Mitch: Your three rules are perfect. I also liked the articles you linked to, especially the first one. And yes, please do a vlog on it! That would be great.
What made Apple rank so high in many people's eyes is the marketing. Steve Jobs was a master salesman, no doubt about it. He could make a feature that was already on Android phones seem new and innovative when he was describing how that same feature worked on an iOS device.
Aside from customer expectations, you also have to take into consideration how the customer's attitude to these marketing practices evolve. Apple is seeing their market shares fall and you could say that with Steve gone, the blinders are off and people are starting to see that Apple's innovations aren't really so innovative after all.
Could the cost you mean be a certain indifference to releases that don't quite meet the standards of previous ones? Or even of releases from other franchises? I'd have to agree that there used to be so much shock and awe factor from the release of video games, especially the titles you mentioned.
Today, people are moving on to bigger and better things, and they want bigger and better. It raises the bar but it makes being a developer tougher as well.
Jason - Marketing cannot be differentiated from design, which cannot be differentiated from the overall user experience. Apple marketing at its best shows the customer how to use the product.
Some of the recent celebrity Apple Siri commercials have deviated from that formula. It remains to be seen how successful they will be.
chuckgregory - The phrase has been around a while -- see this example from 2006 and this one from 2008. I think I've been using the phrase since the 90s.
To me, it involves doing some things that might be viewed as insubordinate, but end with the goal of making the organization, the boss, and me, all succeed. The first three rules of managing upward: "It's better to get forgiveness than permission." "It's easier to get forgiveness when what you did worked" and "Don't give the boss what she says she wants. Give her what she wants."
Good point, DrT. I think Apple's wild success comes more from their amazing ability to market than the products themselves. Don't get me wrong, they make great products, but how luring are those cool commercials that show such neat things that ordinary people probably wouldn't use, but we want it that much more because they showed us the capability on TV?
Thanks for sharing the link Matt. It is to the point. As Apple proved it to us with their iPad, market can be created as long as we are able show what it can do for individuals and create a connection between human nature and product itself such as interaction.
"but nothing like the leaps and bounds people see in gaming and animation"
I agree with you but it isnt exciting anymore... I remember few years back there used to be quite a buzz whenever EA released Need For Speed but now it is just another game inspite of the high level of detail in the game. I am afraid soon this thing is going to happen to Call of Duty and other famous titles.
Those 'leaps and bound' come at a cost people dont realize.
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