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I know everyone likes to think Steve Jobs came up with the idea of focusing on a few very good products, but it's actually an old idea. "Indeed, the basic prob

by pgroves 15y ago

I know everyone likes to think Steve Jobs came up with the idea of focusing on a few very good products, but it's actually an old idea. "Indeed, the basic problem of U.S. competitive strength in the world economy today may well be product clutter." - Peter Drucker, Managing for Business Effectiveness, 1963 Sorry I don't have a link to the original article, I had to look it up in a book

revscat 15y ago
"I know everyone likes to think Steve Jobs came up with the idea of focusing on a few very good products, but it's actually an old idea." No one thinks that. I, at least, have never read anyone who has made such claim. Where did you get the impression that that is a widely-held belief?
- pgroves 15y ago
  I got that impression from the article. I also get that impression from all the companies that still do the opposite, today, as is discussed in the article. Perhaps I should have qualified that statement with "in terms of large american companies", which is what Drucker was talking about.... Companies whose product catalog became bloated over the years in an effort to serve every need of every customer and ended up doing nothing terribly well.
  - philwelch 15y ago
    Japanese companies like Sony or Toshiba have the same problem. Adding insult to injury, Sony's website is completely unusable--it has Flash, and when I click on the flashblock to allow it, nothing seems to happen. Maybe it's just computer companies? Toyota's website seemed easy enough to use, but then again it was nearly as easy to choose and configure a Ford.
  - rsynnott 15y ago
    I don't think many would claim that Jobs came up with the idea. He is undeniably one of the few people who has been able to apply it successfully to the computer and consumer electronics industry in recent years, though.
glenra 15y ago
Near as I can tell, the online Apple Store was largely inspired by/based on the work of the most successful mac clone makers. Power Computing sold just a few kinds of mac, clearly differentiated in "good/better/best" configurations - both their print ads and their online store were easy to use in exactly the way the Apple Store is now. Apple complained that Power Computing was marketing to existing mac owners, but the real problem was that Power Computing was marketing well to existing mac owners at a time when Apple was marketing badly to them.

by pgroves 15y ago

revscat 15y ago

"I know everyone likes to think Steve Jobs came up with the idea of focusing on a few very good products, but it's actually an old idea." No one thinks that. I, at least, have never read anyone who has made such claim. Where did you get the impression that that is a widely-held belief?

pgroves 15y ago
I got that impression from the article. I also get that impression from all the companies that still do the opposite, today, as is discussed in the article. Perhaps I should have qualified that statement with "in terms of large american companies", which is what Drucker was talking about.... Companies whose product catalog became bloated over the years in an effort to serve every need of every customer and ended up doing nothing terribly well.
- philwelch 15y ago
  Japanese companies like Sony or Toshiba have the same problem. Adding insult to injury, Sony's website is completely unusable--it has Flash, and when I click on the flashblock to allow it, nothing seems to happen. Maybe it's just computer companies? Toyota's website seemed easy enough to use, but then again it was nearly as easy to choose and configure a Ford.
- rsynnott 15y ago
  I don't think many would claim that Jobs came up with the idea. He is undeniably one of the few people who has been able to apply it successfully to the computer and consumer electronics industry in recent years, though.

glenra 15y ago

Near as I can tell, the online Apple Store was largely inspired by/based on the work of the most successful mac clone makers. Power Computing sold just a few kinds of mac, clearly differentiated in "good/better/best" configurations - both their print ads and their online store were easy to use in exactly the way the Apple Store is now. Apple complained that Power Computing was marketing to existing mac owners, but the real problem was that Power Computing was marketing well to existing mac owners at a time when Apple was marketing badly to them.