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March 31, 2006
Thirty Years of Apple - #3
Don't get us wrong. We've loved Apple since before 1984. Apple turns 30 on April 1st, and we have to wish it a happy birthday. We'll celebrate with three doomed wishes for Apple of the future. One for each of the ten years, one each day starting Wednesday and ending on Friday. On Saturday, the actual anniversary, well, we may just ignore Apple all together. Kind of fitting.
Today's wish: Apple, it's all about us, drop the them.
You've spent 30 years comparing yourself to the competition, and it's gotten you nowhere. It's time to rise above it.
Do you see YSL taking on The Gap? Does Jaguar compare itself to Honda? Does B&O talk trash about Radio Shack? No, because The Gap, Honda and even the Shack basically get the job done. YSL, Jaguar, and B&O are perceived quality brands that sell on that aspect, not a direct comparative judgment.
And you go about the US vs THEM so badly.
Case in point. It's silly when Steve talks down the Media Player PC saying how much better his four button remote control is over the 16 button MPP remote. Hey Stevie, each one of those other MPP buttons is something Front Row doesn't do. Like change channels, or record broadcast television, because the MPPs have an actual TV tuner. Let it go dude.
It would be so much more real if he just talked about the elegance of what's there, and there's no denying that Apple spends a lot of time on polish. But Apple, are you too scared to give it a go without the evangelical aspect of a war against Windoz? You muddle your real value behind the double-speak message of triumph over the competition.
And so, you win 5%.
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