Ten Things I learned from Apple Computers

From my Dec 3, 2006 Blog Entry:

Apple Computers has been an interesting company to watch over the last 30 years or so. While tons of computer companies have come and gone (remember Amiga’s, Atari’s, or even Wangs?), few have actually lasted as long as this venerable educational technology company. And don’t be fooled, Apple is indeed an ed tech company. Almost every product they make turns out to have a education connection. Remember when the iPod came out? Just a music player eh? Then, about six months passed and all of a sudden there were these things called pod casts all over the place. It wasn’t a big jump until education podcasts became part of the mix, and now, nearly half of all the podcasts created are education-related. Apple actually became a big player in the education market when they donated an Apple II to each and every school in the US, way back when. So ed tech is “in the DNA” of company. That being said, and having been a careful Apple watcher for many years, I thought maybe I have picked up a few pointers form the company over the years. Here are ten of the lessons I have learned from watching Apple, and I think that these can be replicated in anyone’s vocation.

#10: Focus on What Makes You Excellent and Don’t Stray
Back in the 1990’s, Apple tried to be all things to all people. There were computer models like the consumer Performa line, the Pro Line, the Classic line (there were even lines within lines, for instance, Sears sold a Performa model that some other company could not sell, like the Performa 551, when the place next door was selling the Performa 550),they sold printers, they sold handheld Newtons, digital cameras, they created and tried to sell everything. By the end of the 1990’s, the company was financially on the ropes, not in small part due to the fact that consumers were confused by all the choices. New management came in and Apple restructured it’s line up to a four square product line: A consumer desktop and laptop, and a professional laptop and desktop. Everything else was dumped out of the product line: Printers, handhelds, scanners, everything. The company focused back on what made them great. Do a few things and do them well. After a few quarters, the financial hemorrhages had stopped, and the company had begun to make money.

#9: Be First when You are Last
One way to draw attention to your product or to your concept is to be the first out of the chute with new ideas.Apple, because of it’s historically small market share, has no problem shifting technologies. Larger companies with a larger market share have to get more partners on board for major changes. Apple has no such problem. Here is a short list of items that other companies did not have on their computers that Apple put on first:

home personal computer
spreadsheet
Presentation program (hypercard)
digital media exchange program (Quicktime)
digital camera
color monitor
3.5 floppy drive
mouse
speech technology
plug and play
desktop laser printer
CD ROM drive
built-in networking
built-in wireless
firewire
The list of “firsts” goes on and on, but anyone that is familiar with computer technology cannot deny that Apple has been the the first with many technologies. This ability to be the “first” allows Apple to be the R&D department for the entire computer industry. This allows them to have gravitas even though they have a small market share.

#8: Go Against the Grain
When Apple introduced the iMac computer, the computer had no 3.5 inch floppy drive. It was an all-in-one model, and most striking, it came in a green-blue transparent casing!Computer industry proponents laughed at Apple, saying that no computer without a floppy would sell and a color computer would sit on the shelves. The death nell for Apple was sounded and even Michael Dell chimed in and suggested that Apple sell it’s stock and close down. Well, you know what happened, Apple sold well over 7 million of the blue little computers, and it saved the company from financial ruin. No matter what the proponents say, if you think your idea is worthwhile, go for it.

#7: Think Big
In January 2001, Apple CEO Steven Jobs made an offhand remark during one of his famous Macworld keynote addresses. He said that “We really like Sony, and we want to be like Sony.” Not many people thought of that remark, and the ones that did rolled their collective eyes to heaven. Apple like Sony? No way. Sony was huge, Apple was small. What Jobs meant was that they liked the fact that Sony could produce innovative products that people actually liked, they looked good at the same time and they made them quickly after R&D time. Think the Walkman. So apple began to think like Sony, and now, Apple is being called the Sony of the 21st century. The iPod is the “Walkman of the 21st Century.” Think you can do things others don’t think is possible.

#6: Create for the Casual User
I really like iLife. This is a suite of products that seamlessly integrate with each other so that your photos can be seen in your movies and be burned on your DVD, all the while you are composing music and publishing to the web. This site is an example of how iLife works. When iLife came out, it was billed as “Microsoft Office for the rest of your life.” The idea was that not everyone all the time used computers to write memos and create Powerpoint presentations. Think about how you can address the needs of the users that don’t always fit into the “best users” category. Make training, products, lessons that address the needs of those that are not the “stars” a priority, and you will be making these for the vast majority of users.

