Steve Jobs: "Because I Can"(pbs.org)
pbs.org
Steve Jobs: "Because I Can"
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2007/pulpit_20070906_002891.html
7 comments
The author makes some good points (Jobs is a tool for snubbing the interview, the price cut was well planned, and the reasoning behind the price cut, etc)... But, I think he's off the mark on some things:
"In the mind of Steve Jobs the entire incident had no downside, none at all, which is yet another reason why he is not like you or me." "So Apple still comes out $75 million ahead, which is important to Steve Jobs."
Jobs is a CEO. Making money for the company and the company's stakeholders is what he does. Its his job, if you will. So yes, coming out ahead is important to Jobs... and every other competent CEO.
And as for the Gates comment, "He has to know he can never win"... Define 'win'. The way I see it, Apple is indeed winning... they're just not playing the same game as Microsoft anymore.
"In the mind of Steve Jobs the entire incident had no downside, none at all, which is yet another reason why he is not like you or me." "So Apple still comes out $75 million ahead, which is important to Steve Jobs."
Jobs is a CEO. Making money for the company and the company's stakeholders is what he does. Its his job, if you will. So yes, coming out ahead is important to Jobs... and every other competent CEO.
And as for the Gates comment, "He has to know he can never win"... Define 'win'. The way I see it, Apple is indeed winning... they're just not playing the same game as Microsoft anymore.
Well, you've got to take the Gates quote in context. This was about two years after Michael Dell said that he'd shut the company down and give the money back to the shareholders. Back then you'd have needed some serious crystal ball mojo to see forward to the Apple of today.
Definitely. I'm not bashing Gates for saying it. In the context he was dead on. But the author of the article seems to still push it as truth. Could just be my perception though, because he doesn't explicitly say it.
There is simply no way Jobs decided on the $100 gift certificate a day or two after the keynote announcing the price cut.
Considering all the planning that goes into all public presentations by Jobs, that is not plausible.
Cringely is spot on here.
Considering all the planning that goes into all public presentations by Jobs, that is not plausible.
Cringely is spot on here.
This whole thing is stupid. They set the price. In the product they sold, they made no guarantee that the price wasn't going to drop--lack of a future price drop wasn't part of the product. If anything, the main 'intangible' in this product was 'smugness'.
So, they set the price, and people bought it. End of story. They didn't force anyone to. If someone thought it was worth $600 when, as Cringely says, the 'real' price was the current price, then you made the mistake.
So, they set the price, and people bought it. End of story. They didn't force anyone to. If someone thought it was worth $600 when, as Cringely says, the 'real' price was the current price, then you made the mistake.
> they made no guarantee that the price wasn't going to drop
Interestingly, they do guarantee that if the price drops within 14 days of you buying the product then you can pay the lower price.
http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/salespolicies.html#...
As the return period is 14 days too, this is probably to stop people returning the product just to get a new one at the lower price.
Interestingly, they do guarantee that if the price drops within 14 days of you buying the product then you can pay the lower price.
http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/salespolicies.html#...
As the return period is 14 days too, this is probably to stop people returning the product just to get a new one at the lower price.
This reminds me of bad relationship advice - you have to abuse your customers a little in order for them to appreciate you better in the long run.
Didn't you all see the price drop coming? Maybe a $200 drop was a little unexpected, but I fully thought apple would come out with a new, better, and shinier iPhone months after the initial release when they announced it. Marketing-wise, its hard to claim that the price drop is a bad business move since they are still beating projections.
Of my friends who own iPhones, I haven't heard any of them complaining. They just had to go out and spend top dollar for the latest shiny gadget as soon as it became available. They've done it before, and they'll do it again. As such, none of them were surprised to see a big price drop.