Re:Steve Jobs on why Xerox failed
by microtherion on Monday January 07, 2019 @08:16AM
(#18844848)
Ironically these were times when a TON of new products came out. There probably never were more simultaneous Mac models in the market, and there was OpenDoc, CyberDog, Quickdraw GX, QuickDraw 3D, QuickTime VR, HotSauce, Game Sprockets.
The first few years of Steve 2.0 were largely about REDUCING the number of products, and improving the MARKETING. As for the products:
* There was the iMac, which was notable for having FEWER features. Sure there was USB, but everybody was complaining about their ADB and serial peripherals no longer working without dongles, and about the omission of a floppy drive (sound familiar?).
* There was the iBook, which certainly had an iconic look (especially the handle), but not one that had a lasting impact.
* The PowerBooks were nice designs.
* The Power Mac G3/G4 towers with the opening latch and handles were a really good product with a lasting form factor, in my opinion.
* The Power Mac G4 cube was a commercial disaster, doomed, among other things, by bad pricing positioning in a weakening economy (sound familiar?).
* And don't get me started about the hockey puck mouse — the kind of product design that tends to get forgotten in Steve Jobs nostalgia threads.
The first few years of Steve 2.0 were largely about REDUCING the number of products, and improving the MARKETING. As for the products:
* There was the iMac, which was notable for having FEWER features. Sure there was USB, but everybody was complaining about their ADB and serial peripherals no longer working without dongles, and about the omission of a floppy drive (sound familiar?).
* There was the iBook, which certainly had an iconic look (especially the handle), but not one that had a lasting impact.
* The PowerBooks were nice designs.
* The Power Mac G3/G4 towers with the opening latch and handles were a really good product with a lasting form factor, in my opinion.
* The Power Mac G4 cube was a commercial disaster, doomed, among other things, by bad pricing positioning in a weakening economy (sound familiar?).
* And don't get me started about the hockey puck mouse — the kind of product design that tends to get forgotten in Steve Jobs nostalgia threads.