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Is Tim Cook right for Apple?
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arrrc
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Apr 21, 2013, 04:46 PM
 
I'm sitting on the fence.

I keep reading of top people leaving Apple e.g.:

AnandTech | The King is Back: Raja Koduri Leaves Apple, Returns to AMD

I think Apple's made some good moves over the past year and a half... but I feel like their advertising and product cycles are a bit amuck.

For instance, did Apple ever push JD Power awards? I noticed in the last ad push a few weeks back they're pushing the fact that the iPhone has x number of JD Power awards. To people outside the US this is effectively something meaningless. We don't know what JD Power awards are.

Product cycles:

1. iWork old.
2. Mac Pro almost 4 years old without any real update.
3. Non-Retina iPad Mini. Sorry, I just find the screen crap compared to my Retina gear. And I can't find any sales numbers for the Mini. It's very, very strange Apple doesn't release sales numbers for it.
4. Spec bumping the iPad 3? We could have had an iPad 4 event last month... Apple disrupted a product cycle here and I think it's bad.

What do you all think? Is Tim Cook the guy to continue to lead Apple? No?
     
mattyb
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Apr 21, 2013, 05:33 PM
 
Originally Posted by arrrc View Post
For instance, did Apple ever push JD Power awards? I noticed in the last ad push a few weeks back they're pushing the fact that the iPhone has x number of JD Power awards. To people outside the US this is effectively something meaningless. We don't know what JD Power awards are.
Speak for yourself.
     
subego
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Apr 21, 2013, 05:36 PM
 
If they had tried to swing 3, you would have seen a repeat of 4 with the Mini. The original iPad 3 didn't have the horses to push that many pixels.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Apr 21, 2013, 07:34 PM
 
Avie Tevanian left under Jobs' tenure, in 2006.

Fred Anderson, CFO, also left in 2006.

There's probably a bunch more, but that should be enough to kill the idea that Apple is dying.

Also, a non-retina iPad mini wasn't the point. A smaller iPad for just over $300, while maintaining margins, was the point. And a point rather well made.

In addition, spec-bumping is and always HAS been part of product cycles, and if you look at the history of everything other than iPhones and iPods (which also have had mid-"cycle" spec upgrades several times in the past), upgrade cycles are not really regular.
     
arrrc  (op)
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Apr 21, 2013, 08:17 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
Avie Tevanian left under Jobs' tenure, in 2006.

Fred Anderson, CFO, also left in 2006.

There's probably a bunch more, but that should be enough to kill the idea that Apple is dying.
Can you list the rest? That's hardly enough to kill the idea that Apple's top top people are leaving under Cook more than they were with Jobs. I realize people did leave under Jobs as well.

But some of the biggest names have departed under Cook. This AMD guy is a huge loss.

Scott Forstall is another one. A 20+ year veteran going back to NeXT's days. I realize he might have been a jerk but so was Jobs and they did get the job done.

Bob Mansfeld left and then came back... and he's likely being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars per month if not millions just to keep him there.

Also, a non-retina iPad mini wasn't the point. A smaller iPad for just over $300, while maintaining margins, was the point. And a point rather well made.
Please post the sales figures. I can't find them anywhere. Unless someone posts hard data showing number of units sold in the last couple of quarters, everything is just opinion lacking any facts.

In addition, spec-bumping is and always HAS been part of product cycles, and if you look at the history of everything other than iPhones and iPods (which also have had mid-"cycle" spec upgrades several times in the past), upgrade cycles are not really regular.
The iPods and iPhones get updated once every single year. It's always been like that. The iPad had the same product cycles, exact same. Once per year. iPad 1: one year later; iPad 2: one year later; iPad 3: one year later... then bang, a midstream spec bump. All this has done is caused Apple to look like it's not innovating because their end of first quarter iPad event didn't happen. So no keynote yet this year and we're already going into May.

Anyway, I have a colleague who's pretty high up in Apple and he told me on Saturday that Ive isn't the happiest guy... that he was so used to strong product management and guidance that they're not getting it anymore. My take away from this is that Ive needs to shut up and take control or else somebody else, besides Cook? needs to take control of product management and a singular vision.

