It’s not often I get irked by some technical pundit who professes to be the law when discussing new technology. However, the latest blog post of self-professed Apple hater Paul Thurrott is disturbing in and of itself. I don’t mind people challenging Google, Apple, RIM or any other technology company with well thought out and supportive articles but his last two have been beauties. Now it’s no secret that he has carved out a living writing about Microsoft products and that is not a bad thing at all. At the end, though, Mr. Thurrott is evidently very threatened by the re-emergence of Apple and with each new product release, this fear has only increased.
Specifically, with the recent announcement of the iPad, Mr. Thurrott has tried to persuade readers of two fabricated points:
- Apple is responsible for an increase in eBook pricing on the Kindle; and
- That Apple isn’t an innovative company.
Let’s look at his first argument. Mr. Thurrott writes:
What’s interesting about Amazon’s approach is that it actually loses money on each $9.99 Kindle eBook. That’s because, today, publishers sell new eBooks at the same price to retailers as they do hardcover books. Amazon’s bet was that by establishing a standard, it could later negotiate with publishers to lower the price. This strategy would benefit Amazon, of course, but also the millions of readers who purchased Kindle devices.
Apple’s entry into the eBook market with the iPad tablet device and its integrated iBooks eBook reader software has ruined this opportunity. Utilizing the tiered pricing model it provides for other content on the iTunes Store, Apple has presented the world’s biggest publishers with a higher price range for eBooks than Amazon has. And hoping that Apple would be able to defeat Amazon in this market, virtually all these publishers have jumped on board.
The result is much higher prices to consumers.
First, losing money on each and every eBook isn’t a winning or successful business model. Because of Amazon’s inability to establish contracts with publishers at lower prices, they decided to take a loss on each eBook sold. One could argue that this isn’t fair to the rest of the eBook community as it forces those distributors to accept losses in order to compete with Amazon. Second, Amazon had two years to establish a standard and could not do so. Third, Amazon could still choose to offer eBooks at lower prices. Apple does not control how much Amazon chooses to charge for their books. One could also look at the situation as Sears deciding to sell Nike shoes at a higher price than Walmart so therefor the price of Nike shoes all over the world increases. Preposterous. If Apple beats Amazon in this market it is because they offer a more compelling, easy-to-use and desirable product that people choose to purchase more than Apple’s competitors do.
Apple's iPad
Now let’s move on and take a look at his claims that Apple isn’t an innovative company. He states:
Then in 2007, Jobs explained, Apple “reinvented” the phone with the iPhone. Again, smart phones already existed, but Apple took an idea that was already out there and just improved on it. “It’s the best phone in the world,” he said. And it is. (At least for now.)
This isn’t a market that Apple can come along and just dominate. It’s already full of PC maker players, and Apple’s entry, even if popular, would never rule the market. Apple has been much more successful, from a market share perspective, with its non-computer mobile devices like the iPod touch and iPhone.)
And this all brings up to the definition what Apple is and how it is that the company innovates. This definition will fly in the face of everything you think you know about the company.
Most people regard Apple as an innovation factory, as if everything they produce is magic and has never been done before. But Apple, put simply, is a finisher. They take products that already existed, improve on them, and, in most cases, popularize them. They are, in fact, much like Microsoft: A company that rides on the backs of those who previously pioneered the markets in which they operate.
Now, Mr. Thurrott has stated prior to the iPhone’s release that the mobile phone market was a market that Apple could not dominate. Yet, the iPhone has affected and changed every major cell phone maker in a positive way that benefits all us consumers. Even Microsoft has had to go back to the drawing board and re-create Windows mobile. The fact that numerous technical pundits are already crying out that new unannounced devices are iPad killers has already elevated the iPad as the device to beat. They have recognized that Apple has come out with a tablet device that is useable and friendly and will be adopted en-masse.
As for Mr. Thurrott’s statement that Apple is not an innovator but simply a finisher is patently untrue. Wikipedia defines innovation as:
Innovation is a new way of doing something or “new stuff that is made useful”. It may refer to incremental and emergent or radical and revolutionary changes in thinking, products, processes, or organizations.
Touch screens existed before the iPhone. Multi-touch technology also existed. However, Apple innovated that technology and deployed it in a new way of interacting with a phone. They innovated so well that companies like RIM, Palm and Google all tried to copy Apple’s product. If the phone was simply a new design of existing cell technology it would never have changed an industry. Likewise, the iPad isn’t like other tablet computers. It leverages off of iPhone software, adds some innovative changes applicable to the size of the device (battery technology, photo display technology etc.) and delivers that in a device that will be widely adopted where all other manufactures have failed. Current tablet computers also run full operating systems designed to be interfaced with by a keyboard and mouse - all at a high price point. Oops. No wonder why the tablet computer market has never taken off.
Just over 500,000 tablet computers were sold in the US last year. If Apple just only more of what everyone else sells, they won’t dent this number. Analysts are predicting that Apple will sell over 2 million iPads. You certainly can’t achieve this without innovation. Just look at all the software and hardware patents Apple has been granted. Weird that Mr. Thurrott over looks the obvious, unless he does that on purpose.
What Mr. Thurrott is, in fact, trying to do is simply spread FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Death) about Apple. Unfortunately, most of todays’ readers are too savvy for that kind of pettiness. In the end, I almost feel sorry for Mr. Thurrott and his self-imposed ignorance of any technology not directly related to his paycheck.
{ 0 comments }
Isn’t it great knowing what my wife purchases for her iPhone can be used on my kids’ iPod touch, my iPhone, my computer or my AppleTV? In other words, I spend the same on content but now it works on more of my family’s devices.
Dan Brodie on Twitter
Dan Brodie on LinkedIn