Willravel

Let's say that you're basically a demigod at Apple, and your wish is the company's demand. You want the brand and company to succeed. What would you do in your position to fix problems that you see at Apple? Would you make the computers cheaper? Would you change the form factor? Would you develop more towers? Or would you head in the other direction, making them perform better and making them more elite? Would you make a 3g iPhone?

I'll start.
- First off, I'd probably take a long, hard look at the Mac Mini. It's been around for a bit, and it's been the same shape for years now. This is supposed to be the VW Beetle of computers, after all. I'd like to change the colors a bit to reflect the new lineup by changing the white top to matte black. I'd also like to add better performance.
Baseline: 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo, 1.5GB memory, 120GB HD for $399
Better: 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB memory, 320GB HD for $499
Not only that, but I'd want to finally provide a cheaper display that can be sold with the computer. I could simply repackage a Samsung in aluminum with an iSight integrated.

While I realize that I'd probably not make much money on these, it'd be good to establish a larger market presence and then simply adjust the prices accordingly once market share jumped (as it would).

- Second, I'd revisit the MacBook. No more black and white models, we've moved on to aluminum and it makes more sense. I'd rather it simply looked like a 13" MBP. I'd also like to add more education software, like FREE iWork (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote). I'd also bundle a case. The idea is to make this even more perfect for college students and young professionals who need a decent computer. I'd probably drop the prices $100 each, too.

- Third: MBP! This is Mac's God-computer. I'd upgrade the processors to 2.8 and 3.066GHz and make 3GB of memory the norm. I'd also throw GeForce 8800 GTSs in each of them and expand the possible HD to 500GB. I'd keep prices the same.

- Fourth, I'd probably change the commercials. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy them, but it fuels the raging fire of people who aren't fans of Macs. That's bad business. What I might do is open up emails from people who hate apple and directly answer their questions in commercials, honestly. Mac-hate is a big problem, and it should be overcome.



BTW, there are plenty of threads in which to bash or praise Mac. Hate the commercials? THERE IS AN ENTIRE THREAD ABOUT IT HERE! This thread is a hypothetical involving your interests in the tech industry and maybe some fun. If it's not your cup of tea, enjoy the rest of TFP.

Byrnison

I think that the implementation of all of your ideas would be an excellent starting point (especially the one about changing the commercials!) I am also reminded of the older-than-dirt dig on platforms contained in What if Operating Systems were Airlines?

(lest you think that this is Apple Bashing, the PC is not spared either )

This observation sums up my reticence about the Apple product - please let me install my NewestPeripheral9000 in your box and have at least an even chance of it working. Don't make me pay twice the price for an Apple-branded version that may or may not do the same thing, if an Apple version exists at all (which in almost all cases it doesn't). I understand the desire to vet hardware so that users won't have headaches, but there needs to be a balance between giving users some freedom to choose their own depending on their needs.

Do that and bring the price more in line with the cost of a PC (the software issue has finally been addressed with the use of Intel CPUs - not perfectly but well enough) and I just might look to Apple the next time I decide to replace my computer...

spindles

I'm not sure Apple have ever tried to make their gear affordable - that was never their marketing strategy. They have positioned themselves as a premium brand. I think if they start to try and compete on price, then they are doing a full 180 on their marketing.

I don't think they care about the fact they are a niche player in the PC market - their 'niche' is still pretty sizeable, I'd guess. Even with ipods and iphones - they are targeting the 'premium' users.

Otherwise, I don't really know much about the intricacies of their individual offerings to comment in detail.

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Shauk

id start a tech support line and... charge them for it


oh wait, he already covered that

n0nsensical

Fire random employees on the elevator.

Seriously though, looks like Steve is already doing a pretty amazing job, I would just screw it up.

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"Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded." --Abraham Lincoln

blahblah454

I think for the most part he is doing a pretty good job.

As someone else mentioned, I dont like the way mac products cost more than the equivalent PC product. Especially in hardware, like harddrives, ram... that sort of stuff. My dad just bought a MAC and its awesome, I just love it, but the price he paid for extra ram and a bigger HD was a little steap.