This is what has and continues to kill other companies is so much noise and a lack of vision and control. Crap after crap products then get spun out and eventually companies just spit out cheap junk and make no money because they're ad hoc and there's not quality or yes/no filter. The different product groups start overly competing against each other and take things into their own hands, including things like design principles.

Not saying this is what's going to happen to Apple it's just worth noting.
     
Cold Warrior
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Apr 21, 2013, 09:00 PM
 
Ron Johnson arranged to leave while Steve was alive.

Jon Rubinstein left long before that.
     
Waragainstsleep
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Apr 21, 2013, 09:02 PM
 
Apple was always going to change a bit after Steve. Steve was an all-powerful dictator and it seems they don't have anyone with his vision and his authority to take his place but this should not be surprising. Look at all the massive companies who have tried to copy Apple's way of doing things over the years, not one has come close to managing it. The truth is you need that dictatorship in order to do what Apple did, but your dictator has to be right 95% of the time or more. Thats no easy task.

Cook probably has the authority but not the vision. Ive is probably the other way around. Steve left an unusual kind of power vacuum and there was always going to be some infighting to fill it and Forstall was clearly a victim of that. Maybe he saw himself as the best successor to Steve, and maybe he was but if he couldn't get on with Jony he was never going to get anywhere but fired.

Steve always had the vision, but he had to earn the respect of the people who had the power to fire him. I think between Ive, COok and Mansfield they probably have enough to make up a pseudo-Steve, but individually, none of them is quite there. I think Ive could do it if he set his mind on it but he is more about making awesome things than he is about getting everyone else to want them and buy them. I don't think the role of overlord is something he is interested in, he just wants to make cool stuff.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
Waragainstsleep
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Apr 21, 2013, 09:04 PM
 
Also, I think you might be overstating the importance of the processor guys, for now at least. The only chips Apple are making get their GPUs elsewhere and the core is basically a tweaked ARM core, so how much difference can one guy make? Don't forget Apple bought a whole company who specialised in low power ARM chips.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
OreoCookie
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Apr 21, 2013, 09:08 PM
 
Originally Posted by arrrc View Post
4. Spec bumping the iPad 3? We could have had an iPad 4 event last month... Apple disrupted a product cycle here and I think it's bad.
That's something I don't get: you're dinging Apple for making a product too good? It's great that they have had the balls to do this: release it when it's ready. Especially considering that the upgrade is very decent.
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turtle777
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Apr 21, 2013, 09:52 PM
 
Originally Posted by arrrc
What do you all think? Is Tim Cook the guy to continue to lead Apple? No?
I don't see any immediate solution / person that would be so much better.

And it could be much worse.

-t
     
mduell
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Apr 21, 2013, 11:10 PM
 
I don't think the AMD guy leaving is that big of a deal. Apple isn't doing their own graphics cores, just licensing the PowerVR stuff.

The stock is back around where it was the day Tim took over. In a little under 2 years, having been paid more than half a billion dollars in compensation, Tim has created $0 in value.
     
Sealobo
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Apr 22, 2013, 01:09 AM
 
The general consumers have gone nuts.

If new products aren't being released every other months, then people would think that the company has stopped being innovative. And why do people have such ridiculous expectation? Because people's life are fking boring; they're constantly craving for new shit happening to them so that their life would be less pathetic.
     
subego
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Apr 22, 2013, 01:17 AM
 
This isn't general consumers. It's Wall Street.
     
OreoCookie
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Apr 22, 2013, 01:37 AM
 
Originally Posted by mduell View Post
I don't think the AMD guy leaving is that big of a deal. Apple isn't doing their own graphics cores, just licensing the PowerVR stuff.
I think it's more significant who they did not hire: a dedicated server infrastructure guy. Someone who puts more and more of Apple's iCloud infrastructure on custom software and custom hardware akin to what Facebook, Google and Amazon are doing.
Originally Posted by mduell View Post
The stock is back around where it was the day Tim took over. In a little under 2 years, having been paid more than half a billion dollars in compensation, Tim has created $0 in value.
Half a billion? I thought he receives $100 million worth of stock options over the course of 10 years. Plus, the stock market is absolutely nuts, perhaps he has created $0 in value for Wall Street, but Apple is still shuffling in tens of billions of dollars.
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Spheric Harlot
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Apr 22, 2013, 02:52 AM
 
Originally Posted by mduell View Post
The stock is back around where it was the day Tim took over. In a little under 2 years, having been paid more than half a billion dollars in compensation, Tim has created $0 in value.
That is completely ridiculous.

