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Ways to save Apple (1997)
- hoodoof 11y agoKinda weird how much of this is the opposite of what worked.
- Gustomaximus 11y agoI felt reading this is what life for a CEO must be like. To be continually bombarded with 101 ways to do the job. 80%+ are wrong, from people who absolutely believe at the time they are correct.
- WalterBright 11y agoAll people running a business or who are in a managerial position are in this situation.
- macspoofing 11y agoI think it's worse than that. You don't know the right answer, nobody else knows the right answer, and the only way get by is to guess and hope you get lucky. Apple got lucky. They built the iPod, which in hindsight, was a trans-formative product, but at the time it wasn't so obvious.
- DrStalker 11y agoAt the time it was a heavy music player with an annoying interface that only worked for mac users and was useless forever if you dropped it and the hard drive broke. They fixed all those problems later versions, but the initial device was underwhelming to a lot of people.
- bobbles 11y agoApple tends to be pretty good at releasing 1.0's where the problems can be fixed as tech improves, rather than being fundamental design flaws (though they manage those as well.. coverflow)
- mcphage 11y agoI had an early one, and loved it. It's been slowly forgotten about over time, but the scroll wheel interface was an amazing innovation. Even years later I'd see people with MP3 players with up and down buttons struggle to scroll through a large list, whereas the scroll wheel made it comfortable, fast, and easy to control.
- digi_owl 11y agoThe on thing of note is that Mac users seems to include a massive number of people involved with media production. This including artists of various stripes. From personal anecdote i think i first heard about iPod when people started chatting about what those white earbuds some artist had been spotted using. And i sure as hell don't think Apple was in the position to pay them to use the iPod publically.
- PhasmaFelis 11y agoAnd, of course, your lucky roll of the die will get you hailed as a "visionary CEO" for the rest of your life.
- dasil003 11y agoThis is pretty uncharitable to Jobs. If you look at Apple's trajectory over the last 15 years, you can see the vision was consistently outlined from the very beginning—the Digital Hub strategy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9046oXrm7f8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9046oXrm7f8). You can draw a straight line through iPod -> iTunes Store -> iPhone -> App Store -> iPad -> Apple Watch. Even though the vision was a little blurry with regards to how powerful mobile devices would get and thus how the smart phone would overtake the PC for revenue, it still holds up in the way these products are executed and integrated. Frankly, the only company that is really competing effectively with this 15-year-old strategy is Google, because they have cloud services chops that Apple has struggled with, but despite being dominant in that area, it's still just good enough to put them on par because their UX, integrated industrial design, supply chain management, and marketing still pale in comparison to Apple. Just because it wasn't immediately obvious to the world that the iPod would succeed doesn't mean that the vision wasn't there or that it was just dumb luck. Obviously there is a huge amount of luck in terms of circumstances that fuel every large company, but I find it really annoying when people are so dismissive of good execution with this type of hand-wavy rhetoric.
- leoc 11y ago> If you look at Apple's trajectory over the last 15 years, you can see the vision was consistently outlined from the very beginning—the Digital Hub strategy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9046oXrm7f8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9046oXrm7f8). That's not really the case though. As Jobs outlined it in that video, the Digital Hub strategy was to sell Macintoshes by positioning them as something you could dock your consumer-electronics gadgets, mostly from third parties, into. It was a plan to sell hubs, not spokes. This strategy had limited viability for Apple, because a typical consumer wasn't likely to think "I've just bought this $500 camcorder, so now I need to spend twice that or more on a Mac in order to offload and edit the video". If they were going to use any computer as the digital hub for their camcorder, it was probably going to be their Windows PC. That's probably why iTunes for Windows was such a difficult and long-drawn-out decision for Jobs: because it was a decision to mostly abandon the Digital Hub approach in favour of selling more of the spokes. Then Apple's slow and initially reluctant embrace of the "post-PC era" with over-the-air iDevice updates and cloud storage to partly displace iTunes means that it's increasingly taking nearly the opposite of Jobs' 2001 stance: "We're clearly migrating away from the PC as the centrepiece" and "We don't think of it in terms of the PC business anymore" are things that Tim Cook could say today without really startling anyone.
