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I agree. Unless their software engineering improves pronto they are in trouble. Hardware in this market is headed for commodification. It's still their game to

I agree. Unless their software engineering improves pronto they are in trouble. Hardware in this market is headed for commodification. It's still their game to lose but they really need to nail a lot of things in iOS 7 and so far I don't see any sign of the kind of leadership that would require.

alwaysinshade 14y ago
> so far I don't see any sign of the kind of leadership that would require. As of 29 October 2012 - Eddy Cue in charge of maps/cloud services, Craig Federighi in charge of iOS/OSX, Jony Ive in charge of human interface and hardware design. It'll be interesting to see how iOS 7 pans out, because these guys are very good at what they do.
- cageface 14y ago
  Ive is a brilliant hardware designer but software UX is a whole different ballgame and his ability there is currently a big question mark. Cue and Federighi were both on board when a number of architecturally questionable APIs were added (Storyboards, AutoLayout), so they're a bit of an unknown too. That's why there's so much riding on iOS 7. Contrast this to Google which has a strong, stable team in place that's been doing superb work for the last few Android releases and you can see why people are a little gun shy about APPL right now.
seiji 14y ago
Hardware in this market is headed for commodification. Is it though? Apple, kinda like Intel or Nvidia (ATI? Are they still relevant?), is advancing the limits of what humans can produce for mass consumption. Every new chip fab process from Intel/Nvidia/ATI/TSMC advances not just the front-line ability of one company, but of humanity's capabilities as a whole. Apple is the one spending un-stevely amounts on custom manufacturing processes while everybody else is still using plastic shells on phones/tablets/phablets cranked out by the hundreds of millions. You can make all the Geo Metros you want, but some [1] people still want a Model X [2]. [1]: a heckuvalot of [2]: imagine if the Model X was only $5,000 more than a Mazda 3 5-door. For $little more, you get the best designed thing in the world. Not everybody will pick that, but countless (well, about 50 million per holiday quarter) will.
- cageface 14y ago
  Luxury brands don't drive the mainstream in any mature hardware market I can think of. Volume == power and we're already at the point where making phones more powerful adds essentially no user value. The components that cost $500 to ship today are good enough already and the price is only going to go down. There's no way Apple can preserve it's unprecedented profit margins and that's why the stock is down. I didn't downvote you, by the way.

alwaysinshade 14y ago

> so far I don't see any sign of the kind of leadership that would require. As of 29 October 2012 - Eddy Cue in charge of maps/cloud services, Craig Federighi in charge of iOS/OSX, Jony Ive in charge of human interface and hardware design. It'll be interesting to see how iOS 7 pans out, because these guys are very good at what they do.

cageface 14y ago
Ive is a brilliant hardware designer but software UX is a whole different ballgame and his ability there is currently a big question mark. Cue and Federighi were both on board when a number of architecturally questionable APIs were added (Storyboards, AutoLayout), so they're a bit of an unknown too. That's why there's so much riding on iOS 7. Contrast this to Google which has a strong, stable team in place that's been doing superb work for the last few Android releases and you can see why people are a little gun shy about APPL right now.

seiji 14y ago

Hardware in this market is headed for commodification. Is it though? Apple, kinda like Intel or Nvidia (ATI? Are they still relevant?), is advancing the limits of what humans can produce for mass consumption. Every new chip fab process from Intel/Nvidia/ATI/TSMC advances not just the front-line ability of one company, but of humanity's capabilities as a whole. Apple is the one spending un-stevely amounts on custom manufacturing processes while everybody else is still using plastic shells on phones/tablets/phablets cranked out by the hundreds of millions. You can make all the Geo Metros you want, but some [1] people still want a Model X [2]. [1]: a heckuvalot of [2]: imagine if the Model X was only $5,000 more than a Mazda 3 5-door. For $little more, you get the best designed thing in the world. Not everybody will pick that, but countless (well, about 50 million per holiday quarter) will.

cageface 14y ago
Luxury brands don't drive the mainstream in any mature hardware market I can think of. Volume == power and we're already at the point where making phones more powerful adds essentially no user value. The components that cost $500 to ship today are good enough already and the price is only going to go down. There's no way Apple can preserve it's unprecedented profit margins and that's why the stock is down. I didn't downvote you, by the way.