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I find the product development strategies of the major technology companies quite interesting. I'm talking about Eric Schmidt's "Gang of Four". [1] On the one
by stevenj 15y ago
I find the product development strategies of the major technology companies quite interesting. I'm talking about Eric Schmidt's "Gang of Four". [1]
On the one hand you have Apple. Apple innovates as good as, and perhaps better than the other three. But it doesn't have very many products. And while I have no knowledge of this, I'd bet it doesn't start-and-stop products as frequently as the others. And it probably doesn't have as many "active" products going on at any one time. (Maybe it does behind the scenes, but I would be surprised if it did.)
It may take some iteration and prototyping to see that you could actually turn an iPhone into a tablet.
But I'm pretty sure Jobs "saw" the tablet long ago. In his mind, it was just a matter of when.
In the case of Apple, I see experimentation occurring as a result of the vision laid out by Jobs and other senior executives.
When it comes to the others, Amazon, Facebook, and Google all seem to implement the "fail fast" strategy. In this case, experimentation leads to vision. Instead of vision leading to experimentation.
What's interesting is that Apple used to be more like the others. It had many products and segments. And very little vision. But that strategy brought it close to death. [2]
Discovery is important to all of them. But the journey seems to be different.
[1] http://allthingsd.com/20110531/eric-schmidts-gang-of-four-doesnt-have-room-for-microsoft/ http://allthingsd.com/20110531/eric-schmidts-gang-of-four-do...
[2] I could see why Apple sets vision first because designing and developing physical products is different than organizing information and logistics.
- tortilla 15y agoI think Jobs stated that they started first with a tablet then put it on hold to launch the iPhone. http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2010/06/02/d8-jobs-says-apple-actually-developed-ipad-before-the-iphone/ http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2010/06/02/d8-jobs-...
- barkingcat 15y agoI disagree with your points about Apple - just because the vision is the only thing we (as the general public) sees. You cannot discount how many dead end products that are prototyped within Apple - and with their resources, they are able to build pretty much anything. From raw silicon to SOC to hardware prototypes of all kinds. Amazon probably requires the assistance of external parties to prototype the production of something like the kindle, but I believe Apple has the resources to assemble the iPad (at a low volume) in-house completely (ie from the silicon to the boards, to the plastic mouldings and final assembly and packaging. I do believe that Apple also follows an internal "fail fast" strategy - it's just that we don't see the iterations. I don't think Jobs is a Moses type see-all super visionary character - he just knows what's good - has "good taste". His lieutenants come up with product ideas to fit his vision, and he bashes the hell out of the bad ones. Kinda like what Google does, or Amazon does, or Bill Gates does (when he was around). In that light, I don't think you can separate Apple from the rest of the "Gang of Four" - in fact, I think these ideas of "fail fast" and extreme agility, flexibility, and scale unite all 4 companies. Just my opinion.