That's So Tony! - tagged with apple http://tonybo.3lavie.com/feed en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Sweetcron tonybo@gmail.com Apple’s fall from grace http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/3297/apples-fall-from-grace

Apple was a company that could do no wrong. Phones that dropped every other call… Location tracking scandals… Antennagate… A CEO who constantly parked his $130,000 sports car diagonally in handicapped spaces… Apple didn’t have to roll with the punches, the company would simply laugh at the punches or toss the press and public a few crumbs if need be. A week or even a day later, all was forgiven and Apple would continue on its path, making terrific products and mopping up industry profits while whistling to itself contently. On Tuesday when Apple unveiled its brand new iPhone 4S, the fifth iteration of Apple’s revolutionary smartphone, things felt different. The company’s iconic co-founder was nowhere to be found, the venue was smaller, the applause seemed reticent and the product unveiled was not greeted with arms open quite as widely as they had been in the past. People seemed, in a way, bored. Reactions from those who spent time with the device at Apple’s press conference were positive, of course, but it didn’t feel the same. What was different this time around? Members of the press and many consumers following the event felt that we were looking at a possible miss from the great Apple. Beyond nitpicking and whining about insignificant specs or other irrelevancies, many level-headed writers and pundits genuinely seemed to think that the iPhone 4S might be the beginning of the end. Yes, investors were seemingly disappointed by Tuesday’s announcements, but this is hardly uncommon. Buy the rumor, sell the news. That Apple only closed down half a percent on Tuesday exhibits confidence in the company’s management, strategy and portfolio more than it does disappointment in the iPhone 4S. And what about analysts? The finance crowd adores Apple, so they must have been jumping up and down in their penthouses, right? “Apple no longer has a leading edge, its cloud service is even behind Android; it can only sell on brand loyalty now,” Gartner analyst C.K. Lu told Reuters on Wednesday. “Users may wait to buy the next iPhone; if they can’t wait, they may shift to brands with more advanced specs.” “We had expected the company to announce two new devices, an iPhone 5 and a 4-plus,” JP Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz wrote in a note to investors. “We are disappointed that Apple did not introduce a thinner form factor, but we see the feature set improvements in the iPhone 4S and the broader pricing strategy as positives.” Yes, we’re seeing some negative takes on the news, but have we seen any big names revise their estimates downward significantly? Of course not. Even analysts who were hugely bullish on a redesigned iPhone 5 are still confident that Apple’s reign will continue. We’ve seen no real negative revisions on revenue projections either. In fact, Apple’s free iPhone 3GS and its $99 iPhone 4 have had the opposite effect in some cases. RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky, for example, wrote in a note Wednesday morning that Apple’s $0 3GS “may double Apple’s global addressable market, and may help address rising mid-market Android competition.” And some analysts such as Wedge Partners’ Brian Blair had already modeled for this scenario. Blair, as some might recall, hit the nail on the head late last month. “We expect the focus of the new iPhone will be iOS 5, a speedier A5 processor and a higher resolution 8 MP camera with a small possibility of a larger 4 inch screen,” the analyst wrote in a research note on September 21st. Blair saw Apple selling 91 million iPhones this calendar year, and that staggering sum remains unchanged. Some analysts even think the iPhone 4S and new cheaper iPhones 4 and 3GS will drive sales that exceed already-lofty projections. “While the moderate changes to the iPhone 4S might not drive the type of upgrade cycle that was seen by the iPhone 4, the lower prices of legacy models and broader availability on more carriers are still likely to deliver calendar Q4 phones sales in excess of our 21.5 million estimate,” BTIG analyst Walter Piecyk wrote on Wednesday. But an interesting takeaway from yesterday’s announcement may simply be that Apple has fallen from grace in some respects. Apple is fallible, even if the 4S ends up being a success. A company that could do no wrong in recent history just, well, did wrong in the eyes of pundits who had previously viewed every Apple product announcement as a gift from the heavens. It should have been bigger. It should have been better. It should have been more Appley. There were skeptics after Apple unveiled the iPhone in 2007, and after the iPhones 3G, 3GS and 4 as well. But yesterday’s skeptics took a different tone. They didn’t wonder if Apple could succeed or nervously whine about missing features, they collectively shouted that Apple had lost its mojo. But then there’s the imminent reality check. And from where I’m sitting, the iPhone 4S is oozing with mojo. Apple’s iPhone 4 provides the most silky smooth user experience on the planet with the firm’s A4 processor running the show. The more powerful dual-core A5 chipset from Apple’s iPad 2 should somehow improve on that already-phenomenal experience, and it will empower Apple’s new golden child, Siri. It should be noted that I was hugely skeptical of Siri’s significance ahead of Apple’s event on Tuesday, but I’m now singing a different tune. I think the concept and technology behind Apple’s new personal assistant service are phenomenal, and while Siri might not be a huge draw for consumers in the near term, the long-term implications are tremendous. Apple just made smartphones much, much smarter. On the outside, there is no question that the iPhone 4S is the same device as its predecessor. It might have a revised antenna system, but the similarities are so great that Apple had to include the Newsstand icon in marketing images depicting the phone’s home screen as no distinction would be made otherwise. But is that such a bad thing? The iPhone 4 is still an engineering feat, and I’m not sure a more attractive smartphone exists to this day. Naysayers said Apple couldn’t cut it selling just one or two smartphone models, and now Apple owns two-thirds of global smartphone industry profits. Led by Apple’s gray-haired iPhone 4, which launched in June 2010, Apple sold more smartphones last quarter than any other vendor on the planet. The numbers will do the talking over the next few quarters, and I expect Apple’s iPhone sales to continue on the same skyward path right up to next year’s iPhone 5 launch and beyond. As of October 12th, Apple will sell three different smartphone models that range in price from free to $399. The company will address postpaid smartphone buyers from top to bottom, and rumors suggest we may even see an attack on the prepaid market in the near future. No company stays on top forever, of course, but Apple’s new smartphone lineup is hardly that of a company that has begun its descent. Apple may have fallen from grace in a way, but until competitors can even come close to approaching the allure surrounding Apple devices and the user experiences they afford, don’t expect the company’s grip on the industry to loosen at all.