Apple's cash reserves at the end of 2011 were around 80 billion dollars. Estimates are currently pointing at reserves of 170 billion dollars by the end of this year, despite having announced 10 billion in investments this year, AND actually paying dividends to their stockholders.

So Tim Cook has actually paid stock holders CASH for the first time in decades, and he's looking to have increased the net worth of Apple by 90 billion dollars within two years, and you people actually have the nerve to claim that he has "created 0$ in value"?

This is why Apple really needs to not give two shits and a wet fart about their stock price. It's governed by complete morons.
     
arrrc  (op)
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Apr 22, 2013, 04:36 AM
 
Originally Posted by Cold Warrior View Post
Ron Johnson arranged to leave while Steve was alive.

Jon Rubinstein left long before that.
Ron Johnson did not leave Apple while Jobs was there.
     
arrrc  (op)
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Apr 22, 2013, 04:44 AM
 
Originally Posted by OreoCookie View Post
That's something I don't get: you're dinging Apple for making a product too good? It's great that they have had the balls to do this: release it when it's ready. Especially considering that the upgrade is very decent.
Whoa big guy... hold those horses. What an oversimplified look. We're talking business here.

I don't think the upgrade is decent. Seems quite subjective. I want a much thinner, lighter iPad. The iPad is too thick and heavy. I'm not alone in this criticism. It's still the best tablet around but has a lot of way to go. I have a few 3s and after owning a 4 for a week, I just didn't see hardly any difference day to day so I took it back. I've totally skipped the 4 and am waiting for the redesign. I don't give a crap how fast the box says the graphics and processor are. Made no difference to my day to day experience. Feels like a PC...

The point is, Apple could be spec bumping like this all of their products midstream, but they didn't with most all of the idevices... they launched with well planned product cycles and keynotes. This generated a ton of buzz at different points of the year and drove tons of people to their brand and products.

But all that's changed with their number 1 product not following this. Going into May and not much of a peep from Apple.

I wonder, how much did that spec bump goose sales of the iPad?
     
arrrc  (op)
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Apr 22, 2013, 04:52 AM
 
Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep View Post
Also, I think you might be overstating the importance of the processor guys, for now at least. The only chips Apple are making get their GPUs elsewhere and the core is basically a tweaked ARM core, so how much difference can one guy make? Don't forget Apple bought a whole company who specialised in low power ARM chips.
How much difference can one guy make? If you've ever set foot in the tech industry for real... you'd know just how much one person can make a huge difference, even to massive companies. That's because engineering is all about productivity... and just a small number of engineers are really productive. Like Jobs said, Steve Wozniak was about 25 times more productive than any engineer he had ever worked with.

My experience is similar: there's been a few engineers that were really productive. They just are so good at solving problems and writing code they do it fast and efficiently, producing workable code way quicker than anyone else. Then there's a ton who struggle in comparison and take 5-10 times longer and produce half as good results, or none at all.

Then you've got guys like the AMD guy: the brilliant leaders who architect things. These guys are even harder to come by.

If you actually read that article you'd know he's not the only high end chip guy to leave Apple. I'm not saying Apple's doomed but there's a lot to high end people that have left over the past year. I'm more interested in their replacements at this point.
     
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Apr 22, 2013, 05:00 AM
 
Originally Posted by arrrc View Post
Whoa big guy... hold those horses. What an oversimplified look. We're talking business here.

