Apple Picking Time?

I often get asked for advice about purchasing a new computer, tablet or smart phone.  The question often boils down to whether I recommend going with an Apple product or one from one of a dozen other tech manufacturers.  Like so many decisions about technology products there are many considerations. 

Today the rock star buzz around the announcement of any new Apple product is extraordinary.  Apple aficionados wait in line for days so they can be the first to have the newest and greatest.  It is not surprising that one would think that only Apple products are worth looking at and all the others are “also rans.”  There are many very good products, many even superior to those that have the iconic Apple logo.   So what is the big difference between Apple and everyone else?

I have long been somewhat less than high on Apple for reasons that have little to do with its technology.  I did not like the control that Apple placed on the products and services.  It reminded me of Henry Ford when he said that you could have a Model A in any color as long as it was black.  That control however has allowed Apple to make it very easy to use its products.

In my opinion it is the integration of their products that makes Apple a good decision for most people.  Apple’s legendary tight control over hardware, software, marketing and applications allows their products to work together seamlessly and efficiently.   From the very beginning of the computer age the Apple vs. Microsoft battle has waged on and at its core was Apple’s belief that control would provide a better user experience.  Microsoft allowed most any company to build machines, author software and develop systems using their operating system.  They were convinced that this would foster innovation.  It did but unfortunately it also allowed for many product and system incompatibility issues and required users to learn different commands and procedures depending on the product they wished to use.

Today if you already have one Apple product you should try to stay with Apple when you are buying another device.  For instance if you already have an Apple computer on which you have stored calendar and contact information you can easily access that information using an iPad or iPhone using iCloud.  For the most part Apple takes care of all the machinations that make that work.  You will also find many of the conventions, icons, nomenclature and graphic look are all integrated and very intuitive across the various products.   Of course you can share calendar and contact information among other non Apple devices but it requires much more user involvement.  In short by keeping tight control over all aspects of the products Apple does all of the heavy lifting of keeping the underlying systems running and lets the user concentrate on the task at hand.

Simply put when you ask for the time of day an Apple product will give it to you.  Many other non Apple devices will tell you how to build a watch.  You may end up with a Rolex but did you really want one?

Just my opinion…

Apple Picking Time?

I often get asked for advice about purchasing a new computer, tablet or smart phone.  The question often boils down to whether I recommend going with an Apple product or one from one of a dozen other tech manufacturers.  Like so many decisions about technology products there are many considerations. 

Today the rock star buzz around the announcement of any new Apple product is extraordinary.  Apple aficionados wait in line for days so they can be the first to have the newest and greatest.  It is not surprising that one would think that only Apple products are worth looking at and all the others are “also rans.”  There are many very good products, many even superior to those that have the iconic Apple logo.   So what is the big difference between Apple and everyone else?

I have long been somewhat less than high on Apple for reasons that have little to do with its technology.  I did not like the control that Apple placed on the products and services.  It reminded me of Henry Ford when he said that you could have a Model A in any color as long as it was black.  That control however has allowed Apple to make it very easy to use its products.

In my opinion it is the integration of their products that makes Apple a good decision for most people.  Apple’s legendary tight control over hardware, software, marketing and applications allows their products to work together seamlessly and efficiently.   From the very beginning of the computer age the Apple vs. Microsoft battle has waged on and at its core was Apple’s belief that control would provide a better user experience.  Microsoft allowed most any company to build machines, author software and develop systems using their operating system.  They were convinced that this would foster innovation.  It did but unfortunately it also allowed for many product and system incompatibility issues and required users to learn different commands and procedures depending on the product they wished to use.

Today if you already have one Apple product you should try to stay with Apple when you are buying another device.  For instance if you already have an Apple computer on which you have stored calendar and contact information you can easily access that information using an iPad or iPhone using iCloud.  For the most part Apple takes care of all the machinations that make that work.  You will also find many of the conventions, icons, nomenclature and graphic look are all integrated and very intuitive across the various products.   Of course you can share calendar and contact information among other non Apple devices but it requires much more user involvement.  In short by keeping tight control over all aspects of the products Apple does all of the heavy lifting of keeping the underlying systems running and lets the user concentrate on the task at hand.

Simply put when you ask for the time of day an Apple product will give it to you.  Many other non Apple devices will tell you how to build a watch.  You may end up with a Rolex but did you really want one?