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Wed, 05 Oct 2011 07:35:59 -0700 http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/3297/apples-fall-from-grace
Steve Jobs and the quality of leadership http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/3262/steve-jobs-and-the-quality-of-leadership

Hearing the news that Steve Jobs has resigned as CEO took me back to the mid-nineties, when I was managing a large software project in London. Our company was a pretty big Apple customer, and it was decided that the newly installed CEO Gil Amelio would drop by, shake some hands and discuss Apple's future at our conference table.

Amelio is a smart and impressive man, and he's known for leading the team that developed the first commercial CCD sensors while working for Fairchild Semiconductor. He later became CEO of another chip manufacturer, National Semiconductor, where he was instrumental in restructuring the company and helping it to regain profitability. Amelio was there to give us confidence after Apple had been pretty bruised under John Sculley and Michael Spindler.

It wasn't an encouraging visit.

I remember Amelio going on and on about the past problems at Apple, and how he was going to fix them. Click here for an Apple video of 'the speech.' He had a long list of fixes, but what was lacking was a coherent, compelling vision. He was going to do 'something' about the clones, finally replace System 7, and settle down all the politics and warfare between Apple divisions.

I had some specific questions, but he dodged them. It wasn't convincing, and I wondered if Apple was going to pull itself out of what seemed a certain death spiral. After killing Copland and failing to make a deal for the BeOS, Amelio invested in NeXT and brought Steve Jobs back to Apple. At the end, Amelio got Apple back to making a small profit, after years of losing millions. It was a tiny victory, but certainly not a turn-around.

Amelio was finally ousted from Apple in July 1997 via a boardroom coup engineered by Jobs. The rest is history.

I never met Steve Jobs. But every day he has touched my life. When I check my mail, prepare a presentation, edit a photo, or answer my iPhone, it all happens because Steve had an idea of how I wanted to work. I don't know of any single company or products that have had an equal impact.

Gil Amelio had lots of plans, but plans are not a vision. Jobs laughs at market research, avoids focus groups, and trusts his gut when designing what customers want. That is, what they will want. Other companies try and copy Apple features and designs but usually come up short, because, like Amelio, they had lists instead of a dream.

Jobs is now on the next part of his journey through life, a journey we will all take, sooner or later. It's hard to define exactly the magic that Steve brings to Apple, but it is unique and it is successful. Smart as he was, Gil Amelio could not summon the magic, or as it turned out, much lasting enthusiasm.

Thank you to Gil Amelio for bringing Steve Jobs back. Thanks to Steve for bringing Apple back.Steve Jobs and the quality of leadership originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 25 Aug 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Thu, 25 Aug 2011 17:00:00 -0700 http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/3262/steve-jobs-and-the-quality-of-leadership
Apple's $76.2 billion cash hoard: Six frivolous ways to spend it http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/3232/apples-762-billion-cash-hoard-six-frivolous-ways-to-spend-it

One thing that staggers the mind is the amount of money Apple has on hand. During last Tuesday's 3Q earnings call, it was announced that the company has US$76.2 billion cash on hand -- actually a combination of cash, short-term investments, and other items that would take an accountant to sort out. While Apple CEO Steve Jobs has publicly stated that "we do feel that there are one or more strategic opportunities in the future" as the reason to have all that money on hand, I thought it would be more fun to think about ways to spend $76.2 billion on frivolous things.

