Initial conclusions upon finishing the biography: 1) why doesn’t Apple’s iBooks let one gift an eBook as I’d give 10 away today?! 2) Steve Jobs was weird and weirdly unique and there will never be another like him — and this is not all bad. How’s that!? from a fanboy. As my Apple friend informed me, “yes, there has definitely been a shift at the company over the past three weeks and maybe we can use the change to better operationalize some of the success and processes as we are bursting at the seams with systems catching up to creative and physical output.” 3) it’s up to us to carry-on in some manner, in some small way what Steve Jobs accomplished in so many significant ways. Of course, behaving different is hard. Maybe I should try it.

Over the past 18 months of speaking with banking executives of many sizes and risk profiles, nearly all react positively to the Simon Sinek description of why Apple is so successful…because they know Why they do things; they know what they believe. Below is an excerpt from the biography where Tim Cook offers his description of what Apple believes in.

“We believe that we are on the face of the earth to make great products, and that’s not changing. We are constantly focusing on innovation. We believe in the simple not the complex. We believe that we need to own and control the primary technologies behind the products that we make, and participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution. We believe in saying no to thousands of projects, so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us. We believe in deep collaboration and cross-pollination of our groups, which allow us to innovate in a way that others cannot. And frankly, we don’t settle for anything less than excellence in every group in the company, and we have the self-honesty to admit when we’re wrong and the courage to change. And I think, regardless of who is in what job, those values are so embedded in this company that Apple will do extremely well.”
Tim Cook Apple CEO pg 488 Steve Jobs by WalterJacobson.

Mourning is over. Time to get busy.

19 October 2011 Remembrance Celebration at Cuppertino Campus

Then I moved to North Carolina and hooked-on to a start-up where everyone was issued one of these Macs with the 9″ screens. We could open two documents at once – yeah, baby! – network with other Macs and even share a $10,000.00 laser printer around the cubicle farm.

Paid $2,200.00 in 1990 for a Mac with 2 megabytes of RAM and a dot matrix printer.

But somehow these Apple products had a feminine overtone; real men used DOS (before Windows 95 introduced phrases such as Blue Screen and Security Patch into the office vernacular). No doubt that Apple had plenty of chances to rule the roost if only they woulda licensed the operating system to other PC manufacturers. Finally, Windows did catch-up by virtue of its broad distribution relegating the Mac to beatniks and hippies and designers and those who favored taste eg ease of use over price. Apple hovered at loyal 6% market share for a long time.

Jobs was replaced by the man from Pepsi, John Sculley, who was replaced by the German Diesel, Michael Spindler, who tried to sell Apple to IBM or Sun or Philips, and then was replaced by the NCR execs Gil Amelio and Ellen Hancock. Folks, those were dark days of fractured market positioning and the dullest of product ideas. Mac batteries were reported to burst into flames on occasion. My related personal misfortune was to be an Apple developer during the Spindler-Amelio period; visits to Cupertino felt like a tour of a movie set were a once renown film was made. “Watch out for tumbleweed in the lobby” sort of ambience.

No one dreamed that Jobs would return; that Pixar would rescue Disney; that Apple would invigorate both our telecommunications and retail shopping industries. I spoke with a senior banking executive last week who purchased recently his first Mac product. He said, “when you get it, it’s like.. sort of feels like…” he hesitated. Two of us finished his remark by saying, ‘it’s like receiving a present so well packaged is the product and so welcoming to open. We all feel that way.” He agreed. My colleague rejoined, “I keep my Apple packaging.” With a conspiratorial smile, the exec agreed that he kept his also.

I paid $750 for a Newton in 1993! Hand-writing recognition estt not soet grtate, tho.

I could dance all night on the wonder of this company and the genius of the man who steered it to its brilliance. Of course, I’m saddened by his ill health and scared that we’ll retreat under the onslaught of the cost-accountants and marketeers who treat us as though, well, we have no taste.

For now, and amidst this uncomfortable economic time, we must admit that we have an example of design genius, marketplace understanding, technology-driven productivity and a vivid example that beauty and function are indeed compelling roommates.

“This is worth repeating. It’s in Apple’s DNA that technology is not enough. It’s tech married with the liberal arts and the humanities. Nowhere is that more true than in the post-PC products. Our competitors are looking at this like it’s the next PC market. That is not the right approach to this. These are post-PC devices that need to be easier to use than a PC, more intuitive.” Steve Jobs at conclusion of iPad2 announcement.

