On Cupertino and i-Devices
The New York Times ran an interesting article today - Apple’s Retail Army, Long on Loyalty but Short on Pay . Here's my take on the Cupertino and its Outlook
No surprises in the NYT article. I have been to many of them slick stores, and always thought the FruitHeads were probably ripping off Gen X/Y, and more than likely sucking the life out of most of them, all in the name of the "cause".
While the devices themselves are fantastic in design, and perform at or near specs most of the time, the amount of control Cupertino wants, and has, on the ENTIRE iOS + OS X ecosystem is stunning. Recently met a 31 year veteran of service and repair - a small business owner, and a genuinely decent man. The 500 Billion market cap behemoth is 'Nickel and Diming' him on every 20 to 30$ repair ticket. All for the pleasure of receiving broken devices that the folks over at the "Genius" Bar cannot fix. In fact, in my own experience, they have "fixed" and returned devices to me, only to have me turn it 'ON' in the store and discover that the problem wasn't fixed. The GOAL, friends, is to get you out of the store, if you are not buying, ASAP. Despite their fawning over your disappointment, and the carefully orchestrated verbal cues of regret and commiseration, they are actually not interested in fixing you broken device. At least, not in the store. The devices are shipped to a global army of authorized service centers, most of which are independent small business contractors, and Cupertino calls ALL the shots.
Its been long apparent, that Cupertino treats its masses of customers the same way - "if you buy our devices, you will never truly own them, for you can only use them in the manner contemplated by our vision and mission".
Yet, the lack of credible alternatives, until now (though that may be fast chaging), compels millions (including yours truly) to buy. The more Tech savvy amongst us will "Sn0w Blast" their way to freedom from Cupertino's tyranny. Cupertino will often make small changes in OS versioning, in almost a 'Cat-and-Mouse' chase like manner, to defeat the proponents of Open Access - aka Cydia, et al, of the RedSn0w fame. Cydia, by definition, is reactive and has been nipping at the heels of such shenanigans, albeit with appropriate time lags.
I am one of the biggest proponents of Free Market Capitalism. But, I also believe in fairness and equitable treatment of ALL employees, and especially of Customers. The CEOs $570 million compensation, is egregious, relative to the boots on the ground that are making $30,000 under extreme stress, and with slim to none upward career paths.
Why egregious? Because the CEO works for shareholders, and the gigantic incentive payments, as in $570 million, is effectively moving shareholder money into private, employee wallets. Boards are rarely independent, and if you want to believe they are, I have a bridge to sell to you too.
Cupertino has also shown an aggressive propensity to litigate everything, and against everyone. When one has the size and scale it does, not to mention the cash hoard, it also has an army of well heeled attorneys filing for injunctions around the world, against the likes of Samsung, Motorola, Google, etc. In fact, lawsuits are being filed, against ANYONE that is a competitor, or a potential competitor. Reminds me of how much money MSFT spent litigating Anti-Trust charges back in the 90s. Bill Gates lost that one, under the stewardship of Gates Sr., then the General Counsel for the software behemoth. And lest we forget, Cupertino WAS part of the crowd crying "FOUL" against MSFT's IE shenanigans.
You see, Cupertino loves its monopoly. Anti Trust laws in the US (The Sherman Act) are in place primarily to bust abusive monopolies, and colluding duoplies, etc. The Justice Department has not looked carefully into Cupertino. Not Yet.
In a way, the i-Device empire is under assault from the relentless march of Samsung, Google, Microsoft, etc., who have the muscle, money, and resolve to not be left behind for too long. Google paid $14 billion last year, to buy Motorola Mobility - makers of the XOOM tablet, and owner of a veritable portfolio of Patents. A vastly improved Google Tablet (Googlet?) is likely on its way, and its not gonna be 'Nexus' like. Andriod 4.0, aka IceCream Sandwich, is fast closing the gap relative to iOS, perhaps even to iOS 6.0 (to be release during Fall 2012). Samsung's Galaxy III, meanwhile, is almost an iPhone killer - go check it out, it may change your mind too, and shed some light on why Cupertino was seeking a US injunction against the Galaxy III. MSFT is no longer content with their foolishly conceived partnership with the Sinking Swedish Ship, and just last week released "Surface", a 10.1 inch tablet running Windows 8 - Ballmer's ultimate revenge, perhaps.
Imagine the WINTEL manufacturing supply chain complex, with a slick (perhaps even stunning) Surface Tablet, with all your favorite Win Apps - yes, the very ones you love to hate, but have been using since your kids were in diapers. All yours, at less than what the i-Devices cost, and for you to customize and use AS YOU SEE FIT.
Cupertino is inadvertently destroying the i-Device Food Chain. Tyrannies seldom survive for long in democratic- free-market-rule-of-law economies What happens when the Super Predator destroys the lowest level Planktons sits somewhere else on this blog.
Innovation and creative talent is everywhere, and thankfully, intangibles cannot be Patented. Not Yet.
Free Market Capitalism is out for Cupertino's Pie. It is only a matter of time before Cupertino is humbled into submitting to the will of Free Markets.