Buy a fleet of 203 A-380 jumbo jets

At a price tag of $375.3 million each, the huge A-380 (top of post) can carry up to 525 people in a standard class configuration. Apple's airline could simultaneously carry almost 107,000 people at a time, or over two times the number of employees the company has. This purchase would take a long time to happen, considering that only 53 of the monster jets have been built.

Give an iPad 2 (16 GB Wi-Fi) to every person in Japan and Taiwan

You could buy 152.7 million iPads with $76.2 billion, which means every man, woman, and child in the two Asian countries listed here could have an iPad 2 and there would still be some bucks left over. (Why those two countries? I needed two countries with a combined population of about 150 million.)

Treat every Apple employee to seven flights into space

That Genius at the local Apple Store is already the envy of many, but wouldn't it be even more impressive if she was also an astronaut? Beginning next year, Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic is offering suborbital space flights on SpaceShip Two for $200,000 a pop. Apple has enough money to send every employee on seven SpaceShip Two flights each and still have money left over. Sir Richard might need to beef up his fleet a bit...

Buy HP

By a strange coincidence, HP's market capitalization just happened to be around $76.1 billion on 7/22/11. Here's a chance to put the TouchPad out to pasture, kill the Pre, and make printers that really work well with Apple devices.

Turn Cupertino into Fort Knox West

Gold prices were at an all-time high of $1,600 per ounce on Friday, but Apple could buy a lot of the stuff -- 2,976,562.5 pounds (1,350,146.0 kilograms). That's about a third of what's stored in the United States Bullion Repository in Fort Knox, Kentucky.

Buy every MLB, NFL, NHL, and NBA franchise

Now this would be very frivolous, but Apple could buy every professional baseball ($15.7 billion), football ($22.8 billion), hockey ($4.9 billion) and basketball ($7.7 billion) team in the USA and still have about $25 billion in change.

The reality

The reality is that Apple isn't going to do any of these things. The company is using its large cash reserves to expand in the midst of a worldwide recession, and that's what it should be doing. Apple doesn't pay shareholder dividends; if shareholders want to benefit from Apple's good business acumen, they can sell shares and probably make a decent profit. And like it or not, the company is not in business for charity -- they're in business to create jobs for employees and value for shareholders.

Like I noted in the first paragraph of this post, Apple also has some strategic acquisitions in mind. Of course, we have no idea what those acquisitions could be, but whatever they do will most likely help the company in terms of achieving even more amazing financial feats in the future.Apple's $76.2 billion cash hoard: Six frivolous ways to spend it originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 25 Jul 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | Comments

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Mon, 25 Jul 2011 09:00:00 -0700 http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/3232/apples-762-billion-cash-hoard-six-frivolous-ways-to-spend-it
another piece of Apple history http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/3045/another-piece-of-apple-history

Do you remember these dotMac/MobileMe packages?

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Thu, 24 Feb 2011 12:13:06 -0800 http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/3045/another-piece-of-apple-history
ZTE displaces Apple as No. 4 phone maker; RIM bumped from top 5 http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/3010/zte-displaces-apple-as-no-4-phone-maker-rim-bumped-from-top-5