- simonh 11y agoIt sounds like you think they rolled a die for every design decision that went into creating the iPod and it happened to turn out well. I would agree that there are many factors outside your control and subject to luck for a company in a situation like that, but how you choose to design and market your products aren't among them. Apple back then wasn't Samsung, they didn't just make one of everything, in as many different models as they could, and see what happened in the market. They had very limited resources and had to be extremely judicious and thoughtful about how they used them. They're not in that position now, but the disipline they learned through those years has stayed with them.
- tinco 11y agoI think they were just betting the whole company. If you're betting the whole company on a single revolutionary product, you better make that product as awesome as you can possibly manage. I imagine with each design decision they asked just two questions "will it make the product more awesome" and "can we afford it". I wonder if stock holders knew Apple was risking that much on a project that wasn't even a computer.
- vacri 11y agoPlenty of items on the list are involved with what happened. Like 'keep a retail presence', 'distinguish your looks' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMac#/media/File:Nafija55.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMac#/media/File:Nafija55.jpg came out the next year), 'focus on customer support', 'break new ground, don't CYA', 'improve your marketing', 'simplify product names', even 'buy a song' (hello U2). Notable exceptions are 'apologise', 'build software the business community cares about', and, of course, #1 'abandon hardware'. These are all items on the first page, because I haven't clicked the second one yet.
- molmalo 11y ago#1 was pretty accurate actually... >1. Admit it. You're out of the hardware game. Outsource your hardware production, or scrap it entirely They didnt scrap it entirely, but they did ended up outsourcing production to Foxconn.
- ssalazar 11y agoNot in any meaningful sense. Hardly any big tech companies manufacture hardware in the US any more. Hardware is Apple's single distinguishing feature as a business, and theres way more to it than which company happens to assemble the components together.
- molmalo 11y agoBut its hardware production, not design... So, it was accurate.
- interpol_p 11y agoI think what Apple does is a bit different to outsourcing hardware production. They actually finance the initial investment in the manufacturing facilities in order to secure exclusive and long term contracts. It seems to be a cost effective in that they get the benefits of owning the hardware production while the technology is still new.
- robterrell 11y agoI read this in 1997. A lot of these seemed like terrible ideas even at the time.
- Retric 11y agoSeems like this was far more right than wrong. Clear yes from the top 30: 1 (outsourced to Foxconn and others), 3 (App store), 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30 No: 2, 4, 22, 24, 27 5: Far from universal, but they do name some products after features iPhone3 g. 9: Fixed problem. 17: arguable PS: Granted, some of this was over the next 20 years.
- DigitalSea 11y agoI love reading posts from the past like this, ironic how things actually played out for Apple. Interestingly a few of the points actually happened, specifically; point #7, point #12, point #14 and more interestingly "39. Build a laptop that weighs 2 pounds." - kind of fitting that this played out for Apple focusing on thinner and lighter products than competitor offerings. This takes me back to the days leading up the new release of the first iPhone. Everyone was predicting that an Apple phone would fail, that Apple should stick to what they know and in a short amount of time they proved everyone wrong and became the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world.
- ColinDabritz 11y agoThese were interesting to me: 16. Take better care of your customers -- Apple support is pretty good, especially if you can get to a store 26. If you sell it, make it -- Their supply chain integration and control is impressive today 38. Make it easier for ISVs to make applications -- The app store and the development ecosystem is important for apple 50. Give Steve Jobs as much authority as he wants in new product development -- This paid off hugely 53. Recharge your strategy for Europe -- Apple is a very global company and is pushing into lots of markets 59. Invest heavily in Newton technology -- Apple parked that particular project, but the iPhone and iPad followed Some clearly joke entries, and some misses and terrible ideas, but definitely some interesting insights as well.
- JacobAldridge 11y agoSingle page: http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/5.06/apple_pr.html http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/5.06/apple_pr.html
- dang 11y agoThanks. Url changed from http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/5.06/apple.html http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/5.06/apple.html.
