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Over the last couple of weeks, I've been meeting with vendors all over the country that range from those that build PCs to those that build tools and parts, to those that build back-end solutions. One common message has come through. They all are targeting Apple as the company whose performance they most want to beat. This has more implications for those who don't currently buy Apple products than -- at least near term -- it has to do with Apple fans.
First off this wasn't intended to be an Apple pounding story. However for those folks that have sent me notes of support (always appreciated) that want to understand why Apple Fans do this stuff pick up a book called "True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society". In short it explains why they intentionally misinterpret things like this and react this way.
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This is the link to the short Apple Fan part of True Enough: http://machinist.salon.com/feature/2008/03/18/true_enough_excerpt_2/
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For clarification this was simply a piece pointing out that Apple had reached a level of success that has others beginning to emulate them with the result being better products for those of us who don't use Apple products. There is no single company yet doing everything that must be done and that it would take about 2 years for the full effect to hit market.
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I didn't mention that Apple would likely respond because I thought that was a given. Apple appears to be about to make a move to take the "Air" concept mainstream which should be really interesting. We'll talk about that next week.
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But honestly folks Apple is doing a great job I'm sorry that pointing out that others were starting to emulate them got some of you upset. That's what happens though, folks chased IBM, Microsoft, they are even chasing Google. It shouldn't surprise anyone that people are chasing Apple.
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But chasing and catching, let alone passing, are distinctly different things.
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Finally, I'm actually not anti-Apple but neither am I pro-Apple. I use them as both good and bad examples of things depending on the situation. That means for the avid Apple fan I'll always seem biased against the company because I'm not biased in favor of it. If you want to make sense of that read "True Enough" it explains why people think that way, and will make less likely to be manipulated by folks who understand this way too human weakness.
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This is the link to the short Apple Fan part of True Enough: http://machinist.salon.com/feature/2008/03/18/true_enough_excerpt_2/
.
For clarification this was simply a piece pointing out that Apple had reached a level of success that has others beginning to emulate them with the result being better products for those of us who don't use Apple products. There is no single company yet doing everything that must be done and that it would take about 2 years for the full effect to hit market.
.
I didn't mention that Apple would likely respond because I thought that was a given. Apple appears to be about to make a move to take the "Air" concept mainstream which should be really interesting. We'll talk about that next week.
.
But honestly folks Apple is doing a great job I'm sorry that pointing out that others were starting to emulate them got some of you upset. That's what happens though, folks chased IBM, Microsoft, they are even chasing Google. It shouldn't surprise anyone that people are chasing Apple.
.
But chasing and catching, let alone passing, are distinctly different things.
.
Finally, I'm actually not anti-Apple but neither am I pro-Apple. I use them as both good and bad examples of things depending on the situation. That means for the avid Apple fan I'll always seem biased against the company because I'm not biased in favor of it. If you want to make sense of that read "True Enough" it explains why people think that way, and will make less likely to be manipulated by folks who understand this way too human weakness.
Rinse and Repeat...more of the same Rob Apple stuff
Posted by: jeffsters 2008-04-22 06:53:22 In reply to: Rob Enderle
Rob, You have NEVER been an Apple fan and now that all your doom and gloom predictions have proven to be just wrong you suddenly turn course and "thank Apple"? For doing all the things you used to call them out on?
So now you're all excited by the thought of a bunch of other companies joining up to topple them? You are truly amazing!
I stopped reading your stuff years ago and this headline, while it got my eyes back, only showed me how you still just don't get it! So tell yeah what...I will wait the two years you've mentioned here and we'll see where we're at ok?
I do love how you fail to mention what Apple might come up with in two years. You and the pundits like you always talk about what others are doing in response to Apple TODAY. Totally ignoring that Apple is already working on what will come 2-3 years out.
This is why the Zune you loved so much has failed. It was pretty much the iPod (forgetting WiFi) of two years prior!
I hope you're wrong about these companies killing Apple because if it's taken all these years for you, Dell, HP and Lenovo to even understand that the stickers were stupid gawd help innovation in this industry without Apple in the mix.
So now you're all excited by the thought of a bunch of other companies joining up to topple them? You are truly amazing!
I stopped reading your stuff years ago and this headline, while it got my eyes back, only showed me how you still just don't get it! So tell yeah what...I will wait the two years you've mentioned here and we'll see where we're at ok?
I do love how you fail to mention what Apple might come up with in two years. You and the pundits like you always talk about what others are doing in response to Apple TODAY. Totally ignoring that Apple is already working on what will come 2-3 years out.
This is why the Zune you loved so much has failed. It was pretty much the iPod (forgetting WiFi) of two years prior!
I hope you're wrong about these companies killing Apple because if it's taken all these years for you, Dell, HP and Lenovo to even understand that the stickers were stupid gawd help innovation in this industry without Apple in the mix.
Rob says:'It will probably take a year or two for all of this to hit the market'. I guess he's hoping we won't remember to check to see if his 'wow' promises have come to pass.
