Control at Core of Apple and Jobs' Health

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  Pheck07/29/08 Report as spam
  1

  The entrepenuers malaise

  Jobs is suffering from the same malaise that most successful entrepreneurs seem to suffer to some degree or other; control freaks.
  Shepherding his lambs through to the lush meadows, all the while knowing the wolves want to eat up his favourite little pet seems to be what makes him what he is to some extent.
  I think he is probably a bit paranoid about his baby and probably has some trouble separating himself from the product.
  I think that there is much to be gained from a culture of openness and transparency, but while he is still running a very successful business (sure it could be MUCH more successful) he gets to have his way.

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  pmason@...07/29/08 Report as spam
  2

  RE: Control at Core of Apple and Jobs' Health

  I think the whole 'rotten apple' culture is one of self delusional group masturbatory euphoria. To see precious Steve mincing about on the stage during their newest, bestest, orgasmic launch is positively embarrassing to watch. Why don't they just go away and get a life?

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  goesnowhere@...07/29/08 Report as spam
  3

  RE: Control at Core of Apple and Jobs' Health

  History will look upon Apple as the company that "could have" shown Microsoft the door, as Microsoft twists in the wind with Vista. Someone should mention at Apple that they need more than a brilliant marketing campaign. They need to pony up with not only a reason to switch but a way for PC users to switch. The money spent for marketing probably could have been better used to build an ark.

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  JV@...07/30/08 Report as spam
  4

  Malaise at Apple?

  Erik, you've seen Apple "from a distance", but that shouldn't excuse your
  making assumptions about Apple's business model.
  
  I've been using Apple computers (and PCs) since the early 1980s, and can't
  recall Apple EVER expressing a desire to "become the dominant personal
  computer in the world".
  
  They seem to have been content to leave that particular pursuit to Bill Gates,
  and we all know how well Microsoft have served their users - with an
  increasingly more unstable product which (a) requires a mind-numbing series
  of "patches to make it work (b) is vulnerable to attack from any malevolent
  hacker with a modicum of skill (c) is pre-loaded on most PCs and laptops
  these days, forcing buyers to use it or pay extra for a workable alternative.
  
  And let's not overlook the wonderful Vista, with connotations of broad-
  sweeping views and a vision of the future. Having attempted to integrate a
  laptop with Vista pre-loaded, might I suggest a better name - "blinkers and
  distorted views"
  
  When it comes to Apple, you just don't "get it" so try not to criticise what you
  don't understand
  
  JV at l'Attitude in Cairns

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  ErikSherman08/10/08 Report as spam
  5

  RE: Control at Core of Apple and Jobs' Health

  tbjrv wrote:
  
  >> When it comes to Apple, you just don't "get it" so try not to criticise what you
  don't understand <<
  
  
  I disagree that I "don't get" Apple. I say at a distance, because these days I'm not actively using Apple equipment, and yet I actually was a contributing editor at MacWeek for a few years and have used Macs extensively in corporate work in the past, so it's not as though I speak out of total ignorance.
  
  If you've been using their equipment for such a long time, then you remember that originally Apple aimed not at a niche "creative" market but at business. One of the caveats in my feature work for MacWeek was finding large business users of Macs, and by the late 1990s, that was becoming more difficult because the trend was away from Macs as business machines.
  
  Perhaps Apple decided that a niche market was best in the 90s, but more likely it was that the company was no longer providing products at a price that businesses would pay. However, Apple's historic emphasis until then was to aim for business markets, and early on it showed all the signs of wanting to dominate the market. However, that was in terms of sales. The company's positioning was to continue to emphasize its own "cool," so in that sense it didn't want to be mass appeal. Perhaps that's what you're really thinking of.
  
  As far as the shortcomings of Microsoft and Vista, I've been writing similarly and repeatedly on this blog. From a business point - for shareholders and even for the personal computer buying public - I think Apple blew it badly.