- JacobAldridge 11y agotl;dr "101. Don't worry. You'll survive. It's Netscape we should really worry about."
- MiguelVieira 11y agoIf you'd bought $10,000 of AAPL stock when this article was published (June 1997), it would be worth about $523,000 today, excluding dividends.
- grecy 11y agoI spent $4,500 on a G3 + 17" monitor in '98... it was an amazing machine :)
- esusatyo 11y agoIf I told you to buy $10,000 of Blackberry stock today, would you do it? Buying AAPL in 1997 is as crazy as buying Blackberry today. The difference is Steve Jobs, but some people thought he was nuts too back in 1997.
- Eric_WVGG 11y agothis has made Hacker News many, many times https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7877980 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7877980
- acqq 11y ago> 24. Pay cartoonist Scott Adams $10 million to have Dilbert fall in love with a Performa repairwoman. I can bet this was submitted by Scott Adams himself. It's sounds completely like him. And that gives you the idea of the worth of these "101 ways" even at the moment they were published.
- lyinsteve 11y ago>50. Give Steve Jobs as much authority as he wants in new product development.
- terminus 11y agoYe, Gods. Yet another Apple story. They are a for profit (and quite a lot of it) corporation that makes shiny gadgets. Why do we keep talking about them incessantly? If we are not talking about what Apple is doing now, then we are talking about what somebody said about Apple 20 years ago. I'm of course making the problem worse or meta-worse, if you will, by talking about talking about Apple, but I just don't understand this whole deification of a profit making entity.
- PhasmaFelis 11y agoApple is one of the most important and influential tech companies in the world right now. There's a lot of Apple articles for the same reason there's a lot of Google/Amazon/Facebook articles. They also have a lot of pretty devoted fans, but don't confuse ponderings on the industry with fanboyism.
- terminus 11y ago> Apple is one of the most important and influential tech companies in the world right now. No. You are confusing admired with influential.
- PhasmaFelis 11y agoNo, I really don't think I am. Apple essentially created the modern smartphone market. Android was Google saying "We've got to get in on that." You're going to accuse me of fanboying now, but I've never owned an iOS device; I think Android is better and I wouldn't use anything else. But without the iPhone, Android as we know it would not exist. You don't like Apple or Apple products, and that's fine and fair, but you are confusing your personal opinion with the actual state of the market. Quality and influence aren't always related, much as we might wish it were otherwise.
- terminus 11y agoThis is not about Android or iPhone. Or Google or whoever. I'll happily acknowledge that Apple sells well thought out products. I stand by what I said earlier. There's too much of a cult of personality associated with Apple. Why do we shrink our worldview to gossipy discussions of a corporation. Tell me something interesting, something edifying that came up in this discussion?
- stevebot 11y agoFunny how some of these are way off, while others are pretty spot on: 7. Don't disappear from the retail chains. Rent space in a computer store, flood it with Apple products (especially software), staff it with Apple salespeople, and display everything like you're a living, breathing company and not a remote, dusty concept.
- gh02t 11y agoThe one that made me laugh was the suggestion of replacing Mach (though really even then NeXT was more than *just Mach, but w/e) with the NT kernel. Can you imagine what MacOS and iOS would look like if they were built on NT? Not so much because they are technically incompatible, but more for the political implications of MacOS being married to the heart of Windows.
- bmcarr 11y ago1. Admit it. You're out of the hardware game. Outsource your hardware production, or scrap it entirely, to compete more directly with Microsoft without the liability of manufacturing boxes. Very first one, lol. I agree that many are spot on, but coupling Mac software to its hardware is part of how they make such good products, not to mention the plethora of innovative hardware devices that have made them the richest company in the world.
- Lio 11y agoAll of Apple's hardware products are now made by outsourced contract manufacturers. They're still all designed by Apple obviously but I thought this point was spot on.
- jordanlev 11y agoAre the entire products outsourced, or just the componenets? Either way, I think this suggestion is implying that Apple stop selling hardware and instead just sell software that runs on other peoples' hardware (it's the "compete more directly with Microsoft" bit that leads me to believe this is what they meant).
