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NeXT was a big part of what Jobs oversaw/built while gone from Apple and that became the system to build the iPhone/iOS. What is seen as a 'failure' by MBAs be

NeXT was a big part of what Jobs oversaw/built while gone from Apple and that became the system to build the iPhone/iOS. What is seen as a 'failure' by MBAs became the base of Apple's biggest product and a world revolution in mobile and smart phones. To this day the Objective-C libraries still have "NS" prefix for NeXT Computer and NeXTSTEP OS [1][2]. All the other products you mentioned also had decent influence and were research and development to what we built and use today. Just because the first iteration doesn't make money in droves doesn't mean it was a failure and there isn't gold in them there hills. Business guys fail to recognize that on the regular. Research and development with a holistic focus on product engineering and design is where value is created. The point is all aspects of business are needed, product, engineering, creative, design, business, marketing, management, financial etc. When one group takes over unilaterally and the others lose position at the decision forums, it goes south. It is especially bad when people from one area start dictating what the others should do. When the business guys come up with the product and design, well, it would be like the engineers or designers coming up with the marketing or funding plan. Product engineers and designers are more holistic in their approach that take into account all stakeholders and especially the customer [3]. People should be T-shaped employees but no matter what, if product/engineering/creative is removed from decision making and has less power in a company, that company is a dead man walking in short order when the built up research and development product engine momentum wears off, it is almost a law of markets at this point. Just because business/management/financial controls the money does not mean they create the value. The value is created by product engineering and design, the value extraction is maximized at the right time by the business. The problem is the MBAs largely have your attitude writing off all historical iterations and steps to get to well research and developed value, which highlights the core lack of understanding between these disciplines. Product development and design is like an engine, it takes time to rev up and get up to speed, MBAs get in the vehicle and press the gas and if it immediately isn't top speed and the fastest most successful vehicle every made, they throw up their hands. The best leaders and product companies understand iterative development and the value of product research and development as well as the market and budget. They value the disciplines at the company and don't dictate to them but guide them. They understand the brand/product/culture and most important, the customer. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXT_Computer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXT_Computer [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXTSTEP https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXTSTEP [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21732027 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21732027

scarface74 7y ago
The Next operating system was the basis of everything that Apple does now. They were creating and trying to sell hardware. But don’t pretend that Jobs had some great vision that he would create an OS that would eventually power mobile. It’s nothing more than survivorship bias If Be had been willing to sell to Apple for less than they asked, Next would have been footnote. The Apple /// wasn’t the “first iteration”, it was Jobs first idealized computer with no fans - something no customer asked for - it was a failure. It’s not the MBA types. It’s simple business that a product needs to make a profit. Even Jobs saw that when he returned to Apple when he got rid of the Advanced Technology Grouo Right now, you can see what happens when a company is customer focused vs engineering focused. How many failures have come out of Microsoft and Google’s “research” departments? While even the modern Apple isn’t perfect, you can tell that research, marketing, and operations are in alignment to create products that have a story to tell. When Apple doesn’t have a story to tell. It’s very obvious - the first generation Apple Watch.

scarface74 7y ago

The Next operating system was the basis of everything that Apple does now. They were creating and trying to sell hardware. But don’t pretend that Jobs had some great vision that he would create an OS that would eventually power mobile. It’s nothing more than survivorship bias If Be had been willing to sell to Apple for less than they asked, Next would have been footnote. The Apple /// wasn’t the “first iteration”, it was Jobs first idealized computer with no fans - something no customer asked for - it was a failure. It’s not the MBA types. It’s simple business that a product needs to make a profit. Even Jobs saw that when he returned to Apple when he got rid of the Advanced Technology Grouo Right now, you can see what happens when a company is customer focused vs engineering focused. How many failures have come out of Microsoft and Google’s “research” departments? While even the modern Apple isn’t perfect, you can tell that research, marketing, and operations are in alignment to create products that have a story to tell. When Apple doesn’t have a story to tell. It’s very obvious - the first generation Apple Watch.