I don't think the upgrade is decent. Seems quite subjective. I want a much thinner, lighter iPad. The iPad is too thick and heavy.
Going from the 3rd to the 4th generation, Apple has doubled CPU and GPU performance. Such a performance jump not even year-over-year is unheard of in the PC business. Of course, if the iPad 3 is fast enough for all that you do, perhaps it won't entice you to upgrade, but then, you shouldn't. I don't buy a new computer just because newer ones are around, I buy them when I need them.

So here, Apple made a product (iPad 3) and before the other guys could catch up, they've increased their technological lead. The next generation will apparently make the iPad thinner and lighter. This will be the first iPad I'll get (for myself and my gf).
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Spheric Harlot
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Apr 22, 2013, 05:04 AM
 
How long has the iPad been on the market? Long enough for claims of "it's ALWAYS been this way", you really think?

They spec-bumped the top iPad along with the introduction of the iPad mini, switching them both to the new Dock connector, because they could.
And just in time for the Christmas season.

They once introduced substantially faster iMacs a mere THREE MONTHS after having introduced the previous version. Because they could.

You have "several" iPad 3s and don't see the justification to upgrade. Whoop-de-doo. If you insist on going by patterns (even if the iPad hardly has an established pattern after three years on the market), you might note that iOS devices have NEVER been designed to appeal to owners of the immediately preceding generation.

As for wanting a much thinner, lighter iPad, I'm right with you there. The difference is, I'm using my iPad 2 and not complaining about how stupid Apple is dying because they just can't bend the laws of physics the way they used to. I simply enjoy my iPad and look forward to the day they release the one I've decided I want (quite possibly, later this year).
It took Apple two and a half years to get the 13" aluminum MacBook up to the specs I was prepared to spend my money on (first released in October 2008; the version I bought was released in early 2011). I'd already decided I wanted one in 2008, though.
Same with the 13" retina display MacBook Pros. The way things are going, I figure they'll probably have my ideal feature/price mix sometime in 2014.

If everything comes together, I'll buy. If not, why the hell spend my time whining about whatever the hell Apple is doing or not doing?

Of course, these devices are business tools for me, which may explain my lack of sense of entitlement.
     
The Final Dakar
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Apr 22, 2013, 09:56 AM
 
Originally Posted by mduell View Post
The stock is back around where it was the day Tim took over. In a little under 2 years, having been paid more than half a billion dollars in compensation, Tim has created $0 in value.
And this is where I demonstrate my ignorance by saying, Apple is still reaping mega profits, but somehow Tim is doing a bad job because - stock!
     
mduell
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Apr 22, 2013, 11:58 AM
 
Originally Posted by OreoCookie View Post
Half a billion? I thought he receives $100 million worth of stock options over the course of 10 years. Plus, the stock market is absolutely nuts, perhaps he has created $0 in value for Wall Street, but Apple is still shuffling in tens of billions of dollars.
When looking up the date he took over I saw "As of 2012, Cook's total compensation package of $378 million makes him the highest paid CEO in the world" on wikipedia.

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
And this is where I demonstrate my ignorance by saying, Apple is still reaping mega profits, but somehow Tim is doing a bad job because - stock!
Profits are backward looking, what you did in the last 3 or 12 months.
Valuation is forward looking, what the company will do in the future.
     
The Final Dakar
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Apr 22, 2013, 12:00 PM
 
Originally Posted by mduell View Post
Profits are backward looking, what you did in the last 3 or 12 months.
Valuation is forward looking, what the company will do in the future.
Aren't profits facts and valuation opinion?
     
Hawkeye_a
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Apr 22, 2013, 12:36 PM
 
I'm not a fan of Tim Cook as CEO. As a COO, he's the best there is.

I do not agree with:
-His constant apologizing (example with Apple Maps)
-His letting go of Scott Forstall
-Changing Apple's 'charity' policy (it's not his own money he is giving away)
(among other things)

I think the core of Apple has been devalued under Cook. I was shocked at the apologies, and worse, directing users to competitors' products. I applaud Scott Forstall for not giving in and putting his name on that most absurd piece of PR from Cook.

I will credit Cook with faster roll outs of products worldwide, which has more to do with his prowess as a supply chain guy than a CEO.