Chinese consumer electronics company ZTE exploded from the “other” category in the fourth quarter of 2010 to displace Apple as the No. 4 cell phone maker in the world. In doing so, the Chinese manufacturer also bumped RIM off of the top 5 list for the quarter and, more alarmingly perhaps, for the full year. Market analysis firm IDC on Thursday issued its data for the final quarter of 2010 and ZTE was without question the biggest shock. Growing 76.8% year-over-year, ZTE shipped 16.8 million cell phones in the fourth quarter, compared to 9.5 million in the same quarter a year prior. Apple bested ZTE’s growth, ballooning by 86.2% year-over-year, but fourth quarter shipments slid in at 16.2 million units. Apple blew past RIM in the third quarter of 2010 as the company finally broke into the top 5 thanks to explosive iPhone sales. RIM now finds itself in the troubling “other” category — a position it will fight to escape using an army of new BlackBerry smartphones in 2011. The cell phone market grew 17.9% overall in the fourth quarter according to IDC. Hit the break for IDC’s full press release, including charts showing the top 5 cell phone companies by shipments in the fourth quarter and full year. Mobile Phone Market Grows 17.9% in Fourth Quarter, According to IDC 27 Jan 2011 FRAMINGHAM, Mass. Jan. 27, 2010 – The worldwide mobile phone market grew 17.9% in the fourth quarter of 2010 (4Q10), a new quarterly high driven by smartphones. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped 401.4 million units in 4Q10 compared to 340.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2009. Vendors shipped a total of 1.39 billion units on a cumulative worldwide basis in 2010, up 18.5% from the 1.17 billion units shipped in 2009. The strong quarterly and annual growth comes after a weak 2009, which saw the market decline by 1.6%. A stronger economy and a wider array of increasingly affordable smartphones helped lift the market to its highest annual growth rate since 2006 when it grew 22.6%. “The mobile phone market has the wind behind its sails,” said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker. “Mobile phone users are eager to swap out older devices for ones that handle data as well as voice, which is driving growth and replacement cycles.” It’s not just smartphone-focused suppliers that capitalized on the mobile phone market’s renewed growth last year. ZTE, a company that sells primarily lower-cost feature phones in emerging markets, moved into the number 4 position worldwide in 4Q10. It is the first quarter the Chinese handset maker finished among IDC’s Top 5 vendors. “Change-up among the number four and five vendors could be a regular occurrence this year,” added Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team. “Motorola, Research In Motion, and Sony Ericsson, all vendors with a tight focus on the fast-growing smartphone market who had ranked among the top five worldwide vendors during 2010 are well within striking distance to move back into the top five list.” Market Outlook IDC believes the worldwide mobile phone market will be driven largely by smartphone growth through the end of 2014. “Feature phone users looking to do more with their devices will flock to smartphones in the years to come,” noted Restivo. “This trend will help drive smartphone sub-market to grow 43.7% year over year in 2011.” Regional Analysis

The Asia/Pacific mobile phone landscape was driven by low-cost and high-end devices in 4Q10. Domestic brands in India like G-Five, Micromax, and Karbonn grew with aggressive advertising and branding activities for entry-level phones, while ZTE and Huawei worked closely with carriers to push low-cost Android smartphones in China. High-end smartphones, however, were equally well-received, resulting in higher shipments from Apple, Samsung, and HTC in 4Q10. Korea had the biggest smartphone appetite accounting for two-thirds of phones shipped in 4Q10, up from one-eighth a year ago.

In Western Europe, carrier smartphone promotions motivated more users to scrap their feature phones, resulting in strong smartphone sales. The iPhone 4, HTC Desire, Nokia N8, Samsung Galaxy S, and Blackberry 8520, which were among the region’s top sellers, contributed to the overall market’s growth. Consequently, the feature phones experienced their sharpest decline ever. In CEMA, quarterly volumes breached the 70 million unit threshold for the first time, marked by an influx of Chinese and unbranded handsets. Meanwhile, smartphones experienced brisk growth due to falling prices and more Android-powered devices.

The United States mobile phone market closed out the year with more vendors becoming more active in this space. Market leaders RIM and Apple maintained a healthy lead, while newcomers Dell, Huawei, Kyocera, and Sanyo launched their first smartphones to the U.S. market. In addition, 4G took another step forward with the commercial launch of Verizon Wireless’ LTE network. Similarly, in Canada, the focus was on smartphones. Android-powered devices from multiple players, along with incumbent vendors RIM and Apple, pushed shipment volumes to a new record level.

In Latin America, sustained user interest in smartphones drove the market, resulting in strong results for Nokia, RIM, and Samsung as well as relative newcomer Huawei. Smartphones, as well as QWERTY-enabled feature phones, helped boost social networking and messaging, two fast-growing trends in the market. Finally, Alcatel and ZTE once again thrived in the inexpensive entry-level device market.