Enderle take your meds your delusional!
Posted by: A clue for you! 2008-04-21 16:54:05 In reply to: Rob Enderle
Wow starts now Ha Ha. Enderle still delusional and living in his own little world of Microsoft=GOD Apple=Satan
Get over your delusions Rob. Nobody with a two digit IQ has listened to you for years and all though your entertaining to the three digit IQ crowd your extremely limited imagination and complete lack of any credibility makes your articles simply not worth the time to read even if it's only to laugh AT YOU.
Get over your delusions Rob. Nobody with a two digit IQ has listened to you for years and all though your entertaining to the three digit IQ crowd your extremely limited imagination and complete lack of any credibility makes your articles simply not worth the time to read even if it's only to laugh AT YOU.
First of all, all those stickers and crapware represent co-marketing dollars from Microsoft, Intel and the software guys to the hardware vendors. In turn the hardware guys provide a CPU billboard, in effect, to promote themselves. The vendors may not like the NASCAR effect (butt ugly cases) and all the service calls from dodgy trialware pre-loaded and bogging down system resources, but in the end what can they do to raise hardware margins above 5%. And this will be the economic pressure Microsoft and Intel will levy against the hardware guys.
Second, the magic of Apple is not just good design, which is amongst the best industrial design out there, but that the whole system, from retail purchasing, to operating system, to hardware, to music downloading, is integrated. And by default, having a huge hodgepodge of hardware vendors who both separately and collectively do not have the design acumen AND no ability to provide a seamless, integrated service to the software side, (that being controlled by Microsoft, who took 5 years to produce the monstrosity that is VISTA), you have a failure in the making once again.
Oh, we will get a few interesting pieces of kit from the CPU and phone guys, but in the end, by the time they even come close to getting their act together, Apple will have gone on to the next great step in personal computing and electronics.
Second, the magic of Apple is not just good design, which is amongst the best industrial design out there, but that the whole system, from retail purchasing, to operating system, to hardware, to music downloading, is integrated. And by default, having a huge hodgepodge of hardware vendors who both separately and collectively do not have the design acumen AND no ability to provide a seamless, integrated service to the software side, (that being controlled by Microsoft, who took 5 years to produce the monstrosity that is VISTA), you have a failure in the making once again.
Oh, we will get a few interesting pieces of kit from the CPU and phone guys, but in the end, by the time they even come close to getting their act together, Apple will have gone on to the next great step in personal computing and electronics.
Enderle, the penultimate astroturfer for Microsoft. And this nonsense is simply him being a shill for his master.
He always does his best to spread FUD, for fear people might actually switch to the Mac side, and realize his patron's products are simply not what he pretends them to be.
No matter what trend is happening, if Apple is at the top, he spins it to Microsoft's advantage as the imminent death of the Cupertino company. I simply can't believe after all these years that anyone still listens to this man with a conflict of interest the size of Texas.
He always does his best to spread FUD, for fear people might actually switch to the Mac side, and realize his patron's products are simply not what he pretends them to be.
No matter what trend is happening, if Apple is at the top, he spins it to Microsoft's advantage as the imminent death of the Cupertino company. I simply can't believe after all these years that anyone still listens to this man with a conflict of interest the size of Texas.
Apple is not standing on its laurels and is very aware of these groups. What is interesting is the industry needs a strong Apple and many of these companies were absolutely happy resting on their laurels and allowing Microsoft to tell them what to do until Apple began hurting their business. I am an Apple loyalist... and former IBM employee. Apple will continue to innovate. I hope that the war does heat up but I find it interesting that it takes a collaboration of behemoth companies to try and out innovate little old Apple. I was at Novell a few months back and had to grin as I watched their desktop linux folks with 2 computers... one a Mac to look at the interface and the other a Linux box to try and copy the Mac interface... The question I have is are these other companies innovating or just simply copying near perfection? I will choose to pay a little more for the true innovator's wares.
Regarding The Secret Global War to Beat Apple
Three thoughts from the man who thought a brown Zune would be an iPod killer.
1 Soon PCs won't come with crap on the outside - it's not just the stickers Rob, and no mention of the crap inside!
2 A third party has assembled a whole range of technologies to fix Windows - I guess this is the fix for the crap inside. So you buy a crappy system, then fix it with a whole suite of third party applications from different vendors. This is a pretty good description of the problem Windows is facing right now.
3 All of this originally crappy, then de-crapped stuff will come in better packages - see first para!
Come on Rob. Own up!
Three thoughts from the man who thought a brown Zune would be an iPod killer.
1 Soon PCs won't come with crap on the outside - it's not just the stickers Rob, and no mention of the crap inside!
2 A third party has assembled a whole range of technologies to fix Windows - I guess this is the fix for the crap inside. So you buy a crappy system, then fix it with a whole suite of third party applications from different vendors. This is a pretty good description of the problem Windows is facing right now.
3 All of this originally crappy, then de-crapped stuff will come in better packages - see first para!
Come on Rob. Own up!