And I personally think letting go of Forstall was a HUGE mistake. Almost makes it seem like he wants a bunch of 'yes men' around him. I could be mistaken, but it seems like none of the senior software guys are from NexT, which is strange considering it's been NextT's software that has been fueling Apple's renaissance for the entire past decade.

All that being said, I do not envy him his position due to the shoes he has had to fill, which is a monumental task to say the least. But I do not see him as a technologist or a visionary or someone who cares passionately about the industry.

However, if someone were to ask me, who then would be a better CEO of Apple... I don't have any answer either.
     
arrrc  (op)
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Apr 22, 2013, 12:47 PM
 
Originally Posted by OreoCookie View Post
Going from the 3rd to the 4th generation, Apple has doubled CPU and GPU performance. Such a performance jump not even year-over-year is unheard of in the PC business. Of course, if the iPad 3 is fast enough for all that you do, perhaps it won't entice you to upgrade, but then, you shouldn't. I don't buy a new computer just because newer ones are around, I buy them when I need them.

So here, Apple made a product (iPad 3) and before the other guys could catch up, they've increased their technological lead. The next generation will apparently make the iPad thinner and lighter. This will be the first iPad I'll get (for myself and my gf).
You sound like a PC marketer...
     
arrrc  (op)
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Apr 22, 2013, 12:51 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
How long has the iPad been on the market? Long enough for claims of "it's ALWAYS been this way", you really think?

They spec-bumped the top iPad along with the introduction of the iPad mini, switching them both to the new Dock connector, because they could.
And just in time for the Christmas season.

They once introduced substantially faster iMacs a mere THREE MONTHS after having introduced the previous version. Because they could.

You have "several" iPad 3s and don't see the justification to upgrade. Whoop-de-doo. If you insist on going by patterns (even if the iPad hardly has an established pattern after three years on the market), you might note that iOS devices have NEVER been designed to appeal to owners of the immediately preceding generation.

As for wanting a much thinner, lighter iPad, I'm right with you there. The difference is, I'm using my iPad 2 and not complaining about how stupid Apple is dying because they just can't bend the laws of physics the way they used to. I simply enjoy my iPad and look forward to the day they release the one I've decided I want (quite possibly, later this year).
It took Apple two and a half years to get the 13" aluminum MacBook up to the specs I was prepared to spend my money on (first released in October 2008; the version I bought was released in early 2011). I'd already decided I wanted one in 2008, though.
Same with the 13" retina display MacBook Pros. The way things are going, I figure they'll probably have my ideal feature/price mix sometime in 2014.

If everything comes together, I'll buy. If not, why the hell spend my time whining about whatever the hell Apple is doing or not doing?

Of course, these devices are business tools for me, which may explain my lack of sense of entitlement.
Ok...
     
arrrc  (op)
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Apr 22, 2013, 01:01 PM
 
Originally Posted by Hawkeye_a View Post
I'm not a fan of Tim Cook as CEO. As a COO, he's the best there is.

I do not agree with:
-His constant apologizing (example with Apple Maps)
-His letting go of Scott Forstall
-Changing Apple's 'charity' policy (it's not his own money he is giving away)
(among other things)

I think the core of Apple has been devalued under Cook. I was shocked at the apologies, and worse, directing users to competitors' products. I applaud Scott Forstall for not giving in and putting his name on that most absurd piece of PR from Cook.

I will credit Cook with faster roll outs of products worldwide, which has more to do with his prowess as a supply chain guy than a CEO.

And I personally think letting go of Forstall was a HUGE mistake. Almost makes it seem like he wants a bunch of 'yes men' around him. I could be mistaken, but it seems like none of the senior software guys are from NexT, which is strange considering it's been NextT's software that has been fueling Apple's renaissance for the entire past decade.

All that being said, I do not envy him his position due to the shoes he has had to fill, which is a monumental task to say the least. But I do not see him as a technologist or a visionary or someone who cares passionately about the industry.

However, if someone were to ask me, who then would be a better CEO of Apple... I don't have any answer either.
Good points.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Apr 22, 2013, 01:02 PM
 
You might go on to note that the established pattern for iPod and iOS releases is to have a press event just before the holiday season, so what's actually happening might be that Apple is finally moving the iPad INTO LINE with their existing release patterns.
     