Just my opinion…

Bill Gates Did More Than Program Computers

I have been known to speak irreverently and harshly about Microsoft®. Most often these diatribes are prompted by some “blue screen” error or other irritation emanating from my computer. Even if it is something I did wrong, I am prone to blame the crew from Redmond, Washington. Well, that crew now has a new captain. The end of June marked the end of one of the most storied business careers ever, as Bill Gates stepped down from day-to-day management of Microsoft® and will now serve only as the board Chairman.

As a college student in 1975, Bill was the quintessential math nerd. There were the glasses and the tussled hair. I’m not sure if there was a pocket protector, but I bet there was a slide rule or two hanging on his belt. He was hardly what the blue bloods of industry would have predicted to become one of the most influential persons of the century. His innovations are not only in the technology arena, but permeate new business management practices and more important, modern philanthropy.

It was due in large part to what he conceived in college, what he developed in the proverbial garage, and what he sold to some skeptical suits at IBM, that our world today is radically changed and can barely function without the computer. If you step back and reflect on how our home life, our work life and even our leisure pursuits have changed in the 30 some years since he and his college buds founded Microsoft®, you can’t be anything but amazed.

While he and his colleagues have contributed greatly to the technology we use and enjoy, it is only part of much broader contributions. For example, the collaborative and participatory management style used to develop software is now taught at the very university from which he dropped out. Once only found in the cubicles of Silicon Valley and Redmond, Washington, the informal work environment, less hierarchical chain of command and collaborative approach to problem solving are now just as prominent at P&G, Kroger and GE as they are at Cisco, Google and Apple.

What is even more impressive to me is what Gates and his wife have decided to do with the fortune that he has amassed by working with the bits and bytes. Mr. Gates is said to be the third richest person in the world. Now that he has relinquished his day job, he and his wife are concentrating on the operation of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The foundation has already made a big impact on major health and education improvement in this country and around the world especially in sub-Sahara Africa. Gates brings many of his experiences honed at Microsoft® to the foundation. He gets the best of the best to find new, creative and effective ways to address humanitarian issues.

To be sure, we should not elevate him to sainthood. There are those pesky antitrust suits that keep coming up. You do have to say, though, that it has not been a bad career for a smart skinny kid who dropped out of college.

Bill Gates Did More Than Program Computers

I have been known to speak irreverently and harshly about Microsoft®. Most often these diatribes are prompted by some “blue screen” error or other irritation emanating from my computer. Even if it is something I did wrong, I am prone to blame the crew from Redmond, Washington. Well, that crew now has a new captain. The end of June marked the end of one of the most storied business careers ever, as Bill Gates stepped down from day-to-day management of Microsoft® and will now serve only as the board Chairman.

As a college student in 1975, Bill was the quintessential math nerd. There were the glasses and the tussled hair. I’m not sure if there was a pocket protector, but I bet there was a slide rule or two hanging on his belt. He was hardly what the blue bloods of industry would have predicted to become one of the most influential persons of the century. His innovations are not only in the technology arena, but permeate new business management practices and more important, modern philanthropy.

It was due in large part to what he conceived in college, what he developed in the proverbial garage, and what he sold to some skeptical suits at IBM, that our world today is radically changed and can barely function without the computer. If you step back and reflect on how our home life, our work life and even our leisure pursuits have changed in the 30 some years since he and his college buds founded Microsoft®, you can’t be anything but amazed.

While he and his colleagues have contributed greatly to the technology we use and enjoy, it is only part of much broader contributions. For example, the collaborative and participatory management style used to develop software is now taught at the very university from which he dropped out. Once only found in the cubicles of Silicon Valley and Redmond, Washington, the informal work environment, less hierarchical chain of command and collaborative approach to problem solving are now just as prominent at P&G, Kroger and GE as they are at Cisco, Google and Apple.

What is even more impressive to me is what Gates and his wife have decided to do with the fortune that he has amassed by working with the bits and bytes. Mr. Gates is said to be the third richest person in the world. Now that he has relinquished his day job, he and his wife are concentrating on the operation of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The foundation has already made a big impact on major health and education improvement in this country and around the world especially in sub-Sahara Africa. Gates brings many of his experiences honed at Microsoft® to the foundation. He gets the best of the best to find new, creative and effective ways to address humanitarian issues.

To be sure, we should not elevate him to sainthood. There are those pesky antitrust suits that keep coming up. You do have to say, though, that it has not been a bad career for a smart skinny kid who dropped out of college.