Lewdog Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 I'm not real sure how to understand Apple's decision. Apple fired the head of their retail stores and the head of software development. This seems a very odd time for this to come out, with the new iphone recently hitting the market. I could have understood the firing of John Browett because executives over turned his cutbacks in the staffing of stores. The firing of Scott Forstall is a little more puzzling. Even with the fact the maps on the iphone doesn't work as planned, shouldn't someone above him approved the final testing of the entire phone before it went to market? This guy helped lead the programming of what was touted their best phone yet. I think Forstall was just a sacrifice. Question is, will this affect the public perception of Apple at all? Probably not, well at least not until the next i-phone comes out. That will be the real litmus test of how iphones will be in the future. [url="http://news.yahoo.com/apple-software-retail-chiefs-overhaul-004355286--sector.html"]http://news.yahoo.com/apple-software-retail-chiefs-overhaul-004355286--sector.html[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JC Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 I'm not sure if you follow the stock market, but APPL is dropping it like it is hot. Their stock has dropped over 100 points over the past week after hitting its highest point. Something is not well with this company right now. Doesn't mean I won't be purchasing my IPhone 5 in approximately 12 days. CANT WAIT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|Elflocko| Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 Steve Jobs rotting in a box is what's wrong with the company. I'm not particularly optimistic about its long-term future... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_B Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 [quote name='Elflocko' timestamp='1351603170' post='1175594'] Steve Jobs rotting in a box is what's wrong with the company. I'm not particularly optimistic about its long-term future... [/quote] On the plus side for them MS isnt exactly kicking ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PutWittyNameHere Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 [quote name='Elflocko' timestamp='1351603170' post='1175594'] Steve Jobs rotting in a box is what's wrong with the company. I'm not particularly optimistic about its long-term future... [/quote] Yeah, I'm worried, too. Something just doesn't seem "right" with that company since Steve-O passed. I don't exactly what that is, but I do think it's going to get worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vol_Bengal Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 [quote name='Elflocko' timestamp='1351603170' post='1175594'] Steve Jobs rotting in a box is what's wrong with the company. I'm not particularly optimistic about its long-term future... [/quote] Bingo! He left previously and Apple was on its last leg. He came back and brought them to significant prosperity... he's not coming back again. He was almost like a cult hero to some I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|Elflocko| Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 A person who is that good at foreseeing coming trends who is also a master manipulator of public sentiment only comes around once every generation or so. Had Jobs been there and healthy, there is no way that the Google Maps debacle occurs. Hell, had the chemo not been eating his brain I don't think Siri would have made it out the door either. There is no one left with that kind of vision and pulse on the market, at least not at that company. Sadly, they will become pedestrian at best within a decade... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mongo Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 [quote name='Elflocko' timestamp='1351617135' post='1175620'] A person who is that good at foreseeing coming trends who is also a master manipulator of public sentiment only comes around once every generation or so. Had Jobs been there and healthy, there is no way that the Google Maps debacle occurs. Hell, had the chemo not been eating his brain I don't think Siri would have made it out the door either. There is no one left with that kind of vision and pulse on the market, at least not at that company. Sadly, they will become pedestrian at best within a decade... [/quote] I totally disagree. I think Tim Cook is doing terrific things with Apple. I think he removing what was wrong with Apple prior to Steve's death, making decisive choices in company direction, and doing so without trying to ask "what would Steve do?" Cook's actually made a commitment to environmental impact, labor health, and investor relations. That sort of thing, in my opinion, is much more important for the company's health than Steve's email responses to individuals. Forstall and Ive were never going to coexist long term. The personality and creative conflict barely worked with Jobs around. Tim Cook had to make a choice, and I think he made the right one. Jonathan Ive is genius Steve Jobs hitched Apple to. Forstall may have been 'Mini-Jobs," but he didn't create so much as construct... He was also a dick, and a bit of a tyrant. Ive has given Apple every gorgeous piece of hardware Apple has seen since Steve's return. Forstall is the mind behind Stickies, Marker Felt, all of the skeuomorphic UI disasters of iOS (*stares menacingly at his stupid calendar app to see when his appointment starts*), Siri, and Maps. Forstall, at his heart, is a construction foreman who wants to be Frank Lloyd Wright. Ive, on the other hand, actually is Frank Lloyd Wright, and has managed to successfully act as construction foreman of the hardware. I think there needs to be a single creative director, and I think Ive is the clear choice to give Apple a unified look. I also don't put much stock in short term stock prices. Anyone who has followed Apple long enough knows there's a trend of people buying before major Apple events, and selling after. Between quarterly reports, the iPhone event, and this most recent iPad event, stock prices were bound to have decent fluctuation. I think Tim Cook's smartest move was to realize he wasn't Steve Jobs. I think his next smartest move has been putting the best people he can find into the positions that allow them to best make Apple great... Steve Jobs had a way of making people easily see the 'magic' in Apple products. He didn't single-handedly make the magic, though. It's still there. It's just not showcased as effectively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|Elflocko| Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 We'll see. Cook is an effective manager, but as you say, he can't make people see the "magic" like Jobs could. Cook also doesn't have the design or usability vision that Jobs had; very few people do. I've been using Apple products since the introduction of OS X, so it's not like I'm rooting for them to fail. I just have serious doubts about their product line post iPhone 5, which is the last thing that Jobs personally blessed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewdog Posted October 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 I'm surprised the Apple stock continued to dive after they won the lawsuit against Samsung. I'm still not sure how they pulled that one off. Since when can you copyright a shape? