How Apple does it

Steve Jobs and the Eureka Myth
[Via HarvardBusiness.org]

Steve Jobs’s resignation from Apple has sparked plenty of commentary on his achievements, his personality, and his vision. He deserves the attention: This is a man who transformed the technology world and helped build Apple into what was, at least for a few hours earlier this month, the world’s most valuable publicly traded company.

But the idea, so common in this week’s media coverage, that Jobs was an inspired savant who succeeded by taking big risks on personal hunches, is way off the mark. Rather than worship at the altar of inspiration and “going with your gut,” the rest of us should use this moment to consider the fundamental strategies that drove Apple’s success.

We’ve all heard the old saying about the balance between inspiration and perspiration. As well-known as this saying is, we often tend to forget it when we come upon things that really look effortless. Take Apple. The past decade has seen what appears to be an almost inevitable ascent of the company and its products to the pinnacle of success. Each iteration is better than the last; each new product is a hit from day one; and the lines outside the Apple stores remain full of customers who don’t just like the products — they love them.

With each launch of another device or application, Apple seems to pull exquisite new products, fully formed, from the minds of a few geniuses in turtlenecks. From the outside, Apple’s secret sauce would seem to be inspired design (read, “think different”); and inspired marketing of that design. In other words, 90% inspiration and 10% perspiration (mostly experienced by eager customers scrambling to get the latest iPod or iPad). iPhone 5? “Eureka!”

The truth is really a lot different.

 

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Nice short article that displays just how Apple is able to be so successful.

For example, it does not just create new technologies by its gut. It starts with 10 different versions in-house and places them in competition with each other. By the time it gets down to just one, it has gone through enough competition to succeed in the market.

Because Apple knows the more you compete inside, the less you’ll have to compete outside.

Everyone else just tries to get something out and hope the market like it. That is why Samsung made a million tablets but sold only 20,000.

Jonny Quest needs to be on Robot Chicken

Jonny Quest opening title sequence redone as stop motion
[Via Boing Boing]

Jonny Quest Opening Titles from Roger D. Evans on Vimeo.
Jim Leftwich sent me the link to this excellent stop-motion recreation of the opening title sequence for Jonny Quest. Wow!

In 1964, Jonny Quest aired to rave reviews as the first, adult action/adventure cartoon in prime time. It had cool jazz music by Hoyt Curtin and terrific, high contrast pen and ink design work by Doug Wildey. As an animator and long time JQ junkie, I had always wanted a set of Jonny Quest action figures but, due to high production costs, the show only lasted one season; not long enough to spawn any kind of serious toys or other merchandising tie-ins. So, almost 50 years later, I made my own. Here is my Valentine to one of the coolest, if not THE coolest, cartoons ever to spin up the imagination of a 53-year-old man now going on six. Enjoy!

To see how this was produced, go to Roger Evans’ site.

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Here is the original:

This is an amazing job of recreating with real action figures the opening sequence for Jonny Quest. Now we just need the end credits.

The liberal circular firing squad in its glory

by IMLS DCC

What the Left Doesn’t Understand About Obama – NYTimes.com
[Via NYT Magazine]

This has been the summer that liberal discontent with Obama has finally crystallized. The frustration has been simmering for a while — through centrist appointments, bank bailouts and the defeat of the public option, to name a few examples. But it has taken the debt-ceiling standoff and the threat of a double-dip recession to create a leftist critique of the president that stuck.

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The President is not the source of everything that gets done. His goals have to be fitted into just what Congress will allow him to do. In three years, the Democrats only held full sway of Congress for 4 months. It is very hard to get much done when the minority party has stated that their primary goal is to prevent the President from getting re-elected.

Thus, in an unprecedented manner, the Senate has prevented the United States from having needed Department heads to run the Executive Branch. Thus, in an unprecedented manner, the Senate has prevented the United States from having needed Federal Judges needed to run the Judicial Branch. Thus, in an unprecedented manner, the Senate has prevented the United States from having needed laws and regulations.

The Left somehow thinks Obama has magical powers and can simply get what he wants through force of will. Not going to happen.

The President is not omnipotent. Yet both some liberals and conservatives seem to want a  King when it is their King in power.

The liberals should be doing less complaining about Obama and doing more to get Congress to become more liberal.

But that is a lot harder work to do than to send out angry letters.

Sorry for not posting and/or whining too much

by http://heatherbuckley.co.uk

This is one of the longest droughts I have had for not posting much. It mainly comes from the dark mood I have been in recently and my reluctance to foist that off on the Web.

So I have written long rambling rants to my mother and friends – Sorry, guys.  I’ve posted quick links on facebook and made some probably angry comments – Sorry, guys.

It’s been a hard summer physically for me. I’ve also hit the ‘Old Man Syndrome’ where I think the world is going to hell in a handbasket and I will not be alive to see anything different.

My normal approaches when I get into these moods – ignore everything and concentrate on the insignificant (i.e. computer games, fun books, bad movies); wallow in a fit of self-pity until it becomes too ridiculous (ie.e “Who would really WANT to ‘go eat worms‘?*) – have not really worked so well.

So I am just going to write through it.

Thus I am asking your indulgence and forgiveness if the writing seems awfully dark and self-pitying. It is just the way I am feeling and I will probably repudiate some things when I feel better ;-)

But writing does give me pleasure and does stimulate parts of my brain that make me feel better. So just view this as therapy and not as anything ‘normal’.

* Who knew the NIH had a kid’s section with songs?