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Agreed, and that’s the issue I have with the cash pile. They should be trying and failing quickly at a number of things, big things, including the small items y

Agreed, and that’s the issue I have with the cash pile. They should be trying and failing quickly at a number of things, big things, including the small items you raised. Take a guy like Elon, give him a 500bn in cash and see what happens. The world would change in a big way. Capital should be either sunk hugely into the R&D to change the world or should be returned to shareholders to better allocate it. That said, These guys aren’t playing the game 1 qtr at a time. Not even a year at a time. They play the 100+ year game and likely they don’t see this money as “big”.

mmm_grayons 6y ago
I'd love to see Apple do some serious work on the battery side. If anyone's equipped to do it, it is (though I'm less certain of this after the "sapphire" debacle). You wouldn't believe how hard it is to actually get new battery tech to market: I've probably seen a dozen start-ups pitch technologies that could substantially improve capacity, longevity, safety, size, weight, manufacturing cost, or a combination of the above. None have yet succeeded at scale.
baddox 6y ago
> They should be trying and failing quickly at a number of things, big things, including the small items you raised. That seems very antithetical to Apple's fundamental approach to product design. Sure, they have some first-generation stinkers, but I think it's fair to say Apple tends to err on the side of waiting until they can release something to their standards.
- jacobr1 6y ago
  Apple does seem to have a massive "hidden" set of R&D projects. I bet all the items the GP mentioned are in some phase of development. Famously the iPad was actually in development before the iphone! I suspect their culture of secrecy prevents internal accountability unless the particular project has internal visibility with execs.
briandear 6y ago
Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.

mmm_grayons 6y ago

I'd love to see Apple do some serious work on the battery side. If anyone's equipped to do it, it is (though I'm less certain of this after the "sapphire" debacle). You wouldn't believe how hard it is to actually get new battery tech to market: I've probably seen a dozen start-ups pitch technologies that could substantially improve capacity, longevity, safety, size, weight, manufacturing cost, or a combination of the above. None have yet succeeded at scale.

baddox 6y ago

> They should be trying and failing quickly at a number of things, big things, including the small items you raised. That seems very antithetical to Apple's fundamental approach to product design. Sure, they have some first-generation stinkers, but I think it's fair to say Apple tends to err on the side of waiting until they can release something to their standards.

jacobr1 6y ago
Apple does seem to have a massive "hidden" set of R&D projects. I bet all the items the GP mentioned are in some phase of development. Famously the iPad was actually in development before the iphone! I suspect their culture of secrecy prevents internal accountability unless the particular project has internal visibility with execs.

briandear 6y ago

Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.