The Final Dakar
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Apr 22, 2013, 01:02 PM
 
Wait, hawkeye likes the skeumorph guy? Why am I not surprised...
     
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Apr 22, 2013, 01:57 PM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
Wait, hawkeye likes the skeumorph guy? Why am I not surprised...
Scott Forstall (wiki)

OSX's Aqua UI (which was one of its most distinguishing and unique features when it debuted) and heading the iOS team is no small feet. Heck he even took over OSX when Tevanian left in 2006.

"skeumorph" (or whatever it is called), is such a tiny, almost non-consequential aspect of what Forstall has done in Apple's software development. I personally do not like the design principle of skeumorph, but I would hardly use it to define Forstall's accomplishments and contributions to Apple's software foundations. (The fact that he did not put his name to that stupid apology earned my respect..... that and the fact that he's the only Apple VP I've seen who made a Seinfeld reference on stage ).

Cheers

EDIT>> Craig Federighi, who now heads the Mac Software Engineering and iOS teams, is a NexT dude.
     
The Final Dakar
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Apr 22, 2013, 02:01 PM
 
Yeah, kudos to that guy for making a bad google maps replacement and not owning up to it.
     
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Apr 22, 2013, 02:17 PM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
Yeah, kudos to that guy for making a bad google maps replacement and not owning up to it.
I use Apple maps. And find it better than the old Maps app&data.
-Most of the people who were complaining about antennagate, didn't even own an iOS device. Steve didn't apologize. the iPhone 4 went on to become the best selling smartphone that year.
-Most of the people complaining about Apple Maps, didnt own an iOS device either. Cook apologized. Forstall didn't.

Heck did Google apologize when their dataset was not(and probably never will be) 100% accurate? Google Maps Errors (Wiki)

So yeah I respect the guy for holding his own instead of admitting to something that wasn't his fault just for better PR. The same way I respect Steve Jobs for not apologizing for 'antennagate' as it was so obvious that ever smartphone has similar issues.
     
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Apr 22, 2013, 02:17 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
You might go on to note that the established pattern for iPod and iOS releases is to have a press event just before the holiday season, so what's actually happening might be that Apple is finally moving the iPad INTO LINE with their existing release patterns.
No. iPhones get released summer or Sept. iPads March/April.

iOS:

iOS 1: June 2007
iOS 2: July 2008
iOS 3: July 2009
iOS 4: June 2010
iOS 5: Press event and previewed in June, 2011, lots of bugs... hit all devices in October.
iOS 6: Press event and previewed June, 2012, hit devices September 2012.

iPods:

Most releases are in early September.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Apr 22, 2013, 04:52 PM
 
Three iPads were released in Spring. Two were released in October.
Please explain to me where the pattern is.

iOS PREVIEWS are in summer, at WWDC. iOS RELEASES are in autumn, in time for the holiday quarter. And the first iPhone/"iOS" was previewed in January, before its summer release.
The last two iPhones were released in fall, as were almost all iPods since 2001, excepting those that were updated in - *gasp* - "mid-cycle", and those that were actually released in spring (like the iPod mini, IIRC, which was then updated along with the other iPods in fall until it was replaced by the nano.
And the Verizon iPhone was released mid-cycle. As was the white iPhone 4, IIRC.

The first year or two of iPad was bizarre, because they were shipping iPads with different iOS versions than the other iOS devices, due to the discrepancy in release timing. It makes WAY more sense to release them alongside the iPod touches and iPhones.
The only problem with that is the logistics of shipping all that crap across the oceans in time for the holidays.

Don't let history get in the way of painting doom scenarios for Apple, though – that has a history far longer than even my first-generation iPod.

It might even predate my Macintosh SE.
     