Apple: 5% marketshare for phones; 50% of profits.

Nokia: 40% marketshare for phones; 10% of profits – and declining.

I’ll remember this the next time that someone asks ‘where’s the business for this new technology? or What’s the ROI or How do we make money on this?’ Of course, fundamental questions and let’s not lose sight of the herd. And sometimes it’s a herd of lemmings. Sometimes not.

Graphic thanks to The Economist 10 Feb 2011 issue.

Economist citation here. What can be the results of such innovation? Microsoft announces new mobile phone platform today and stock goes nearly nowhere, remaining around $24.62. Today, Apple stock rises $2.83 to $296.91 achieving new, all-time high. Imitation is indeed a high, and seemingly profitable, form of flattery.

Where is the mobile phone app race presently?
Daily Downloads in millions:
Apple – 20
Android – 5
Nokia – 2.3
RIM- 1.5

Mobile Device Operating Systems, market share in %
Symbian (Nokia) – 40
Blackberry (RIM) – 18
Android- 16
Apple – 15
Microsoft – 7
Others- 4

Apple has 15% market share and greater than 2x the number of apps sold as all of their competitors combined!

As other firms cut costs, buy back stock and hoard cash, Apple pursues its own path of innovation. Their stock is up nearly $60 since the iPad’s introduction in April of this year. Seems to me that the mantra of the enterprise should be “how might we be like Apple?”

‘With access to the same people, the same technologies and the same funding sources, why are they consistently so innovative?’ might be a question that every CEO would strive to answer in our economic doldrums.

Click on image above to access article.

Well written by Nick Saint of Business Insider. His contact info:
e-mail:nsaint@businessinsider.com and AIM: erraticnyc

You tell ‘em, brother.

Last night my son streamed a movie to the iPad from wifi system that came with the beach house rental. The NetFlix app for video is super. So is the iBook reader; so is the speaker for the iPod; so is the picture viewer; so is, so is, so…..I’m one of the fans, for sure. Wouldn’t you agree that this yet-another-hit-from-Apple offsets the well intentioned bumbling and intentional deception which seems to dominate the news, even in a period of declining news coverage. Who can we trust?! Are we in this together or not?! As Casey Stengal once asked, ” does anyone here know how to play this game?!”

Coach K does. He doesn’t wear it on his sleeve and he is a graduate of West Point, class of 1969. His recruiting of late suffered repercussions of the 2006 lacrosse racially scarred scandal. With a Gold Medal and his 4th NCAA trophy, not a problem any longer.

He showed this year that he knows how to win with the team that he’s got – good players but not the best players. Kentucky, Baylor and several others had faster and more athletic teams of players. Maybe even Carolina. But no team played with the confidence, cohesion and simple understanding of role and circumstance as did Duke. Leadership matters.

This is what Duke and Apple have in common: a commitment to exceptional performance – some may describe this as innovation – that borders on cult worship but is genuinely about the expectation of excellence. I observe that the heart of achievement is trust: trust in ourselves – the notion of letting it happen – after we’ve worked hard to learn how it is suppose to happen ( call this education). If we might assemble a team or unit or platoon or department or start-up of so educated, self-trusting individuals and provide the rigor of expectation in an atmosphere of sincere, mutual support, then the results or the potential will be as they are supposed to be. A good bet is that this formula will most often produce team success and invariably produce a product championship or two along the way.

America can do better; needs to do better; had better do better if only because never knowing how to win can become a way of life as well.

Here’s hoping that Butler is the next to join the ranks of hero programs.

Tags: Duke_basketball, NACC_final_4
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Unhappily, or not, I’ve not downloaded even one of the all-time most popular. I guess that J. Geils finished 21st. But seriously, folks, there was even an iTunes store 10 years ago. I hope that cable providers are next.

Our team at IBM helps to sponsor the annual Tech at Tuck series with its early winter annual roundtable. The theme this year is mobility. Blue Pane Studio, an IBM business partner (my wife is the Art Director), offered to develop this simple app for Tuck. As I’ve learned from the sidelines, and probably won’t surprise you, is that Apple is easy to work with and provides a wealth of support and tools for designing web apps. The approval process is quick and easy.