A Grand Unified Theory of Apple Products

http://www.aboveavalon.com/notes/2015/12/02/the-grand-unified-theory-of-apple-products

by kawera • 11 years ago

46 44 11 years ago

jasonshen• 11 years ago

I'm definitely worried about Apple's product line sprawl. They have let their belt out a lot in the last few years and I hope they're planning a sweep to cut down the product line. 25 different computing devices is a lot for the consumer to think about and I think it would help boost sales. I talked more about this in a blog post recently: http://www.jasonshen.com/2015/the-rise-and-fall-of-product-l...

IBM• 11 years ago

The old 4 quadrants of products was for an early 2000s Apple that staved off bankruptcy, not 2015 Apple that uses its supply chain mastery as a competitive advantage.

sirkneeland• 11 years ago

Are you saying they should make a huge breadth of products because supply chain?

bsbechtel3• 11 years ago

25 different computing devices also places huge amounts of demand on their stores and Genius Bars, and it's really starting to show.

TazeTSchnitzel2• 11 years ago

Yep. The Apple Store near me sells the iPhone 5S, but there's only one single device in the entire store.

maxerickson2• 11 years ago

The Ultimate comic series weren't a reboot, they were in addition to the other books. They've mostly wrapped up, while the main books continue on.

The goals as I understand it were several fold, to tell stories in a universe with no baggage, and to have less age restrictions (the Ultimate Hulk likes to eat people, there's lots of other darker stuff).

astrange2• 11 years ago

Maybe someone should remind the American comics industry that they sold hundreds and thousands times more comics when they were about funny dogs, and not the Hulk eating people.

staunch2• 11 years ago

Apple, Inc. used to be Apple Computer, Inc. but Jobs changed the name because people don't think of their iPhones as being "computers".

Apple makes personal computers, and that's just about it.

ryanmonroe2• 11 years ago

Personal computers, operating systems, software, "cloud" services, a music distribution system, a programming language, now a streaming service, a line of headphones. (and possibly a car at some point)

staunch2• 11 years ago

All infrastructure and peripherals for PCs.

tolmasky2• 11 years ago

So Schiller's explanation was really just making explicit the problem described: he more or less states that the goal of each product is to bring into question the necessity of the next. If every product you make, is by design, meant to obsolete another product, then it's going to be a lot of hard choices for the customer: every single thing you want to buy comes with the "but maybe this thing can do this too..." question. This doesnt really justify or bring insight into anything, but rather accurately predicts the confusion such a product line will create.

Once upon a time apple wanted you to walk into an Apple Store and walk out with something useful, now they want you to consider where you side in the "personal vs power" debate.

aresant• 11 years ago

I inferred this a little differently

In his quote about the iMac* I think the strategy is essentially laid bare that they expect the top end to continue to drive appeal by being powerful and cutting edge - letting consumers continue to drive new experiences and productivity with that form factor

And the waterfall model will, as such, continue as innovation / component miniturization collapses features downward.

Look to the soon arrival of full ar/VR for a "desktop best" example.

Eg VR is best via Oculus rift on a high power PC.

There are translated experiences via Samsungvr and goog glass but nothing like the experience of say assetto corsa racing or elite dangerous on a 2x980gtx system.

Naturally and over time this quality / set will roll downwards to mobile.

* iMac: "It's job is to challenge what we think a computer can do and do things that no computer has ever done before, be more and more powerful and capable so that we need a desktop because of its capabilities. Because if all it's doing is competing with the notebook and being thinner and lighter, then it doesn't need to be."

tolmasky2• 11 years ago

Sure, but that necessarily means that the "middle" will always be muddled. Only the edges can ever clearly offer unique value. This wouldn't be that big a concern if it wasn't for the fact that apples most valuable products are in this middle.

the proof is in the pudding, regardless of what the theory is, from iPhone plus to iPad mini 2 to iPad mini 4 to iPad Air to iPad Air 2 to iPad Pro to the new MacBook to the MacBook Air to the MacBook Pro (all distinct products), I get some vague sense that I want two, but I'm not really sure which two. And my decision feels like I'm always going to leave something on the table, and unfortunate trade off (like lacking a pen device vs a natural trade off like performance)

alextgordon• 11 years ago

Apple's products are expensive. They're not impulse buys, you don't just walk into an Apple Store and -- on a whim -- decide to buy a $2000 computer or a $900 phone.

