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Dear Mr. Tim Cook - I'm really really sorry...it won't happen again


Anderton

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I feel terrible about this. A few days ago I posted the thread C'mon Apple...How Effing Hard Is It to Measure a Battery's Voltage? Well apparently Apple's board of directors found out about the thread, and they docked Cook's pay by 15%. "Look at this thread," they said. "This guy is a big-time Apple user, and look what he says about the iPhone! Do you think maybe this kind of rookie mistake is why iPhones aren't selling like they used to?"

 

Tim, if you're reading this, I sincerely apologize. I didn't mean to cause this kind of distress to a basically good guy who has an incredibly tough act to follow, and I never thought it would lead to this kind of bad press. nor did I ever expect your top five executives to have pay cuts as well.

 

In the future, I promise I'll be much more careful with what I say. Again, you have my sincere apologies. I'd delete the thread, but I'm afraid it's too late :(

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I really, really, doubt that. They said the same thing about Amazon 6 years ago, when it was trading in the $100-200 range. The know-it-all analysts were saying that Amazon has seen better days and the competition will hurt them immensely. Fast forward to 2017 and Amazon is trading at just under $800 and Macy's, Sears, Kmart and JC Penny are in deep trouble because of them. Do you really think that Apple spent $10 billion dollars for R&D in 2016 for the fun of it?

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Do you really think that Apple spent $10 billion dollars for R&D in 2016 for the fun of it?

 

Spending on R&D and actually bringing a product to the market place are two different things. I really think Apple has lost its way...again. The last time they were just about bankrupt when Jobs came back and started them down the path they are now on. However, there has been a change at Apple since Jobs left and Cook took over (and I am not a fan of either gentleman).

 

There does not appear to be any specific direction for the company. Instead it simply keeps working in the circle of products Jobs left behind. Since Jobs left, the biggest thing that Apple has done is remove the headphone jack from the iPhone (which most everyone saw as simply a way to get folks to spend more money on expensive earbuds that are easily lost).

 

It should also be realized that this is not new for any big company. Take a look at the big tech companies now and where they were 20-years ago. When they first started there was not a lot of money but new ideas to change the world. Today there is a lot of money and satisfaction with the status quo. If they need a new idea (or are frightened by one) they simply buy the company and either bring the idea to market themselves or kill it.

 

Microsoft, Apple, Google, none are the innovative companies they were 20 years ago - and it shows.

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Apple has lost their way, but I wouldn't count them out. The tech world is volatile. Although that usually works against companies (Yahoo, Myspace, Twitter, etc.), it can also work in their favor. If Apple comes up with a "must have" product in the next year, they'll be fine. The question is whether anyone there has the imagination to do so.

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Well...it apparently won't be the iWatch...Apple needs a visionary, not a businessman at the helm, Jobs demonstrated that. Now if tehy could make a truly flexible, waterproof [30m] and inexpensive phone...they'd have something to live off for a while. A phone with a 'fold-out' touchscreen would be interesting as well...rather than following the phablet trend they've been on.

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Spending on R&D and actually bringing a product to the market place are two different things.

 

A company would not increase R&D spending substantially unless they had reason to believe that there would be a payoff. Especially not a $10 billion investment in R&D. It's not like "lets see how much money we can throw at it, and maybe we'll get lucky". They know what they're doing, and I think Cook deserves more credit than he's gotten. Apple became the most valuable company in the world under his leadership, not Jobs'. And while Jobs was a visionary, he didn't do it all alone. He had (and Apple still does have) many smart people working there.

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Well, that's something. In ironic twist, when I first met Craig, he was a (primarily) mac guy. I was only a PC guy. Now, almost 20 years later, and the tables have turned. Everything I own is Apple, and it's been quite an investment and journey.

I acquired a 256K iPad Pro for Christmas. The thing is SPECTACULAR and the speakers on the thing have blown me away. I use it as a Wacom tablet for my Photoshop work. But, what I cannot for the life of me determine is why they don't just make the iPad Pro run the full OS. It is so close as it is, but why not the full dang thing? This would give them a real sprint past the Surface Pro.

Ed, your link above makes me feel somewhat better.

 

On a different note, I have people (not Craig ... he's brilliant) who have PC's whom I've tried to help, and I'd rather play in traffic than use a PC (but hey, that's just me and I'm not trying to start a Mac vs. PC war here).

 

D

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Here's what happens when Apple gets it right' date=' they dominate the market: [Airbuds']

 

I think that wireless earphones for portable devices are a good idea. When I'm on a plane, listening to music from my phone using my wired noise cancelling headphones, I always get things tangled in the cable when I have to get up. It would be really nice to just put my phone in my shirt pocket or pocket in the forward seat back (where it usually ends up) and not have to untangle myself when I have to get up.

 

However, I can't stand in-ear earphones. and that's where the wireless earphone market is most active. Over-the-ear wireless phones tend to be large and bulky, and unless I get on the plane with the 'phones dangling from my neck, I don't have room to pack them. My present travel earphones fold up in a way that I have room for them in my carry-on bag, but I'd have to leave some clothes behind (or check luggage) to carry a set of wireless 'phones that I can listen to for four or five hours.

 

That being said, I don't like the idea of being forced to buy new headphones when buying a new phone. Sure, I know that there are adapter-dongle-DAC-things, but this is just one more example of my pessimistic philosophy of "You can't upgrade just one thing."

 

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Here's what happens when Apple gets it right, they dominate the market:

 

http://www.macrumors.com/2017/01/11/airpods-slice-intelligence-data/

 

The stats don't look as impressive if you read the disclaimer at the end:

 

Slice Intelligence aggregated its data based on anonymized e-receipts from up to 353,926 U.S. online shoppers—the size of the user base varies per chart. But without official figures, it is impossible to determine if the data is accurate—Apple could easily follow up with very different numbers.

 

In other words, retailers like Wal-Mart, Staples, Target, Best Buy, Office Depot, etc. who do big business in wireless headphones (and have a lot more stores than Apple) aren't factored into the sales stats.

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But Walmart, Staples, Best Buy, Target, Office Depot, etc, sell online just like Apple does. The data was compiled from online sales of all retailers. I don't think it would be much different if the data was compiled from brick and mortar sales only. That would be saying that there's a drastic difference between online and non-online buying habits, and that's not true.

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Holiday retail sales in the US were $655.87 billion. Retail e-commerce sales were $94.71 billion (source: https://www.statista.com/topics/991/us-christmas-season/). That's a far smaller statistical universe. Also, as business.com says, there is a difference between online and non-online buying habits: "Business owners that recognize the different lenses consumers see the world through when buying online versus buying in person can design a channel strategy that aligns with consumers’ needs, regardless of where they buy." For example, wireless headphones typically sell for under $100 at retailers, with many dipping to $29.95. This makes them potential impulse items, which is the province of retailers; online shoppers tend to shop for known brands and specific products with which they're comfortable. Apple would certainly fit that description, which could very easily weight the stats in the their favor for an online-only statistical universe.

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