Cold Warrior
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Apr 22, 2013, 08:43 PM
 
Originally Posted by arrrc View Post
Ron Johnson did not leave Apple while Jobs was there.
Read carefully, I said he arranged to leave while Steve was around.
     
arrrc  (op)
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Apr 22, 2013, 08:51 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
Three iPads were released in Spring. Two were released in October.
Please explain to me where the pattern is.

iOS PREVIEWS are in summer, at WWDC. iOS RELEASES are in autumn, in time for the holiday quarter. And the first iPhone/"iOS" was previewed in January, before its summer release.
The last two iPhones were released in fall, as were almost all iPods since 2001, excepting those that were updated in - *gasp* - "mid-cycle", and those that were actually released in spring (like the iPod mini, IIRC, which was then updated along with the other iPods in fall until it was replaced by the nano.
And the Verizon iPhone was released mid-cycle. As was the white iPhone 4, IIRC.

The first year or two of iPad was bizarre, because they were shipping iPads with different iOS versions than the other iOS devices, due to the discrepancy in release timing. It makes WAY more sense to release them alongside the iPod touches and iPhones.
The only problem with that is the logistics of shipping all that crap across the oceans in time for the holidays.

Don't let history get in the way of painting doom scenarios for Apple, though – that has a history far longer than even my first-generation iPod.

It might even predate my Macintosh SE.
No. Out of the 6 iOS releases 4 of them have been released in June/July, and 2 in September/October. iOS 5 was likely released later than June/July not by choice, but because of bugs. And then iOS 6 followed suit. This blows your whole pattern of iOS releases "right before the holiday season" thing.

Anyway, who cares. I'm more interested in Tim Cook than your flawed pattern recognition.

What do you predict will happen with their earnings tomorrow?
     
arrrc  (op)
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Apr 23, 2013, 01:01 AM
 
Originally Posted by Cold Warrior View Post
Read carefully, I said he arranged to leave while Steve was around.
Ya I saw that. What actually is your point?

What does arrange mean? He couldn't have been that serious since he didn't leave until late 2011.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Apr 23, 2013, 01:31 AM
 
I think it's safe to assume that idiotic threads like this one, no matter how eloquently formulated, are the result of rumors and critical articles timed and intended to help investors make a killing off Apple stock (the way floating garbage rumors in January helped investors short billions of dollars' worth of stock).
The bizarre campaign against Apple's Tim Cook

Quarterly results are posted later today.
     
The Final Dakar
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Apr 23, 2013, 02:05 AM
 
Originally Posted by arrrc View Post
Ya I saw that. What actually is your point?

What does arrange mean? He couldn't have been that serious since he didn't leave until late 2011.
Freudling is that you?
     
arrrc  (op)
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Apr 23, 2013, 02:51 AM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
Freudling is that you?
No idea who that is.

But I do have a prediction for Apple's earnings: Apple will post record revenues.
     
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Apr 23, 2013, 03:20 AM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
Freudling is that you?
Oh good. I wasn't the only one thinking this.

Slick shoes?! Are you crazy?!
     
subego
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Apr 23, 2013, 10:29 AM
 
     
arrrc  (op)
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Apr 23, 2013, 06:20 PM
 
Looks like Apple did pretty good.

But can anyone explain to me why their profit falls?
     
OAW
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Apr 23, 2013, 06:34 PM
 
Originally Posted by arrrc View Post
Looks like Apple did pretty good.

But can anyone explain to me why their profit falls?
Because the margins on the iPad Mini are significantly lower than the typical Apple product. That's the cost of increasing marketshare and revenues by getting such a quality device into the hands of customers at an aggressive price of $329.

OAW
     
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Apr 23, 2013, 09:26 PM
 
Originally Posted by OAW View Post
Because the margins on the iPad Mini are significantly lower than the typical Apple product. That's the cost of increasing marketshare and revenues by getting such a quality device into the hands of customers at an aggressive price of $329.

OAW
Interesting.

Last quarter:

$54.5 billion revenues with $13.1 billion profit. 24% profit.

This quarter:

$43.6 billion revenues with $9.5 billion profit. 22% profit.

Fourth quarter, 2012:

$36 billion revenues with $8.2 billion profit. 23% profit.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Apr 24, 2013, 02:39 AM
 
Originally Posted by OAW View Post
Because the margins on the iPad Mini are significantly lower than the typical Apple product. That's the cost of increasing marketshare and revenues by getting such a quality device into the hands of customers at an aggressive price of $329.