Instead you go there, try out a few options, go home, think about it, make a decision, then order.

So I actually think it was the original approach that was muddled. If customers are coming to your store with research under their belt, you'd better have a product right for them.

Aloha4• 11 years ago

that really depends on your income level, for some of us, something like an apple watch /is/ an impulse buy.

newman3142• 11 years ago

That would certainly be great if true.

But when I look at things like iTunes or the Music app on iOS app, it sure feels like they have tacked feature upon feature overloading things in a big way.

With the latest redesign of the iOS Music app, I can't figure how to just shuffle the tunes I have installed on my phone. ARGH.

petronic• 11 years ago

I've resorted to only enabling/disabling shuffle via Siri.

ryanmonroe2• 11 years ago

There's a button on the bottom of now playing. Same icon as it always has been.

xirdstl• 11 years ago

I agree. I think the music app has gotten too crowded. I wish they would have separate apps for my music and Apple Music/radio

chenglou• 11 years ago

Pull down from the main menu. Took me some fiddling to figure out too.

austenallred• 11 years ago

That... is a terrible UX

scarface74• 11 years ago

I've got an even worse Ux experience for you. The podcast app. The sleep timer, forward 15 sec and back 15 sec buttons are completely invisible. You have to know where on the screen to press to get to them.

trhway• 11 years ago

to me the GUT of Apple products is the page 6 of the Macintosh business plan from 1981 - http://archive.computerhistory.org/resources/text/2009/10271... (and similar Jobs' documents from that time, couldn't find right now the one where the stuff was put in some order on some kind of timeline). Back then Jobs was able to implement only Macintosh. The "VLC", "VIC", handhelds, etc. came much later as iPhone/iPad/...

r00fus• 11 years ago

Wow - amazing - is that a Dos Equis guy reference in the last page?

It's also amusing because that business plan (and it's last page) was published before Osborne Computing suffered from the Osborne effect...

enobrev• 11 years ago

Orson Welles: "We will sell no wine before its time."

https://youtu.be/oSs6DcA6dFI

TheOtherHobbes• 11 years ago

Jobs was brilliant at selling concrete benefits, not technologies.

I'm not seeing so much of that here.

What's the concrete benefit of something that's smaller but not quite as useful as the next product in the range?

What does "challenges what a computer can do" really mean? (In what sense is it true of any recent iMac?)

It's not that the concrete benefits aren't there. The iPad Pro has obvious practical appeal for certain kinds of users. So does the iPhone. Etc.

But this seems worryingly like a muddle where everything is seen from the viewpoint of a rather contrived Grand Strategy, and not from clear specific user benefits for each item in the line.

mark_l_watson• 11 years ago

I agree with Schiller's functional breakdown. Based on my own experience: if I can, I just use my Note 4 phone. If that is insufficient I grab my iPad. If that is insufficient, I grab a laptop.

The older I get, and the more writing I do rather than software development, the more I gravitate to smaller devices. It amazes me how easy it is to edit and write manuscripts on small devices. Same as for doing research by web browsing, taking notes, etc.

For some people, they can skip device size levels. For example, some people might only need a phone, a phone + laptop, or perhaps just a tablet with 4g.

I think Apple is making the right decision spreading their product lines to more device types and sizes inside types.

roflchoppa• 11 years ago

I just want to be able to select default apps to open files.

A Grand Unified Theory of Apple Products

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