7 ms·

Is Apple Computers competing with Peleton bikes or their treadmills? Everyone is trying to be megacorp these days.

f6v 6y ago
> Everyone is trying to be megacorp these days. Been playing Rome: Total War for the past few days. It going me thinking that empire just can’t stop expanding. You conquer one province, thinking that barbarian neighbor won’t be a problem ever again. But then you realize your empire now borders some other barbarians who start harassing you. And then you need more troops to keep the new citizens from rioting. Which requires money, which means the drums of war are at it again...
- mcculley 6y ago
  There are less violent forces behind expansion. Shareholders prefer to invest in companies that are growing. Employees want to work in organizations where they can be promoted.
- JumpCrisscross 6y ago
  > empire just can’t stop expanding You’re identifying a deficiency of imperial systems. They were one of the only ways to get growth in our close to zero sum past. In a world with a growing global economy, on the other hand, warring and imperialism are self-defeating long run strategies.
  - vinceguidry 6y ago
    No, they work just as well as they always do. It's just easier to run in to a bigger, badder imperium.
    - JumpCrisscross 6y ago
      > they work just as well as they always do Objectively, no. They don't. You can't capture the intangible capital of a country through invasion. The greater the ratio of intangible capital (skills, trust, institutions, et cetera) to tangible capital, the less effective classical empires become. Resource-rich countries, on the other hand, are still subject to imperial dynamics.
      - vinceguidry 6y ago
        It happened last century, when the Communists kicked the Nationalists out of mainland China.
        JumpCrisscross 6y ago
        > when the Communists kicked the Nationalists out of mainland China That's revolution, not imperialism.
        vinceguidry 6y ago
        What's the difference? They invaded, took over, and kicked out the old leaders. It was a war. With territory and everything.
  - f6v 6y ago
    > In a world with a growing global economy That’s assuming there’s no end to the growth. But the resources here on earth are limited.
    - JumpCrisscross 6y ago
      > resources here on earth are limited One, there is more in the universe than this earth. And two, the resource intensity of GDP growth is falling. (A new iPhone is more capable than its predecessors without requiring comparatively more resources. And a web comic can create millions in value with comparatively little burn.)
- billbrown 6y ago
  For a more business-oriented perspective, Eric Weinstein's idea of Embedded Growth Obligations[1] is apt. [1] https://theportal.wiki/wiki/Embedded_Growth_Obligations https://theportal.wiki/wiki/Embedded_Growth_Obligations
atestu 6y ago
Apple stopped being "Apple Computers" 14 years ago. They're explicitly a mobile devices company, and fitness fits perfectly into that mission I think.
- Ensorceled 6y ago
  That was my point: both of these companies have expanded well beyond their initial purpose and now overlap. If you look at their origins, there is no overlap at all.
- semanticHurt 6y ago
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_fixedness https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_fixedness Has CPU, memory, storage, and is user programmable. Smells like a computer to me. The first “computers” were people. A pedant might say the entire industry moved on from “computers”.
  - madeofpalk 6y ago
    No, Apple Computers legally changed their company name to just Apple many years ago after they introduced the iPhone.
    - semanticHurt 6y ago
      A legal name change means they stopped making “computers” from an engineers perspective? Banal political filings have little bearing on what makes a computer.
      - mmmmmbop 6y ago
        No one claimed Apple stopped making computers, so you're attacking a straw man here. All that was pointed out is that there is no Apple Computer (note the capitalization) company anymore, as it was renamed to Apple Inc. in 2007.
        6y ago

f6v 6y ago

> Everyone is trying to be megacorp these days. Been playing Rome: Total War for the past few days. It going me thinking that empire just can’t stop expanding. You conquer one province, thinking that barbarian neighbor won’t be a problem ever again. But then you realize your empire now borders some other barbarians who start harassing you. And then you need more troops to keep the new citizens from rioting. Which requires money, which means the drums of war are at it again...

mcculley 6y ago
There are less violent forces behind expansion. Shareholders prefer to invest in companies that are growing. Employees want to work in organizations where they can be promoted.
JumpCrisscross 6y ago
> empire just can’t stop expanding You’re identifying a deficiency of imperial systems. They were one of the only ways to get growth in our close to zero sum past. In a world with a growing global economy, on the other hand, warring and imperialism are self-defeating long run strategies.
- vinceguidry 6y ago
  No, they work just as well as they always do. It's just easier to run in to a bigger, badder imperium.
  - JumpCrisscross 6y ago
    > they work just as well as they always do Objectively, no. They don't. You can't capture the intangible capital of a country through invasion. The greater the ratio of intangible capital (skills, trust, institutions, et cetera) to tangible capital, the less effective classical empires become. Resource-rich countries, on the other hand, are still subject to imperial dynamics.
    - vinceguidry 6y ago
      It happened last century, when the Communists kicked the Nationalists out of mainland China.
      - JumpCrisscross 6y ago
        > when the Communists kicked the Nationalists out of mainland China That's revolution, not imperialism.
        vinceguidry 6y ago
        What's the difference? They invaded, took over, and kicked out the old leaders. It was a war. With territory and everything.
- f6v 6y ago
  > In a world with a growing global economy That’s assuming there’s no end to the growth. But the resources here on earth are limited.
  - JumpCrisscross 6y ago
    > resources here on earth are limited One, there is more in the universe than this earth. And two, the resource intensity of GDP growth is falling. (A new iPhone is more capable than its predecessors without requiring comparatively more resources. And a web comic can create millions in value with comparatively little burn.)
billbrown 6y ago
For a more business-oriented perspective, Eric Weinstein's idea of Embedded Growth Obligations[1] is apt. [1] https://theportal.wiki/wiki/Embedded_Growth_Obligations https://theportal.wiki/wiki/Embedded_Growth_Obligations

atestu 6y ago

Apple stopped being "Apple Computers" 14 years ago. They're explicitly a mobile devices company, and fitness fits perfectly into that mission I think.

Ensorceled 6y ago
That was my point: both of these companies have expanded well beyond their initial purpose and now overlap. If you look at their origins, there is no overlap at all.
semanticHurt 6y ago
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_fixedness https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_fixedness Has CPU, memory, storage, and is user programmable. Smells like a computer to me. The first “computers” were people. A pedant might say the entire industry moved on from “computers”.
- madeofpalk 6y ago
  No, Apple Computers legally changed their company name to just Apple many years ago after they introduced the iPhone.
  - semanticHurt 6y ago
    A legal name change means they stopped making “computers” from an engineers perspective? Banal political filings have little bearing on what makes a computer.
    - mmmmmbop 6y ago
      No one claimed Apple stopped making computers, so you're attacking a straw man here. All that was pointed out is that there is no Apple Computer (note the capitalization) company anymore, as it was renamed to Apple Inc. in 2007.
      - 6y ago