OAW
And yet, people were ragging on how Apple failed because they hadn't built in a retina display.

So: iPad mini failed because Apple didn't include more expensive components.
But: iPad mini was so expensive to make and so massively successful that it actually cut overall margins significantly.

Does this mean we can finally put that to rest and agree that the non-retina display and the iPad 2 internals were the best possible compromise for the initial release of the iPad mini?
     
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Apr 24, 2013, 03:08 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
And yet, people were ragging on how Apple failed because they hadn't built in a retina display.

So: iPad mini failed because Apple didn't include more expensive components.
But: iPad mini was so expensive to make and so massively successful that it actually cut overall margins significantly.

Does this mean we can finally put that to rest and agree that the non-retina display and the iPad 2 internals were the best possible compromise for the initial release of the iPad mini?


OAW
     
P
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Apr 24, 2013, 03:34 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
And yet, people were ragging on how Apple failed because they hadn't built in a retina display.

So: iPad mini failed because Apple didn't include more expensive components.
But: iPad mini was so expensive to make and so massively successful that it actually cut overall margins significantly.

Does this mean we can finally put that to rest and agree that the non-retina display and the iPad 2 internals were the best possible compromise for the initial release of the iPad mini?
I like the choice of display, but I wish they had put the regular A6 (not A6X) in there. The mini is starting to look quite slow in Javascript tests already. Can't see how that would have cost much more. A possible reason is TSMC yields, of course, but more likely they just wanted to keep the development targets to a minimum.
The new Mac Pro has up to 30 MB of cache inside the processor itself. That's more than the HD in my first Mac. Somehow I'm still running out of space.
     
Spheric Harlot
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Apr 24, 2013, 03:39 PM
 
Originally Posted by arrrc View Post
iPods:

Most releases are in early September.
I was just looking through the "Ten Years of iTunes" feature and noticed that the FIFTH generation of iPods was the first that actually established the September/October release schedule, in September 2005. Even their most popular iPod to that date — the iPod mini — was introduced in early January, shipping in June internationally. As was the second-generation iPod mini (January 2005). The iPod 4th-generation was updated in June 2005 (with color displays across the line and new pricing), a mere three months before the iPod with video was introduced, obsoleting it.

So if you're desperate for some sort of predictable pattern to base your speculation around, maybe you should wait until the fifth generation of iPads is released. Or just maybe, the iPad, being the new general computing platform, will follow a similar strategy as the previous (and still concurrent) one — the Macintosh —, and just get updated whenever the hell supplies and cost and retail channel inventory align to make it ideal.

Who knows? Either approach would make perfect sense, though I suspect we'll see the second approach, even if that will continue to confuse you and others like you. Apple needs to move the platform forward as fast as they can if they want to keep defining the rules of the tablet game the way they have.
     
arrrc  (op)
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Apr 24, 2013, 07:24 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
I was just looking through the "Ten Years of iTunes" feature and noticed that the FIFTH generation of iPods was the first that actually established the September/October release schedule, in September 2005. Even their most popular iPod to that date — the iPod mini — was introduced in early January, shipping in June internationally. As was the second-generation iPod mini (January 2005). The iPod 4th-generation was updated in June 2005 (with color displays across the line and new pricing), a mere three months before the iPod with video was introduced, obsoleting it.

So if you're desperate for some sort of predictable pattern to base your speculation around, maybe you should wait until the fifth generation of iPads is released. Or just maybe, the iPad, being the new general computing platform, will follow a similar strategy as the previous (and still concurrent) one — the Macintosh —, and just get updated whenever the hell supplies and cost and retail channel inventory align to make it ideal.

Who knows? Either approach would make perfect sense, though I suspect we'll see the second approach, even if that will continue to confuse you and others like you. Apple needs to move the platform forward as fast as they can if they want to keep defining the rules of the tablet game the way they have.
Why are you still talking about this?

Hey, do you have a Mini? Is it any good?
     
 
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