Also the iPods need some work. I dont like the way they are so software based with no real touch buttons. They need a solid reset button for when they freeze or some other shit hits the fan. Also the equalizer on the iPod sucks balls. But kudos to Apple for making the iPod better and then lowering the price at the same time, what other company ever does that? But I still like my Sony flash Walkman better!

ubertuber

The iPods already have tactile buttons to do hard resets. The only situation in which this doesn't work is when the logic board is fubared. I'd charge $30 more for the iPods and make their warranties 2 years long. And team up with Assurion or whoever to do insurance for the iPhone similar to what the other companies do.

New displays with iSights are a no-brainer. A lower end Mac Pro would be nice -- a modest dual core with the expandability. Perhaps a smaller case for it with only one riser card for RAM expansion. No one buying a budget machine is going to put 32 GB of RAM in it, and maybe only 2 HD slots are needed -- by the same logic, 4 internal HD bays is overkill. One optical drive bay would be fine. With those changes, they could use a less massive power supply. Voila, a cheaper and smaller machine that still has expansion possibilities.

The mini is ridiculous. It's a cool computer, but it needs to at least match the performance of the MacBook and should be able to get 4 GB of RAM, which would require a new logic board. I have a suspicion that only half the minis sold are actually serving as "cheap entry-level" macs. The rest are second computers, file servers, and media machines. So make them able to put out 1080p video and or dual DVI for the 30" display. Then make a price break for people who buy the mini, keyboard, mouse, and display together.

I don't know about eliminating the plastic macbook line. It's part of an overarching distinction between "consumer" and "professional" machines that is reflected in pricing. Without that differentiation, the price of an aluminum 13" MBP would be much higher than the $1100 where the MacBooks start.

30" iMac. 42" Cinema Displays.

Last, and biggest, I think the next huge thing would be a tablet Mac that had the usability and interface mojo of Leapard and the iPhone. Apple has become very good at coming into niches that other companies have opened but been unable to define (think all-in-one computers, mp3 players, cell phones, online music distribution). They've made it clear that what matters is not doing something first, it's being the first to do it right. The tablet platform seems to me to be the next culture shift in computers that current manufacturers have been unable to crack open. Part of this is my own selfish wish for this machine to exist, but I really think that it could be a big paradigm shift, and windows-based platforms have certainly failed to capture the market's imagination. This is the classic door-wide-open for Apple.

Oh yeah, and .mac needs to grow up or go home. Ideally it would be fixed so that the iDisc worked without dragging the finder into a vortex, backup and time machine would be able to interface with the off-site storage (which really ought to be at least 20 GB), and the ability to sync computers to each other would be expanded to more resemble roaming profiles. Then, include a year's subscription for free with every Mac sold.

Lastly, consider raising the price of each MPB and Mac Pro by $150-200 and including Apple Care with all of them. If these are professional machines, then Rolls Royce warranties would really make them seem rock-solid. The volume by attaching it to every computer would lower the per-consumer price.

I know raising prices on something seems strange, but the brand isn't built on being compared to PC equivalents, because there really aren't any. The price structure already supports the infrastructure of the stores (Genius Bar free face-to-face troubleshooting and on-site warranty service, 1:1 instruction, free workshops for kids, etc.) and the inclusion of tons of features (iLife has a lot of best in class apps that are free). For the "Pro" level machines, Apple should go farther in that direction. 100% parts and labor for 3 years on every machine out the door would really make that clear.

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Ustwo

Stop trying to be a hardware vendor and work on the OS market.

I'd buy the Mac OS and use it for a lot of things, especially if I could dual boot, but I'm not going to be forced to buy their overpriced hardware to do so.

Right now Mac's greatest appeal is to those who don't know how to configure a computer, and those who want to feel superior to "M$" users but can't figure out how to boot Linux. Lets face it the best marketing tool mac has had in ages is Vista, I even thought of getting a mac instead of dealing with Vista.

