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[REBORN FROM THE ASHES][comment][02.04]
Can Apple Out-Innovate Microsoft and Google?
https://bbs.gter.net/viewthread.php?tid=1057510
Unfamiliar Words
hang around, blunder
Useful Expressions
Apple leapt way ahead in the PC market when it released the original Macintosh, the first popular computer to employ a graphical user interface.
Leap way ahead=be much more advance in=be so far beyond
Nokia still hold a greater share of the smartphone market than Apple does, but their aging software platforms look obsolete next to Apple's.
A look obsolete next to B=A drops behind B
In his mind, this is the only way to guarantee that you'll give customers a terrific experience.
Terrific=stunning
For most of the world, cheap machines that were "good enough" trumped Apple's pricier, perfectionist, control-freak approach.
Trump=defeat
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Materials(Ideas/Examples/ Technique)
1.【Ideas- History develops with different characters in the same way】
One of the great things about covering technology is that if you hang around long enough, you get to write the same stories all over again. In 1987, when I first started on the tech beat, desktop PCs were a big deal. Today the excitement has moved to mobile devices, also known as smartphones. Watching this new market unfold is a bit like seeing one of those movies where they've taken an old classic and remade it with new stars but the same script.
(观察这个新兴市场有点像是在观看那么一类电影,这类电影被人们当做经典并启用新的明星来翻拍制作,不过仍然沿用同样的剧本。)
Now, as then, a smaller device is displacing a bigger one. Now, as then, the platform remains somewhat primitive but is evolving rapidly. Hardware makers are trying to figure out which user interface works best. Software makers are dreaming up new ways to use machines that even their creators could not have imagined. Now, as then, a new ecosystem is arising, with disruptive technology creating new powerhouses and threatening the survival of market leaders.
{{Structure}}
(1)【TS】 One of the great things about (new characters) is that if you hang around long enough, you get to write (the same stories) all over again.
(2)【E.G.-New Characters】The same excitement from PCs to smartphones.
(3)【Analogy-History develops with Different Characters in the same way】
Watching (a phenomenon) is a bit like seeing one of those movies where they’ve taken an old classic and remade it with new stars but the same script.
(New stars=new technology, new ruler, new conference)
(Same script=The same way of development)
(1)【E.G.-The Same Way】Now, as then, (a new egl) is displacing (an old eg). Now, as then, (a trend) is evolving rapidly. (2)【Details-Players】From Hardware makers to software makers.(3)【Conclusion-System】History develops with different characters in the same way. It is an ecosystem where new characters are displacing new ones.
2.【Examples-Creator v.s Imitator, Original v.s Recent】
Apple vs. Microsoft
Apple leapt way ahead in the PC market when it released the original Macintosh, the first popular computer to employ a graphical user interface. It took Microsoft six years to come up with something that could compare to the Mac. Nevertheless, Windows took over the world and now holds more than 90 percent market share, while Apple squeaks by with less than 5 percent worldwide. Probably Apple's biggest blunder with the Mac was refusing to let other companies license its software (so that the software tightly coupled to the hardware seems to give customers a terrific experience.) Microsoft took the opposite approach, letting any PC maker license the Windows operating system. There's a tradeoff here. Microsoft couldn't control the user's experience. But its decision led to greater diversity of machines, and lower prices. For most of the world, cheap machines that were "good enough" trumped Apple's pricier, perfectionist, control-freak approach.
3.【Examples-Self-reinforcing Phenomenon】
The more apps the software guys created, the more appealing Windows became, so it was a self-reinforcing phenomenon, a virtuous circle.(良性循环、自我增值系统)
The more users the website owns, the more accurate and more information Wikipedia hold. So it was as a self-reinforcing phenomenon, a virtuous circle.
The more users the communication tool attracts, the more convenient and broader the QQ became, so it was a self-reinforcing phenomenon, a virtuous circle.
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My Comment
Apple is famous for its creativity. From Macintosh to iMac, from iPod to iPhone, Apple shows us power and passion when it brings us innovative and stunning things. Recently iPad, an integration of computer and hand device, also captures out attention. But, this article, from Newsweek though published before the iPad, critically asked a question:” Can the company avoid repeating the mistakes that forced it to play catch-up in the '90s?”
As far as I am concerned, the company did make mistakes in the ‘90s but different from what the author said. Why Apple lost was for the shortage of continual innovation instead of maintenance of locking system. In fact, applying despotic system can bring a company much bigger success in a short time but it needs further and sustained innovation to keep its fable again and again, while adopting an opening system enjoy long-term interests but it needs ample resources and healthy self-reinforce method to overcome a hardship during the early days. Both control-freak or philanthropism could succeed in their own virtuous circle but break if there is a glitch on “continual innovation” or “self-reinforce”. Therefore, the author falsely treats the despotic approach, which indeed brings specific advantage, as the cause of what Apple cry for.
I really appreciate Steve Jobs when he has long adopted the dangerous model of operating products. It risks a lot but urges great inspiration. Jobs’ policy in blocking other companies’ access to Apple’s cutting-edge would make software tightly coupled to special hardware and thus keep customers a terrific experience. Therefore Apples’ leading position in the market is prolonged until the technology being widely studied, copied and sold. During its monopolization, with high price only affordable by a small group of consumers, Apple succeeds in grasping great profit ignoring the market share. And bundles of money rushing to Apple in a short time make available a new bleeding-edge technology.
Then, new stars would be lionized and the same script would be played again.
It is not too bad for Apple to become a niche player once again when it again and again create stunning fable. |
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