Wow! Apple’s display of shock and awe yesterday as they unveiled their new Apple Silicon Macs was amazing. And I don’t even like Macs. But for Apple to more than double chip performance while simultaneously doubling battery life? In a world where chip performance increases in the double-digits are considered good, Apple crushed it.
Chip making is notoriously difficult and expensive. There are few companies in the world who can even undertake a project of this size and be successful let alone beat all of the incumbents. Ask Huawei how they are coming along with their homegrown chips.
But when I say that Apple is the most innovative company in the world, it goes way beyond Macs. The Covid-bump notwithstanding, Macs are a small and insignificant product line on the downswing. Apple’s engineering magic comes in how they are able to apply everything that they’ve learned in Mobile and transform existing products and create new ones.
I can’t think of another manufacturer who is able to control so much of the software and hardware side of things. Samsung can make their own chips but they’re reliant on Google for the operating system and ecosystem. Dell or HP can’t make their own chips or operating system. Google and Microsoft have successful operating systems but their hardware businesses have never achieved lift off.
But you could take even another step back beyond the devices and look at the inter-connected ecosystem that Apple has built. People now want more than just Apple iPhones and computers. Now they want their headphones, watches, sound systems, media, and home connected devices to all be in Apple’s ecosystem. Why? Because they have found that it all works better when you have a single company that believes in privacy and has an insanely great quality ethic.
Changing the world is kind of like lazily floating down the river. It doesn’t seem like you’re traveling very far until you realize that you’re a long ways from where your started. Here’s an excerpt from a post that I made over four years ago and it still rings true today.
I could envision Steve Jobs wooing Tesla engineers with the line “Do you want to change the world or keep working on glorified horse buggies?”. My feeling that the power of the smartphone greatly outweighs the automobile has only intensified in the months since I first wrote that.
A couple of days ago I went running on a hot and humid Louisiana summer evening. I couldn’t believe how many young people were out walking in the neighborhoods as I passed by. They were walking alone, in groups, or riding bicycles, on golf carts, etc. But one thing they all had in common was that they all were filtering their world through their smartphone and hunting for Pokémon.
Normally, it’s pretty tough to get teenagers outside, let alone on a hot and humid hundred-degree day. I was stunned by the sight and I can’t stop thinking about it. Even if Pokémon GO has already peaked and flames out, I get the sense that the genie is out of the bottle. Like the world witnessing the first atomic bomb, Pokemon GO displayed its power to the world. That power is the ability to change the behavior of millions of people.
T-Mobile is offering free data for Pokémon players. McDonalds and other retailers are setting up lures for customers. Yelp is adding Pokémon info to their app. This power to impact behavior may have very consequential business results.
Then last night came the military coup in Turkey. Beleaguered President Erdogan used his iPhone to FaceTime with the press and his people. Prior to that call it looked like all hope was lost for his administration and he was going to seek refuge in France. After that call, forces loyal to him rallied and seem to have beaten back the coup.
Ten years ago that coup may have been successful. Without the ability to appeal directly to the people to resist the takeover and marshal his still loyal forces, it could have been a very different outcome. Now, with the advent of the smartphone, everyone has the ability to potentially broadcast live at any time.
It's this potential to broadcast to the world that is causing America to stagger this week. Normal people with the ability to record police actions have made their case that the law went too far. Whether you agree with them or not, you can’t deny that without the video there would be no discussion today. — Perezonomics, 7/17/2016
The stunning display of success that Apple unveiled yesterday at their “One More Thing” event made me think of one thing throughout the whole hour. Apple is the most innovative company in the world when you also consider the total impact. Other companies also make miraculous inventions or breakthroughs but it may only affect a very small market or barely anyone ever hears about it.
But even when Apple does something simple like including heart rate monitors in their watches, the sheer enormity of their market can make that small improvement have a big impact. Heart rate monitors are nothing new and have been around for years. And nobody really wanted one. But due to the allure of Apple’s ecosystem, they did want the Apple Watch.
What people wanted was the ability to see emoji on their wrist without pulling their iPhone out of their pocket. What they got was a little health monitoring device along for the ride. And social organizers got the ability to reach and coordinate large groups. World leaders got the ability to speak directly to the people. And on and on it goes.