Top Five Mobile Phone Vendors Nokia overall unit volume slipped 2.4% in the fourth quarter, which the vendor attributed to the “intense competitive” environment and component shortages. The result was lower feature phone shipments. The company did, however, grow smartphone volume by 38% compared to the same prior-year quarter. Nokia launched the C7 and the C6-01 touchscreen smartphones as well as the C3 combination touchscreen & QWERTY device in the fourth quarter. Still, smartphone ASPs dropped 16% on a year-over-year basis. Samsung reached a new milestone in 4Q10, pushing through the 80 million unit threshold for the first time in the company’s history and improving its profit margins for the second straight quarter. Driving shipment volumes was the continued success of its Galaxy S smartphones, of which the company sold nearly ten million units worldwide for the year. Similarly, Samsung’s mass-market and touch-screen phones earned a strong following in emerging markets. LG crossed the 30 million unit mark for the quarter, due in part to the success of Optimus One smartphone sales across multiple regions. LG’s smartphone strategy is paying off; the company sold more than a million units in the first month of availability, and newer versions (Optimus 2X, Optimus Black) are expected later this year. Meanwhile, LG’s feature phones comprised the majority of shipments, but an aging portfolio and lower prices within emerging markets left the company vulnerable to the competition. ZTE finished the quarter in the number four position with shipments steadily spreading from its home country of China to developing regions such as Africa and Latin America. ZTE has also recently made inroads in developed markets such as Western Europe and the U.S. as well as Japan. While most of its shipments have historically concentrated on entry-level and mid-range devices, some of its recent success is directly attributable to its rapidly expanding smartphone line, such as the Android-based Blade and Racer devices. Meanwhile, its S- and C-series entry-level feature phones provided additional competition within emerging markets. Apple The iPhone maker slipped to the number 5 position despite a record quarter for unit shipments and the departure soon thereafter of CEO Steve Jobs on medical leave. It was the company’s second straight quarter on IDC’s Top 5 list. The iPhone sold particularly well in developed regions of the world, such as North America and Western Europe. Apple, which said it could have sold more iPhones last quarter had it been able to make more, is set to introduce the touchscreen device on Verizon next month. Top Five Mobile Phone Vendors, Shipments, and Market Share, Q4 2010 (Units in Millions)

Vendor 4Q10 Unit Shipments 4Q10 Market Share 4Q09 Unit Shipments 4Q09 Market Share Year-over-year Change

Nokia 123.7 30.8% 126.8 37.2% -2.4%

Samsung 80.7 20.1% 68.8 20.2% 17.3%

LG Electronics 30.6 7.6% 33.9 10.0% -9.7%

ZTE 16.8 4.2% 9.5 2.8% 76.8%

Apple 16.2 4.0% 8.7 2.6% 86.2%

Others 133.4 33.2% 92.8 27.3% 43.8%

Total 401.4 100.0% 340.5 100.0% 17.9%

Source: IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, January 27, 2010 Note: Vendor shipments are branded shipments and exclude OEM sales for all vendors.

Top Five Mobile Phone Vendors, Shipments, and Market Share, 2010 (Units in Millions)

Vendor 2010 Unit Shipments 2010 Market Share 2009 Unit Shipments 2009 Market Share Year-over-year Change

Nokia 453.0 32.6% 431.8 36.9% 4.9%

Samsung 280.2 20.2% 227.2 19.4% 23.3%

LG Electronics 116.7 8.4% 117.9 10.1% -1.0%

ZTE 51.8 3.7% 26.7 2.3% 94.0%

Apple 47.5 3.4% 25.1 2.1% 89.2%

Others 439.4 31.6% 342.9 29.3% 28.1%

Total 1388.6 100.0% 1171.6 100.0% 18.5%

Source: IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, January 27, 2010 Note: Vendor shipments are branded shipments and exclude OEM sales for all vendors.

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Fri, 28 Jan 2011 06:27:34 -0800 http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/3010/zte-displaces-apple-as-no-4-phone-maker-rim-bumped-from-top-5
White http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/3049/white

All white iPods. G1, 2, 3, 4, 4 Color, 5, Shuffle G1, Nano G1.

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Tue, 23 Nov 2010 06:17:29 -0800 http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/3049/white
Chilling http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/2765/chilling ]]> Tue, 19 Oct 2010 08:20:47 -0700 http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/2765/chilling ipad music video - Eye of the Tiger remix - Instruments played entirely on ipad apps http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/2625/ipad-music-video-eye-of-the-tiger-remix-instruments-played-entirely-on-ipad-apps

Eye of the Tiger by Survivor. All instruments were played using ipad applications downloaded from itunes.

http://jordanhollender.com/

http://twitter.com/jordanhollender

http://twitter.com/scottharris123

Director: Jordan Hollender Camera: Jordan Hollender, Diane Collins, Marius Chira Assistant Director / Editor: Filippo Conz Editor: Diane Collins Musical Production and Arrangement: Scott Harris Production: Jordan Hollender, Diane Collins, Zbabam Productions Lead Singer: Scott Harris Dancers: Harold O'Neal AKA Kid Jazz and Shea Butta Gaffer / Grip: Richard Bell / Jon Vachon Hair & Makeup: Bryan Lynde Stylist: Alex Johnstone KM Camera and Studio Rental

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Mon, 09 Aug 2010 14:36:23 -0700 http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/2625/ipad-music-video-eye-of-the-tiger-remix-instruments-played-entirely-on-ipad-apps
海棠无香 http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/2529/

by 李楠 (newkhonsou@twitter)