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDawgBengal Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 I am just guessing but I would say their is probably another project or two that Jobs had designed before he died but the technology was just not there yet. I can still see Apple coming out with something big in a couple years that Jobs had developed before he died. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mongo Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 [quote name='Elflocko' timestamp='1351621190' post='1175634'] We'll see. Cook is an effective manager, but as you say, he can't make people see the "magic" like Jobs could. Cook also doesn't have the design or usability vision that Jobs had; very few people do. I've been using Apple products since the introduction of OS X, so it's not like I'm rooting for them to fail. I just have serious doubts about their product line post iPhone 5, which is the last thing that Jobs personally blessed. [/quote] I also have concerns, but it's not related to Forstall leaving. After Steve passed, Ive has made sure beautiful hardware has continued to come out of Apple. Forstall has not done the same with iOS software. I've listed some of those mistakes, but I'd just like to add one more. Those updates to AppleTV UI since Steve's passing really bug me. Bad design in cheap, faux iPhone app look. If you can't interact with it the way you interact with an iPhone, why should it look that way? I worry about what is the next technology people never knew was the best thing ever. But who knows? Apple has a lot of smart people working for them. And as long as Tim Cook can successfully spot those people, and give them a voice in the company, things should be good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vol_Bengal Posted October 30, 2012 Report Share Posted October 30, 2012 [quote name='Elflocko' timestamp='1351621190' post='1175634'] I just have serious doubts about their product line post iPhone 5, which is the last thing that Jobs personally blessed. [/quote] I felt exactly this way as soon as it was released that Job's had cancer. Just felt like it was a matter of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-GoBengals- Posted November 1, 2012 Report Share Posted November 1, 2012 siding slightly on mongo with this one. it seems that many people were just "around" because they were pals with steve jobs, and were just his personal consultants of sorts, now, many people left dont seem to care for those folks ACTUALLY being in charge of real projects, at least one big boss has come BACk after the announcement of some firings.. spelling out that he left due to that person actually being in charge, stating that he refused to meet with him unless so and so was there to mediate the meeting.. just looks like apple is getting its ducks in a row with upper management after jobs passing, it was going to take a good amount of time to "feel things out" this just looks like the actions of feeling things out after the loss of jobs. the next 12 months will say a LOT about what the future holds, at least more so than the last 12 months has shown.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-GoBengals- Posted November 2, 2012 Report Share Posted November 2, 2012 Bob Mansfield's Return to Apple Reportedly Influenced by Scott Forstall's Departure Thursday November 1, 2012 7:17 am PDT by Eric Slivka AllThingsD offers a look at the back-and-forth situation with Apple executive Bob Mansfield, who announced his retirement as hardware chief in late June only to rescind the move two months later in order to work on special projects under CEO Tim Cook. With this week's management changes, Mansfield is now heading up a new "Technologies" division and has committed to remaining at the company for at least two more years. AllThingsD notes that Mansfield was indeed serious about retiring earlier this year and was enticed to stay on in an advisory capacity to ease the transition. But his all-in commitment to head the new Technologies division was reportedly influenced in no small part by the impending departure of iOS chief Scott Forstall. As one source close to the company told AllThingsD, “The timing of Bob’s return is not coincidental.” To begin, Mansfield was not a fan of Forstall’s confrontational management style, and sources said he generally tried to avoid the iOS exec. Indeed, Bloomberg last year reported that Mansfield would meet with Forstall only if Cook was present to mediate. I’ve heard many similar stories. “It wasn’t a him-or-me situation,” one source said of Mansfield’s return and Forstall’s ouster. “But, put it this way, I think Bob was much more willing to commit to two more years once he knew Scott was on his way out.” Mansfield is just one of several senior Apple executives taking on new roles in the restructuring, with design guru Jony Ive adding software design to his existing hardware design responsibilities, Eddy Cue picking up Siri and Maps, and Craig Federighi adding iOS to his OS X responsibilities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewdog Posted November 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 Is Apple a bunch of geniuses or are they biting the hand that feeds them? Someone took apart the new iPad min and found Samsung parts in it. WHAT!?!? The same Samsung that Apple just got done suing because "The shape of the Samsung phone was too much like the iPhone." Apple says they are trying to become more self reliant, but if they are at this point, and still can't make there own products without parts from other companies, should they be suing them? [url="http://news.yahoo.com/first-ipad-mini-teardown-reveals-samsung-display-165959233--sector.html"]http://news.yahoo.com/first-ipad-mini-teardown-reveals-samsung-display-165959233--sector.html[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullichicken25 Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 Clearly apple can turn a healthy profit without producing all their sub components in house, I don't see much incentive for them to stop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewdog Posted November 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 [quote name='mullichicken25' timestamp='1352000212' post='1176864'] Clearly apple can turn a healthy profit without producing all their sub components in house, I don't see much incentive for them to stop [/quote] But at