#5: Sell the Benefit
Don’t sell the product on whether or not it looks good, or feels good, or whether the cost is better. Sell the benefit. Why does this product, this lesson, this technology make the user’s life better? When Apple sells it’s iPods, it doesn’t bore the user with mind numbing techno-babble. They say something like “1000 songs in your pocket.” That sums it up. If I buy this device, I can carry around 1000 songs. Cool. I don’t care if they are compressed whacked- out codecs. All I care is that the dang thing works and makes my life better. When training teachers or even kids, they will jump onto your bandwagon if you show them that educational technology will make their lives a better place. This program will help you because...Kids will improve if they use this because...Get them behind you because if they don’t have this product/software whatever in their lives, their lives will be more difficult.

#4: A Little Excitement goes a Long Way
Apple can send out an INVITATION to a press event, and the price of the stock will rise. Even if the invitation has little or no information about the actual product, people will buy stock because they believe whatever it is will be exciting. Be able to generate as much excitement about whatever you are teaching or training on will go a long way towards winning over your audience, once you actually begin the training or lesson. Apple fans have dozens of websites scattered around the net devoted to RUMORS about things Apple may or may not bring to market. Apple does little to squelch the rumor sites (unless they get too close to the truth) and in doing so, adding mystique to the company. Generating excitement towards something is a major part of generating excitement about what you do.

#3: Attention to Detail
Apple is known for designing exciting LOOKING products. There is a Zen to the design process, and it shows with the products coming out of Apple. But while almost anyone can do a cool-looking product, Apple goes beyond just the outside look of the product. I remember opening up a G5 computer to see where the RAM was located and was amazed at how nice the INSIDE of the computer looked. The INSIDE was as carefully designed and good looking as the outside. Even the boxes that the company ships their products in are well designed and thought out. It is the difference between a gourmet dinner and McDonald’s. Both will fill you up I suppose, but what one would you rather eat? The one made by machines and overly processed, or the one made by hand right after you ordered it? If you spend a little more time making your product or your service, or your lesson a little better than the other guy, then it shows. Don’t believe it? Go look at the “iPod Killer” put out by Microsoft called the Zune, and compare it to the iPod. The look, the feel, the experience of the iPod are all far superior to the Zune. The same could be argued for the OS of the Mac vs. XP. And very few people will tell you that their Dells look better than a Mac.

#2: Keep It Simple
Almost every product that Apple sells is designed with brain research in mind. How does the average human interpret this information and then proceed to process it? I have found in my dealings with teachers, that when a step is added to a process, you lose people. I don’t know the numbers, and I don’t have the research, but the more complicated you make something, the less willing people are to do it for you. That is why people make “comfort foods” more often than they make five course dinners. Mac and cheese is easier to make than prime rib. The same is true with Apple products. The OS, the iPod, iMovie, the list goes on and on, all are easier to use that the competing products. I know, some will argue, but I challenge anyone to find a home movie editing program easier to use than iMovie. Or to find an MP3 player that is easier than an iPod. There isn’t any. It is often more difficult to make something appear to be easier to use, because the hard part is going on in the background, out of the experience of the users.

#1: Take the Other Guy’s Stuff and Make it Truly Your Own
There is a difference between stealing someone’s work and making a rip-off copy, and truly making it a new experience. One of the signs of the truly gifted is their ability to take discrepant events, and fuse them together into a completely new paradigm. Great artists have done this over the years(Picasso and cubism), great thinkers like Einstein (I stand on the shoulders of giants) have done so, and so too I think Apple has done. (Are there such thing as gifted corporations?)
Apple didn’t invent the personal computer, and they certainly didn’t sell the most personal computers, but they have changed the way we look at the computer. They didn’t invent the MP3 player, but they took a product that already existed and made the experience easy (Reason #2), designed a very nice product (Reason #3), addressed a need that others thought didn’t exist (Reason #6), and generated tons of excitement (Reason #4). In the process, the way the press and the public view Apple is not longer that of a beleaguered company bleeding money, but rather the company that is forward thinking and cutting edge. Apple has an uncanny ability to do this, and so too I think, someone that wishes to truly make an impact should be able to do this as well. Take that old Powerpoint that you grabbed off the net and instead of just playing it, rework it, rewrite it, and make it your own. Take the computer lesson and show the kids how this makes their lives easier, not just another boring presentation. Ad a bit of excitement. Become the Apple of your campus and your student’s eyes.

I suppose you could learn lessons from just about anything if you watch it long enough. Children, coworkers, spouses, parents, nature, everything can provide you with lessons.

Watch and learn.

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