牵牛花,罂粟花 金圣叹讲人生三大恨事,其中之一是“海棠无香”。 但是理工科的就是比较缺乏情调,又比较爱抬杠。看到这句,首先想到的是: 牵牛花,罂粟花也没有香味啊?为什么偏偏海棠这么招人恨呢? 不仅仅是花中有这种怪事。 iPhone4 之前,媒体爆料 Android 的 Nexus One 有问题,无人关心。 Jobs 记者会上点名了一大堆手机之后, BB9650 用户也很快发现了问题,无人关心。 接着 N97 上榜天线门,无人关心。 他们俨然成了手机中的牵牛花,罂粟花。 海棠无香 iPhone4 占据最招人恨的位置证明,他是市场上最顶尖的智能手机,聚光灯的焦点。 狗尾巴草牵牛花罂粟花无香,都不会让人恨恨的。本就不完美,缺一段香也不是什么大事。但是 iPhone4 不同。系统,应用,相机,屏幕,大小,电力。。。如果不是最好的,那就是最好的之一。好不容易出了一台这么出色的智能机,偏偏信号一握就没了。换了谁能轻易释怀? iPhone4 占据海棠的位置是消费者的悲剧。 Android 阵营, Nokia , RIM , MS 阵营都没有一个像样的 iPhone 杀手。没有哪怕几只腊梅,百合水准的手机,让我们能轻松的说:iPhone4 去死,我们还有更好的选择。 及格的处置 Jobs 天线门记者会,承认 iPhone 并非完美,找了些借口。除此之外,最实在的,就是免了退货费并且提供免费的套子。 Jobs 的决定也并非完美,但是及格: 消费者不再会因为天线门导致损失。 不喜欢?那么不要买?已经买了?要么有套子,要么退掉。 这还是个足够公平的决定: 既然消费者可以无损失的自由选择,那么后面的事情由市场决定。(政客也就没资格再出来说三道四。) 消费者用自己的真金白银投票。说服力将超越所有技术专家,市场分析师,和危机处理专家甚至消费者报告的评价。苹果似乎对此很有信心。( 苹果在汇报季报时说, iPhone4 造一台,卖一台。) 缺陷? 越来越详细的评测说明,天线门可以说是苹果的设计缺陷。另一方面,也可以说是一种取舍。的确,苹果替用户决定了拿手机的方式,但是,换来不少好处:

1 更好的弱信号天线性能。 2 更薄的机身。 3 更大的电池。

苹果从来就是一个独断的,替用户作决定的公司。 有时成功,比如替你扔掉笔。也有时失败,比如替你删掉短信功能。有时很难说,比如替你扔掉备用电池,替你扔掉光驱。这一次也类似。 长期以来,用户们享受独断专行带来的好处。偶尔,也要为此付出些代价。 风险 Jobs 的天线门记者会化解了之前自己和 PR 糟糕的公关表现。但仍然留下了风险: 一是信号衰减的容易程度和严重性。 Jobs 似乎成功地混淆了问题的性质。他举了别家的手机,引起口水战之后,大家都去关注信号门的“有和无”去了。 在我看来, iPhone4 的真正问题是:比较别的手机,那个死亡之点太容易碰到。而信号的衰减幅度,也比别的手机严重。 这个问题苹果从来没有真正承认过。一旦免费的 Bumper 送完,说不定还会有人旧事重提。 二是 Jobs 事前是否知晓的问题。 彭博不是一个随口胡说的媒体,他们发布消息中有真实的人名(苹果拒绝那个员工接受采访)。

另外,苹果有那么先进的实验室。短短 20 多天,找出了那么天线门的多难兄难弟,事先竟然没有发现 iPhone4 的问题?这里多少有些矛盾。 另外,苹果事先准备了套子。。。 如果彭博有能力挖掘下去,如果,这真是个弥天大谎? 最后的话 谣传新的 iPhone4 上有了镀膜,能一定程度上改善衰减(但是有限)。或者,一些好的贴膜也是选择。 接下来将进入小改款期。也许 5 , 6 会更加完美一些。也许,又会冒出什么门。 而对于今天的 iPhone4 ,无论你喜欢与否, Bumper ,就是海棠缺的那段香。

© KKK for ifanr 爱范儿 ♂专注于拇指设备的小众讨论, 2010. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us

Post tags: Apple, Apple & iPhone & iPad

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Wed, 21 Jul 2010 07:20:58 -0700 http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/2529/
iPad in Paris http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/2331/ipad-in-paris

better view

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Thu, 27 May 2010 00:41:11 -0700 http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/2331/ipad-in-paris
Summer fruit http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/2313/summer-fruit

今天两人消灭的水果,感觉像消灭了一幅油画~

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Mon, 24 May 2010 14:44:53 -0700 http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/2313/summer-fruit
iPad printing: solved http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/2116/ipad-printing-solved

Magical in its simplicity.iPad printing: solved originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Apr 2010 00:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink @Brilliantcrank  |  Form  | Email this | Comments

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Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:55:00 -0700 http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/2116/ipad-printing-solved
iPad Disassembly by TechRestore http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/2128/ipad-disassembly-by-techrestore

See inside the Apple iPad, from box to compete take-apart and back, in under 3 minutes - all done in our famous stop-motion style!

