the first place.

diminish 8y ago
XS reminds of an extra small version..
- 2muchcoffeeman 8y ago
  So many people wish it was extra small!

skookumchuck 8y ago

Worse, my iphone says it is an MG5W2LL/A whatever the hell that is.

saagarjha 8y ago
It’s an iPhone 6. You’ll notice that Apple will market it that way, instead of by its model number.
- colejohnson66 8y ago
  Specifically, a 16 GB Space Gray model https://www.theiphonewiki.com/wiki/Models https://www.theiphonewiki.com/wiki/Models
- skookumchuck 8y ago
  Thanks! I find it peculiar that one has to go to the internet to translate the self-identification of the phone to what model Apple says it is.

cweiss 8y ago

So much this - It's hard to get invested in a product when it's a nebulous cloud rather than a bright point. This is so much like the Performa SKU sprawl that almost killed Apple in the days of old. The problem now is there's no Prodigal Son to swoop back in and kick things into shape.