The miracle of the 20th century was the ability to move packages and people from place to place. That is a solved problem now. Tesla is doing nothing more than tying up some lose ends because most of the impact on the world has already taken place.
The miracle of the 21st century isn’t taking you to the world, it is bringing the world to you. It’s moving data, not pounds of flesh or packages.
But when I say that Apple is the most innovative company in the world, it goes way beyond Macs. The Covid-bump notwithstanding, Macs are a small and insignificant product line on the downswing. Apple’s engineering magic comes in how they are able to apply everything that they’ve learned in Mobile and transform existing products and create new ones.
I can’t think of another manufacturer who is able to control so much of the software and hardware side of things. Samsung can make their own chips but they’re reliant on Google for the operating system and ecosystem. Dell or HP can’t make their own chips or operating system. Google and Microsoft have successful operating systems but their hardware businesses have never achieved lift off.
But you could take even another step back beyond the devices and look at the inter-connected ecosystem that Apple has built. People now want more than just Apple iPhones and computers. Now they want their headphones, watches, sound systems, media, and home connected devices to all be in Apple’s ecosystem. Why? Because they have found that it all works better when you have a single company that believes in privacy and has an insanely great quality ethic.
Changing the world is kind of like lazily floating down the river. It doesn’t seem like you’re traveling very far until you realize that you’re a long ways from where your started. Here’s an excerpt from a post that I made over four years ago and it still rings true today.
I could envision Steve Jobs wooing Tesla engineers with the line “Do you want to change the world or keep working on glorified horse buggies?”. My feeling that the power of the smartphone greatly outweighs the automobile has only intensified in the months since I first wrote that.
A couple of days ago I went running on a hot and humid Louisiana summer evening. I couldn’t believe how many young people were out walking in the neighborhoods as I passed by. They were walking alone, in groups, or riding bicycles, on golf carts, etc. But one thing they all had in common was that they all were filtering their world through their smartphone and hunting for Pokémon.
Normally, it’s pretty tough to get teenagers outside, let alone on a hot and humid hundred-degree day. I was stunned by the sight and I can’t stop thinking about it. Even if Pokémon GO has already peaked and flames out, I get the sense that the genie is out of the bottle. Like the world witnessing the first atomic bomb, Pokemon GO displayed its power to the world. That power is the ability to change the behavior of millions of people.
T-Mobile is offering free data for Pokémon players. McDonalds and other retailers are setting up lures for customers. Yelp is adding Pokémon info to their app. This power to impact behavior may have very consequential business results.
Then last night came the military coup in Turkey. Beleaguered President Erdogan used his iPhone to FaceTime with the press and his people. Prior to that call it looked like all hope was lost for his administration and he was going to seek refuge in France. After that call, forces loyal to him rallied and seem to have beaten back the coup.
Ten years ago that coup may have been successful. Without the ability to appeal directly to the people to resist the takeover and marshal his still loyal forces, it could have been a very different outcome. Now, with the advent of the smartphone, everyone has the ability to potentially broadcast live at any time.
It's this potential to broadcast to the world that is causing America to stagger this week. Normal people with the ability to record police actions have made their case that the law went too far. Whether you agree with them or not, you can’t deny that without the video there would be no discussion today. — Perezonomics, 7/17/2016
The stunning display of success that Apple unveiled yesterday at their “One More Thing” event made me think of one thing throughout the whole hour. Apple is the most innovative company in the world when you also consider the total impact. Other companies also make miraculous inventions or breakthroughs but it may only affect a very small market or barely anyone ever hears about it.
But even when Apple does something simple like including heart rate monitors in their watches, the sheer enormity of their market can make that small improvement have a big impact. Heart rate monitors are nothing new and have been around for years. And nobody really wanted one. But due to the allure of Apple’s ecosystem, they did want the Apple Watch.
What people wanted was the ability to see emoji on their wrist without pulling their iPhone out of their pocket. What they got was a little health monitoring device along for the ride. And social organizers got the ability to reach and coordinate large groups. World leaders got the ability to speak directly to the people. And on and on it goes.
The miracle of the 20th century was the ability to move packages and people from place to place. That is a solved problem now. Tesla is doing nothing more than tying up some lose ends because most of the impact on the world has already taken place.
The miracle of the 21st century isn’t taking you to the world, it is bringing the world to you. It’s moving data, not pounds of flesh or packages.
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