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Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:31:32 -0700 http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/2128/ipad-disassembly-by-techrestore
The Story of Macintosh, pt 2.mov http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/1797/the-story-of-macintosh-pt-2mov

I found this VHS cassette while cleaning my office this week. This "Found Footage" comes from a video tape I received from Apple back in 1984 when the original 128K Mac was introduced. It was part of the authorized dealer training videos given to each store to help them become familiar with the Macintosh. You will see a very young Burrell Smith, Andy Hertzfeld, Phil Gibbons, Mitch Kapor, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. You really get a good feel for how proud and excited these people were for the creation of something special. Little did they know how much they were about to change the world...This is part 2 of 2

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Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:12:52 -0800 http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/1797/the-story-of-macintosh-pt-2mov
25 Years of Apple Mouse Evolution http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/2796/25-years-of-apple-mouse-evolution

Apple Macintosh Mouse Design Evolution. 2009 /Apple Magic Mouse 2005 /Apple Mighty Mouse (2006 /Wireless) 2003 /Apple Wireless Mouse 2003 /Apple Pro Mouse (White) 2000 /Apple Pro Mouse (Black) 1998 /Apple USB Mouse 1993 /Apple Desktop Bus Mouse II 1986 /Apple Desktop Bus Mouse 1984 /Apple Macintosh Mouse M0100

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Mon, 21 Dec 2009 09:25:32 -0800 http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/2796/25-years-of-apple-mouse-evolution
What If Steve Jobs Hadn’t Returned To Apple In 1997? http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/1434/what-if-steve-jobs-hadnt-returned-to-apple-in-1997

Today is Thanksgiving in the U.S. Traditionally we take stock of the things that we’re thankful for on this day each year. And I realized that one of those things is Steve Jobs. I’m thankful that he returned to Apple in 1997 and did the things he has done since. It wasn’t at all a certainty that he would ever return to the company that he cofounded two decades earlier. In fact, it was only luck and coincidence that pushed him back there. It was late December 1996. I was an associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, the largest and most well known law firm in Silicon Valley. I’d fought for my job there, and I was lucky to be in a small group of lawyers that worked on some of the hottest deals at the firm – Netscape public financings and acquisitions, Pixar’s corporate deals with Disney, and NeXT Software, among others. Steve Jobs ran Pixar and NeXT, and whenever he did something that needed a law firm, he called my boss. Well, my boss’ boss – Larry Sonsini. That month Larry got a call. Steve was going to try to sell NeXT Software to Apple. He’d presented to the Apple board of directors, and his characteristic anti-charm won them over. They’d shortly pay about $400 million to get NeXT, with Steve Jobs returning to Apple as an advisor. It wasn’t long before he took the CEO job and started a more than decade-long run of hit products that have disrupted the computer, music, television, movie and telecommunication industries. We worked night and day on that deal for six straight days, barely leaving the office and usually sleeping on the floor under our desks. When we were done, one of the partners drove me over to Steve’s house to get his final signature on the documents I remember stuttering in his presence about my first computer, an Apple II+. A few days later Steve left me a voicemail about an administrative issue. I saved that voicemail for years, until I left the firm. It was, all in all, a formative moment for me. And even today, not that many people fully realize how unlikely it was that the deal would ever happen. Apple was also negotiating with Jean-Louis Gassée to acquire his company, Be Inc. Be’s operating system BeOS was probably a better product fit with Apple than NeXT. Apple offered a rumored $200 million for Be, but Gassée held out for far more. And so Apple went with Jobs at the last minute. Here’s what the NeXT Software website showed immediately after the announcement:

