This fanboi is starting to migrate away from Apple

[martint235]

Yup, but even the shareholders or at least the investment bankers want to see Apple's next thing. They're relying on a single product line and if something happened to the iPhone, then all those earnings would disappear. This was the same complaint with MS with Windows/Office, most of the profits came from there and investors were worried.

So Cook has been great at managing the product and eking out every last cent from the iPhones, what is Apple going to do next - that's the thing. I'm not saying he's not able to do that, but rather with the iPhone product maturing and computer sales as a whole shrinking. They need to have other revenue sources.

And herein lies an entirely different problem. As we agree that Tim Cook is currently making money, at what point do you replace him? When he stops making money or do you replace him before and take a risk on the new guy messing up the current set up?

To use a slightly ropey analogy, in UK football, your manager has got you in to the European places but he's not playing exciting football and there's no marquee signings being made. Keep him on the basis that he is technically successful or replace him cos you want to be Champions. Replace him and your team gets relegated then your fan base truly deserts you.

 

[maflynn]

As we agree that Tim Cook is currently making money, at what point do you replace him? When he stops making money or do you replace him before and take a risk on the new guy messing up the current set up?

Agreed, he's making money and that's what people want, but I think Apple needs to show they can still roll out "magical" products/services.

 

[martint235]

Yup, but even the shareholders or at least the investment bankers want to see Apple's next thing. They're relying on a single product line and if something happened to the iPhone, then all those earnings would disappear. This was the same complaint with MS with Windows/Office, most of the profits came from there and investors were worried.

So Cook has been great at managing the product and eking out every last cent from the iPhones, what is Apple going to do next - that's the thing. I'm not saying he's not able to do that, but rather with the iPhone product maturing and computer sales as a whole shrinking. They need to have other revenue sources.

But there's a risk here and quite a big one. Read through these forums and you'll see lots of "If the iPhone 8 doesn't have this, that's it I'm leaving Apple for good" type posts. And yet most people are vaguely happy with their iPhone6S/iPhone7. So if Apple were to release a truly innovative product they could, and it's a real risk, alienate their entire customer base.

There is an alternative. IBM did it in the 70s and 80s, you pump an awful lot of money into R&D and then rather than go to market with it, you virtually shelve it but with maturation going on. When another company then breaks to market with the Next Big Thing and it looks like it might take off, you do as IBM did and say "Really? That? We made that a few years ago but we didn't think any one would want it. Anyway as you do, here's ours and we've been improving it for a while now". It does cost an awful lot in R&D though and shareholders usually want to see results from R&D.

 

[pat500000]

Forget it. Magical comes from people's experience. Once you kill off the users' experience, it's game over. Too bad Apple didn't revert to cMP.

 

[macher]

Oh I see, I misunderstood your post, my apologies.

I agree with you, that that they seem be resting on their laurels.

They have a brand following. Consumers like myself are starting to see that they are resting on their laurels.

 

[macher]

This is a good short video of a reviewer that I like...

 

[phrehdd]

This is a good short video of a reviewer that I like...

Wow, I found myself actually agreeing with 95 percent of what she said. She is scaring me.

 

[maflynn]

This is a good short video of a reviewer that I like...

I like her videos, and the points she brings up resonate with me.

 

[kazmac]

Me, I am looking forward to browsing the Microsoft store without feeling like I do during my commute, (a sardine in an overpacked can).

I am over my angst and will just roll with whatever comes.

@maflynn has a good way of thinking: Buy what is the best system for your needs and enjoy.

 

[Queen6]

I like her videos, and the points she brings up resonate with me.

Lisa without any doubt is one of the best, most unbiased reviewers on YT, and more than qualified to do so. I have little doubt of the content, unfortunately connectivity is extremely constrained for me currently, so I will watch once I return home from the "Land of the Unexpected"

Keeping on topic, i7 Surface Book replaced my 13" rMPB, performing flawlessly over the last month in Papua New Guinea, backed up by Apple's Retina MacBook. Apple wants my custom, Apple needs to deliver what I need professionally, not what they think I want recreationally...

n.b. no affiliation to MobileTechreview

Q-6

 

[ssong]

Actually, while it would be nice if Apple made everything (toasters? refrigerators?) I also like the idea of Apple getting their focus back by killing of the side projects.

this actually might be the most important point for Apple. Whether it be going 'all in' with different areas or focusing on specific projects, Apple needs to choose one or the other and stick to it. Right now they are neither this nor that. I feel like ever since the acquisition of Beats, Apple has been trying to get into the content market and is now stuck in no man's land where it can't focus 100% of its content / services business or 100% on its hardware business.

I feel like it was expected that the beats staff that was brought over would naturally assume 100% of the content / services allowing the core Apple staff do what they do best. But due to poor management and perhaps too many external blood being brought in Apple has not only lost its Appleness but also tainted what made the acquired teams work.

The fact that they have managed to store Siri in what seems like a cryogenic chamber stuck in 2014 is really appalling for me, and I agree with OP in the way that Apple always tried to sell a 'lifestyle' an ecosystem in which Apple products enrich your life and work in unison in ways one never could imagine them working. That was working out to an extent as Apple kept placing more and more products in everyday situations with particular use-cases for each but still making sure they work in cohesion complementing each other and not eating into one another as many feared.

But now, it seems they've hit a roadblock in terms of innovation and while many of their newly launched products are still top of their class, the focus seems to have shifted from ubiquitous cohesion to each on their own. In fact, I believe iCloud and iMessages are the only things stopping me from migrating to a Samsung or Google phone. And if Samsung plays its cards right then it could have a killer AI virtual assistant complementing Google Assistant and piggybacking on Android which now seems quite on par with iOS (except for security).