The New York Times ran an interesting article today - Apple’s Retail Army, Long on Loyalty but Short on Pay . Here's my take on the Cupertino and its Outlook
No surprises in the NYT article. I have been to many of them slick stores, and always thought the FruitHeads were probably ripping off Gen X/Y, and more than likely sucking the life out of most of them, all in the name of the "cause".
While the devices themselves are fantastic in design, and perform at or near specs most of the time, the amount of control Cupertino wants, and has, on the ENTIRE iOS + OS X ecosystem is stunning. Recently met a 31 year veteran of service and repair - a small business owner, and a genuinely decent man. The 500 Billion market cap behemoth is 'Nickel and Diming' him on every 20 to 30$ repair ticket. All for the pleasure of receiving broken devices that the folks over at the "Genius" Bar cannot fix. In fact, in my own experience, they have "fixed" and returned devices to me, only to have me turn it 'ON' in the store and discover that the problem wasn't fixed. The GOAL, friends, is to get you out of the store, if you are not buying, ASAP. Despite their fawning over your disappointment, and the carefully orchestrated verbal cues of regret and commiseration, they are actually not interested in fixing you broken device. At least, not in the store. The devices are shipped to a global army of authorized service centers, most of which are independent small business contractors, and Cupertino calls ALL the shots.
Its been long apparent, that Cupertino treats its masses of customers the same way - "if you buy our devices, you will never truly own them, for you can only use them in the manner contemplated by our vision and mission".
Yet, the lack of credible alternatives, until now (though that may be fast chaging), compels millions (including yours truly) to buy. The more Tech savvy amongst us will "Sn0w Blast" their way to freedom from Cupertino's tyranny. Cupertino will often make small changes in OS versioning, in almost a 'Cat-and-Mouse' chase like manner, to defeat the proponents of Open Access - aka Cydia, et al, of the RedSn0w fame. Cydia, by definition, is reactive and has been nipping at the heels of such shenanigans, albeit with appropriate time lags.
I am one of the biggest proponents of Free Market Capitalism. But, I also believe in fairness and equitable treatment of ALL employees, and especially of Customers. The CEOs $570 million compensation, is egregious, relative to the boots on the ground that are making $30,000 under extreme stress, and with slim to none upward career paths.
Why egregious? Because the CEO works for shareholders, and the gigantic incentive payments, as in $570 million, is effectively moving shareholder money into private, employee wallets. Boards are rarely independent, and if you want to believe they are, I have a bridge to sell to you too.
Cupertino has also shown an aggressive propensity to litigate everything, and against everyone. When one has the size and scale it does, not to mention the cash hoard, it also has an army of well heeled attorneys filing for injunctions around the world, against the likes of Samsung, Motorola, Google, etc. In fact, lawsuits are being filed, against ANYONE that is a competitor, or a potential competitor. Reminds me of how much money MSFT spent litigating Anti-Trust charges back in the 90s. Bill Gates lost that one, under the stewardship of Gates Sr., then the General Counsel for the software behemoth. And lest we forget, Cupertino WAS part of the crowd crying "FOUL" against MSFT's IE shenanigans.
You see, Cupertino loves its monopoly. Anti Trust laws in the US (The Sherman Act) are in place primarily to bust abusive monopolies, and colluding duoplies, etc. The Justice Department has not looked carefully into Cupertino. Not Yet.
In a way, the i-Device empire is under assault from the relentless march of Samsung, Google, Microsoft, etc., who have the muscle, money, and resolve to not be left behind for too long. Google paid $14 billion last year, to buy Motorola Mobility - makers of the XOOM tablet, and owner of a veritable portfolio of Patents. A vastly improved Google Tablet (Googlet?) is likely on its way, and its not gonna be 'Nexus' like. Andriod 4.0, aka IceCream Sandwich, is fast closing the gap relative to iOS, perhaps even to iOS 6.0 (to be release during Fall 2012). Samsung's Galaxy III, meanwhile, is almost an iPhone killer - go check it out, it may change your mind too, and shed some light on why Cupertino was seeking a US injunction against the Galaxy III. MSFT is no longer content with their foolishly conceived partnership with the Sinking Swedish Ship, and just last week released "Surface", a 10.1 inch tablet running Windows 8 - Ballmer's ultimate revenge, perhaps.
Imagine the WINTEL manufacturing supply chain complex, with a slick (perhaps even stunning) Surface Tablet, with all your favorite Win Apps - yes, the very ones you love to hate, but have been using since your kids were in diapers. All yours, at less than what the i-Devices cost, and for you to customize and use AS YOU SEE FIT.
Cupertino is inadvertently destroying the i-Device Food Chain. Tyrannies seldom survive for long in democratic- free-market-rule-of-law economies What happens when the Super Predator destroys the lowest level Planktons sits somewhere else on this blog.
Innovation and creative talent is everywhere, and thankfully, intangibles cannot be Patented. Not Yet.
Free Market Capitalism is out for Cupertino's Pie. It is only a matter of time before Cupertino is humbled into submitting to the will of Free Markets.
No comments:
Post a Comment