- mikeechoalpha 11y ago31c was a pretty good idea
- mami 11y ago1. limewire
- jasonlmk 11y ago> 98. Testimonials. Create commercials featuring real-life people in situations where buying a Mac (or switching to a Mac) saved the day. This is an example of one thing that Apple gets really right. For some reason, other companies have found it really difficult to achieve the success that Apple has with their commercials and branding. Some (in my opinion) great work by Apple: 1. 2013 Christmas Commercial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v76f6KPSJ2w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v76f6KPSJ2w) 2. Shot on iPhone6 (https://www.apple.com/au/iphone/world-gallery/ https://www.apple.com/au/iphone/world-gallery/)
- molmalo 11y agoThere are some very interesting things here... Some jewels that proved to be very accurate, and some that were way off... But i think that the positive ones are winning... #1 - Foxconn. #2 - OSX for computers, iOS -> iPhone, iPad, AppleTv #3 - Debatable, but one could argue that Apple Store did this at first #4 - Steve Jobs listed in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-dollar_salary http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-dollar_salary #5 - iPhone #, iPad #, but not related with speeds, besides of "greater number, greater speed" #7 - Apple Stores #8 - 1998. I still remember the ad with Shes A Rainbow #10 - Well, they did build an enormous image. #9, #11, #12 - Or... do just the opposite xD #13 - Hello, I'm a PC. #14 - Again, 1998. G3, and everything that came next... #15 - Say Hello to China! #16 - YMMV :) #17, #18 - This will contradict the next one. A corporate won't buy based on fanaticism (at least in theory... I hope...) #19 - They did what they could, with what was available back then. #21 - With this item and #31... I really don't know what to think... #22 - #24 - No, no, no. #25 - Portables and mobile! That was the future back then. And they did... eventually. # 26 - Here comes China again! #27 - Or... make it expensive... I mean... exclusive #30 - Secure the hearts and wallets of college students, OK. But with marketing. #31 - What kind of advice is this?? That will NEVER, EVER work, cellular email? Internet Phone ??? ... Oh.. wait. #32 - Always start with: We have sold X number of Y! #34 - Done. #36 - Hello iBook #37 - Ok. Hello OSX #39 - Easier said than done. Tech was not there yet. But eventually... #40-43 - It didn't matter. #44 - Or just buy someone who does... Hello Siri #47 - New upgrade path: just buy the new device. #50 - Give Steve Jobs as much authority as he wants -> OK! #51 - Speak with both, but mostly to the consumer, yes. (through ads, and paid journalists...) #53 - And sell everything from Ireland! #54 - Ok #59 - You can't have #15 (dump newton) and this (invest heavily in newton technology)... choose one. One could say Apple choose #59. from here, a lot of the items seem like jokes... #60 - Again, contradicting with previous items. #63 - Ok. #70 - Ok! #76 - Ok, and bye bye PowerPC Eventually. #94 - Maintain differentiation between Wintel and Apple... Even when using intel technologies, we are not a PC. #95 - Hello, I'm a Mac. #101 - Bingo!
- Lancey 11y ago> 8. Buy a song. Last year, it would have been "Respect" by Aretha Franklin. This year, maybe it's "Ain't too Proud to Beg." Why buy one song when you can buy all of them?
- wyldfire 11y ago> 97. Have Pixar make 3001, A Space Odyssey, with HAL replaced by a Mac. Kinda like Wall-E's charge-cycle-complete boot sound and EVE's iPod-inspired design.
- gambiter 11y ago> 31. Build a PDA for less than $250 that actually does something: a) cellular email b) 56-channel TV c) Internet phone. Here, here! If it's a measly 55-channel toy, I'm sending it back.
- pdxgene 11y agoI remember reading this in 1997, about a year after I switched from the awful Mac Performa that I had used in college and dragged out west with me to the first in a series of increasingly uninspiring beige WinTel boxes. It would be nine years before I switched back. It's really easy to engage in hindsight-powered analysis. This article seemed perfectly reasonable at the time.