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The article ('Steve-Jobs-UW041993.pdf') on Next's move to software-only is really interesting.

by wgx 13y ago

kunai 13y ago
It is. Personally, I think the analysts were wrong and Next should have continued with the Cube and the Station. They just should have cut down on profit margins slightly to accumulate more sales, and then return the margins to normal after the device became popular. The iMac is so popular now, and it's a closed system as well. Granted, the world is quite different now than it was in 1995, but they could have pulled it off. I'm using GNUstep on my Linux box, and the software behind Next was 20, perhaps 30 years ahead of its time. If you compare it to OS X, you'll see that barely anything has changed besides a few graphical updates and a few nifty utilities such as Notification Center and Spotlight. It was a great system. But keeping the hardware and software integrated might have allowed the company to keep its true vision intact. They only needed to cut back on the style a bit.
- otterley 13y ago
  > keeping the hardware and software integrated might have allowed the company to keep its true vision intact They did, but not under the NeXT brand. It's under the Apple brand now.
- Samuel_Michon 13y ago
  A sentiment that several Apple employees have voiced is: NeXT acquired Apple for negative -$400M That says it all, I think. Apple today is more like a successful NeXT than it is like Apple of the 90s.
  - kunai 13y ago
    I don't think I share your sentiment. Apple has always been a consumer-oriented company, whereas NeXT was oriented towards business, educational, and professional use. Apple is still a consumer electronics company, not a professional one. Whatever pro products they used to sell are now obsolete and they don't seem keen on updating them. The only thing that Apple computers share with NeXT machines is the operating system.
    - mimiflynn 13y ago
      The MacBook Pro line is still quite popular with professionals, especially developers. With the retina display on the 15inch, it appears to be the best option for a professional laptop available. Is this different from the kinds of 'pro products' you are referring to?
      - kunai 13y ago
        Well, really, a professional desktop is what they're missing, and features in OS X that may have been asking for, such as the latest version of OpenGL, ZFS or a suitable replacement, and better virtual desktop/window management that was crippled with 10.7. It seems as if all "improvements" to OS X are for consumers and "power users," such as Notification Center, Mission Control, porting of iOS apps over to the desktop, etc. There's been no major breakthrough since FileVault 2 was announced, and usability has drastically dropped since 10.6 in favor of kitsch like the stitched iOS apps.
    - Samuel_Michon 13y ago
      “The only thing that Apple computers share with NeXT machines is the operating system.” Which is the main reason why people buy a Mac, so yeah, that’s pretty major. Also inherited from the NeXT platform: Objective-C, Cocoa, Xcode, Keynote, WebObjects, and the plan to switch to the x86 architecture. However, what was meant with the quote was that the NeXT folks invaded Apple and took the most influential positions, Steve Jobs of course being the prime example. When Steve Jobs took over at Apple, he got rid of the entire Board of Directors, lots of VPs and other upper management. Some people were promoted from within Apple, but many of the positions were filled by former NeXT employees.
    - mikeash 13y ago
      It seems odd to think that a successful NeXT would have somehow behaved differently than the successful Apple, considering that the same man would have been driving either one.
aaronharnly 13y ago
A harbinger: "Steve wanted a complete systems compoany," says one high-level executive who left the company. "He always wanted to re-create Apple."

The article ('Steve-Jobs-UW041993.pdf') on Next's move to software-only is really interesting.

by wgx 13y ago

The article ('Steve-Jobs-UW041993.pdf') on Next's move to software-only is really interesting.

kunai 13y ago

It is. Personally, I think the analysts were wrong and Next should have continued with the Cube and the Station. They just should have cut down on profit margins slightly to accumulate more sales, and then return the margins to normal after the device became popular. The iMac is so popular now, and it's a closed system as well. Granted, the world is quite different now than it was in 1995, but they could have pulled it off. I'm using GNUstep on my Linux box, and the software behind Next was 20, perhaps 30 years ahead of its time. If you compare it to OS X, you'll see that barely anything has changed besides a few graphical updates and a few nifty utilities such as Notification Center and Spotlight. It was a great system. But keeping the hardware and software integrated might have allowed the company to keep its true vision intact. They only needed to cut back on the style a bit.

otterley 13y ago
> keeping the hardware and software integrated might have allowed the company to keep its true vision intact They did, but not under the NeXT brand. It's under the Apple brand now.
Samuel_Michon 13y ago
A sentiment that several Apple employees have voiced is: NeXT acquired Apple for negative -$400M That says it all, I think. Apple today is more like a successful NeXT than it is like Apple of the 90s.
- kunai 13y ago
  I don't think I share your sentiment. Apple has always been a consumer-oriented company, whereas NeXT was oriented towards business, educational, and professional use. Apple is still a consumer electronics company, not a professional one. Whatever pro products they used to sell are now obsolete and they don't seem keen on updating them. The only thing that Apple computers share with NeXT machines is the operating system.
  - mimiflynn 13y ago
    The MacBook Pro line is still quite popular with professionals, especially developers. With the retina display on the 15inch, it appears to be the best option for a professional laptop available. Is this different from the kinds of 'pro products' you are referring to?
    - kunai 13y ago
      Well, really, a professional desktop is what they're missing, and features in OS X that may have been asking for, such as the latest version of OpenGL, ZFS or a suitable replacement, and better virtual desktop/window management that was crippled with 10.7. It seems as if all "improvements" to OS X are for consumers and "power users," such as Notification Center, Mission Control, porting of iOS apps over to the desktop, etc. There's been no major breakthrough since FileVault 2 was announced, and usability has drastically dropped since 10.6 in favor of kitsch like the stitched iOS apps.
  - Samuel_Michon 13y ago
    “The only thing that Apple computers share with NeXT machines is the operating system.” Which is the main reason why people buy a Mac, so yeah, that’s pretty major. Also inherited from the NeXT platform: Objective-C, Cocoa, Xcode, Keynote, WebObjects, and the plan to switch to the x86 architecture. However, what was meant with the quote was that the NeXT folks invaded Apple and took the most influential positions, Steve Jobs of course being the prime example. When Steve Jobs took over at Apple, he got rid of the entire Board of Directors, lots of VPs and other upper management. Some people were promoted from within Apple, but many of the positions were filled by former NeXT employees.
  - mikeash 13y ago
    It seems odd to think that a successful NeXT would have somehow behaved differently than the successful Apple, considering that the same man would have been driving either one.

aaronharnly 13y ago

A harbinger: "Steve wanted a complete systems compoany," says one high-level executive who left the company. "He always wanted to re-create Apple."