the same time they sued Samsung for like a billion dollars because the shape of the Galaxy looked too much like an iPhone. If Samsung can make parts, that Apple thinks is the best for their product, why would they piss them off and eventually have the relationship between the two crumble. No Samsung screens, no iPad minis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-GoBengals- Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 [quote name='Lewdog' timestamp='1352000474' post='1176865'] But at the same time they sued Samsung for like a billion dollars because the shape of the Galaxy looked too much like an iPhone. If Samsung can make parts, that Apple thinks is the best for their product, why would they piss them off and eventually have the relationship between the two crumble. No Samsung screens, no iPad minis. [/quote] apple is pulling away from samsung as a supplier, sharp and LG are starting to make more and more. but they have used samsung parts for ages... this isnt news. and yes, the sams samsung they sued.... this says a LOT about it... you can joke all you want about "OMG sueing cause of rounded corners, LOLZ" but seriously... you really cant argue against this: [img]http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17ttvga6jpcaojpg/original.jpg[/img] there is really no argument against this... they are almost mirror images of the iphone... companies sue companies they are in other business with all the time.. its only a big deal because its apple and everyone loves to hate on apple any way they can.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Dub Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 [quote name='Dalton4HOF' timestamp='1352005369' post='1176882'] [img]http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17ttvga6jpcaojpg/original.jpg[/img] [/quote] How shocking! Why, those Samsung phones look almost identical to... every other smartphone on the market right now. Either this is only the first of many lawsuits trying to establish that Apple somehow holds exclusive rights to a touchscreen phone - doubtful, since that's not what the ruling established anyway - or they have a particular stick up their ass about Samsung. I wonder who their nearest competitor is in the smartphone market? Well I'll be dipped.. Actually, it should be the other way around, because the numbers (via IDC) show Samsung holding roughly 1/3rd of the market globally compared to roughly 1/4 for Apple. What's more, they have been steadily growing their customer base over the last year-plus, while Apple appears to have shrunk considerably (also worldwide numbers from the same source). Also worth noting is that this same claim was thrown out in the UK - a more neutral location for a trial, one might think, than one within a short commute of Apple HQ. FWIW, one of the jury members from SoCal said in an interview that their ruling was based on software and internal documents from Samsung, and had nothing to do with the appearance of the two company's phones. In fact Apple was ordered to print a public apology to Samsung on their .uk website, and is now facing the possibility of fines for using a resized photo of the iPad mini to push that court-ordered retraction off the screen. I've made no secret of my belief that Apple's products are 10% innovation and 90% marketing, but I don't know how you can possibly defend this Samsung ruling. Meanwhile, the 16gb Nexus 7 is selling for $200. Better hurry up and sue Asus! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mongo Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 It's not about the touchscreen at all. Samsung, specifically the early Galaxy line, flat out cloned the early iPhones... Their early responses to the iPhone flopped, they designed the Galaxy as a clone, Google warned them not to, they ignored the warnings, and lost that particular battle in court... There are a buttload of touchscreen phone manufacturers not being sued, and it's because they made touchscreen phones that didn't look exactly like an iPhone with their corporate badging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-Dub Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 [quote name='mongo' timestamp='1352045011' post='1176938'] It's not about the touchscreen at all. Samsung, specifically the early Galaxy line, flat out cloned the early iPhones... Their early responses to the iPhone flopped, they designed the Galaxy as a clone, Google warned them not to, they ignored the warnings, and lost that particular battle in court... There are a buttload of touchscreen phone manufacturers not being sued, and it's because they made touchscreen phones that didn't look exactly like an iPhone with their corporate badging. [/quote] The interview I read said it was those warnings from Google that were the deciding factor. They also said it was about software and not the appearance, however. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewdog Posted November 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 How can you copyright a shape? Is Oscar Meyer going to sure John Morrel? Both of their hot dogs are the same shape. Is Hostess going to sure Bluebird, because their twinkies look the same shape? There are several products out there that have the same shape. How can Apple have all these genius guys and not be able to make all the parts for their product? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullichicken25 Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 [quote name='Lewdog' timestamp='1352057532' post='1177139'] How can Apple have all these genius guys and not be able to make all the parts for their product? [/quote] I can assure that it's not because they "can't" make it in the sense that they're not capable of making a component of that quality This kind of thing is par for course in the manufacturing world Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewdog Posted November 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 [quote name='mullichicken25' timestamp='1352084796' post='1177700'] I can assure that it's not because they "can't" make it in the sense that they're not capable of making a component of that quality This kind of thing is par for course in the manufacturing world [/quote] Oh I don't doubt that at all. When Saturn car company came out, they said they were the only car sold in America that was all American parts and all. That speaks volumes, for companies like GM, Chrysler, and Ford. In fact GM was in a certain sense, was counter marketing itself, because it owned Saturn. I still think the courts are opening up a huge problem in the future. There is only so many ways to do something the right way, that makes the majority of the customers happy. What's next? Copyrighting tv's that are rectangle? Copyrighting cell phones that don't have buttons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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