What if Apple had bought Be, and Steve never returned to Apple? What would the company, and our world, look like today? Apple Then, Apple Now When Steve Jobs returned to Apple the company had just completed a fiscal year where they lost about $1 billion on $7 billion in revenue. The company was worth about $4 billion. Rivals like HP and Dell were worth about $62 billion and $8 billion, respectively. Today Apple is worth a staggering $184 billion on revenues of $36.5 billion and net income of $8 billion. The company is now worth far more than HP and Dell combined. Hewlett Packard is worth just $119 billion, and Dell is worth $28 billion. You could throw another Dell in there and Apple would still be worth more. In 1997 Apple had a snoozy product line that included the ill-fated Newton, the Performa, the Power Macintosh, the PowerBook a bunch of printers and a few servers. User dependence on desktop software meant that only the very loyal or the very strange used Apple’s products. Everyone else wanted a common desktop platform. Fast Forward to today. Apple has the sexiest products in the business: iMacs, Macbooks, iPhones, iPods and more. Even the Mac Mini has a place in my home, powering my television. In the last three months of this last year alone, Apple sold 3 million Macs, 10 million iPods and 7.4 million iPhones. But the hardware isn’t even the start of what Apple has done in the last 12 years. They’ve accelerated the pace of change in the music, film and television industries as well with the iPod and iTunes. And they’ve redefined the mobile phone with the iPhone. If Gassée, or anyone else, had become the CEO of Apple back in 1997, how many of these products would exist today? Would Apple have ever made the first iPod, entering into an already saturated MP3 player market in the beginning of this decade? How likely would the iPhone have been? And next year we’ll see an Apple Tablet computer. Does anyone think anyone but Steve Jobs would have pushed that product to market? I don’t think any of those products would have launched. Or if they did they would have been as notable as the MP3 players and phones launched by competitors like Dell and HP. Quick, who can name any of those products? Who’s owned one? Our World Without Steve Jobs At Apple Fortune recently named Steve Jobs the CEO of the Decade, and with good reason. Not only has Apple performed financially – it’s worth about as much as Google, and has a larger market cap than AT&T, HP, Intel, Dell and countless other huge tech companies. But forget all that. What would our world look like without him? We’d likely still be in mobile phone hell. Chances are we still wouldn’t have a decent browsing experience on the phone, and we certainly wouldn’t be enjoying third party apps like Pandora or Skype on whatever clunker the carriers handed us. Even if you use an Android, Palm Pre or newer Blackberry today, you must thank Apple for pushing open the doors to mobile freedom. Think back to the phone you had in 2006, and then tell me you don’t love Apple for the iPhone alone (yes, I’ve moved on, but the iPhone was the genesis). Steve Jobs was also the man who talked the major music labels into dropping DRM. He nearly single-handedly disrupted the entire industry. And it’s amazing how many laptops and desktops today mimic the look and feel of Macbooks and iMacs. Apple certainly hasn’t done everything right (MobileMe comes to mind, and I have had nothing but trouble with the Macbook Air). And their stance on the iPhone is irritating and, well, sorta evil. But all of that’s ok. Because without Steve Jobs’ Apple the world would be a less colorful place. The man is a living legend and deserves his place in history. This Thanksgiving, Steve Jobs is one of the things that I’m thankful for. And I bet you are too. Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0

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Thu, 26 Nov 2009 04:36:14 -0800 http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/1434/what-if-steve-jobs-hadnt-returned-to-apple-in-1997
Openning of the Apple Store Carrousel du Louvre http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/1368/openning-of-the-apple-store-carrousel-du-louvre

a quick wrap-up of the day

aoc.3lavie.com Cast: tonybo

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Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:53:52 -0800 http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/1368/openning-of-the-apple-store-carrousel-du-louvre
SEXY DANCE TIME! http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/1366/sexy-dance-time

NEW HALLOWEEN VIDEO ON FRIDAY!!!

Okay I know.. no more Apple store videos, but I HAD to post this because I almost got kicked out for the first time ever! Epic :)

Anyways, new Halloween interactive video coming on Friday so look for that.. in the mean time, hopefully this gave you a little laugh!

2ND YOUTUBE CHANNEL: http://youtube.com/otherijustine

TWITTER: http://twitter.com/ijustine

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Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:13:50 -0700 http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/1366/sexy-dance-time
Hyperwall in WWDC 2009, Live from App Store http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/822/hyperwall-in-wwdc-2009-live-from-app-store

what you're looking at: over 3,000 apps-and growing-are downloaded every minute from the App Store. This is a live feed showing the activity of 20,000 popular apps currently on the store. Every time a customer downloads an app, its icon lights up (5-min delay).

How Apple made it: This hyperwall was built using the latest in Apple technology. It's powered by 20 Mac Pro towers running Mac OS X Snow Leopard. It was programmed in Quartz Composer using new OpenCL APIs. And it's shown on 20 synchronized 30-inch Apple Cinema HD Displays.

This movie was taken by imagebakery.tv Cast: Imagebakery

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Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:09:17 -0700 http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/822/hyperwall-in-wwdc-2009-live-from-app-store
November afternoon http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/90/november-afternoon

It is the best of times, it is the worst of times...

xb@mobile

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Wed, 05 Nov 2008 06:50:29 -0800 http://tonybo.3lavie.com/items/view/90/november-afternoon