Mac is in a good niche market these days but if it wants to be anything beyond the 'artists' computer it needs to drop the hardware rules.

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ubertuber

I think this is the least possible of all scenarios. Steve and the company are very clear that the strength of their position is built on the ability to design both the hardware and the software -- their interaction. OS X is great, but much of the mojo comes from the same walled garden that people complain about.

Linux has nothing to do with the conversation. Money is made by the majority of the market, not the fringe that has the understanding and motivation to download and compile kernels. When it is more usable, Linux may well be king.

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Ustwo

I didn't say they would do it, but until they do, they are going to be niche market only.

It does only in that people who use macs generally are not the most computer literate, hell they don't have to be. If you really wanted to beat the system, something many mac users are very smug about, you run Linux, only of course its a lot more effort to get it all to work.

This may sound like I'm being condescending to mac users, and I'm not intending it that way, but that type of user does tend to be the ones mac is geared to. As a more advanced user, I don't have any virus/trojan/Vista/issues which has been the core of mac advertising for a while now.

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Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

n0nsensical

Apple's entire business model is based on their hardware. They're not Microsoft. It may not have worked that well in the 90s, but their problem in the 90s was not the model, they just needed to make products that the market actually liked, which their leadership was totally incapable of without the vision of Jobs. Desktop software (including operating system) is going nowhere, Microsoft is just going to milk whatever value is left in it as everything moves to web-style services. Hardware is where Apple makes a difference. True it doesn't have the appeal to businesses, yet, but they're gaining the advantage, iPhone? The web browser is already the most important tool for home and mobile computing, business is heading that way and Apple is in a good position to capitalize. And the iPod, most successful consumer electronic of the decade, all the profit is on the hardware, not soft music sales. It would not surprise me to see Apple's value greater or equal to Microsoft's in 10 years on the same model, at least if Microsoft continues to show a complete inability to adapt to anything beyond its bread and butter.

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girldetective

see n0nsensical above. it wouldnt surprise me to see that apple's value is greater than microsoft's in less than 10 years.

at work i have a pc, but when i buy i go to macs. when someone asks my advice about buying (work or home) i always suggest a mac. apple is doing just fine with their quality products.

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Martian

It's very possible to install and run Linux without having to compile anything. Installing apps, on the other hand...

Linux has made huge strides in usability over the past few years. I don't think it's quite ready for Joe User yet, but it's getting there. I'd like to say Joe User isn't ready for Linux (it's no harder to learn than DOS was), but users expect things to be stupideasy these days and not acknowledging that doesn't get one anywhere.

On topic, I would fix those damn ipods. It seems like they have a bad habit of failing immediately after the warranty runs out, which is not good for business. People talk.

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Hain

Actually it is perfectly good business because the iPods were engineered to last only so long as the warranty. The designers accurately predicted the lifetime of the device for normal everyday use. If one made a product without a target death date, than what would be the point of making new things? This is what stimulates the market to buy newer, shinier, and crappier things that will again break right after the warranty is up. If you don't like it, find a product with a longer warranty.

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filtherton

It's good business. But it's also a good example of why "good business" is bad for the consumer.

Hain

My only bit of bashing is I don't like anything about the Mac...


On topic:

I would make the Mac accessable to some not so common things. As I usually work with audio codecs, bring not so common formats to the people that want things easy.

I would revamp iTunes and iPods so that they are compatible with not so common but free audio codecs. Starters would be FLAC and OGG Vorbis as many in the audio world push these codecs, I myself included. After that WavPack (WV), hybrid WV, and CUE-sheet & *-images.

Easy way to get most of that support on the iPod is have it with Rockbox (Released under the GNU). I would make the iPod dual boot Rockbox and iPod software.

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biznatch

Rockbox is awesome. I recently put it on my iRiver H320. I was surprised to see that I can now play Doom on it. That's crazy.
By the way, Augi, if you like audio a lot, iRiver makes amazing products. I love my H320, unfortunately it's not in production any longer, even though it's still possible to find some new ones here and there, if you look hard enough.

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