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Jobs Biographer Walter Isaacson: 'Execution is What Really Matters,' Apple is the Best

Friday January 31, 2014 12:49 pm PST by Juli Clover
Earlier this month, Walter Isaacson, the man who wrote the best-selling biography of Steve Jobs, garnered some attention when he told a CNBC interviewer that the "greatest innovation today" was coming from Google, not Apple.

Yesterday, Isaacson did an interview with Bloomberg TV, where he clarified his original statement and noted that while he believes Google is the more innovative company, with a clearer integrated strategy, Apple is better than Google at bringing products to fruition.

isaacson
I will say one thing about the comment I made about Google being the most innovative. Innovation is great, but it ain't everything. It's not the whole equation. Execution is what really matters. Apple is the best at execution.
During the interview, Isaacson also commented on the iPhone 5c and Apple's ability to make lower cost products, noting that he believes Apple’s unwavering focus on quality will not allow it to produce subpar products to compete in the low end device market.
I don't think Apple will ever be great at doing low end. It really makes insanely great products to use the phrase Steve used 30 years ago, when he launched the Mac. What I think is going to have to happen is that they're going to have to figure out a whole new set of disruptive products.

You've heard Tim Cook hint about that; whether it's television or a wearable watch, I don't think Apple's going to do well trying to be in the commodity low end race with Samsung and others.
Apple made one of its first attempts into the mid-range market with the 2013 debut of the iPhone 5c, which it sold for $100 less than its flagship iPhone 5s. Apple CEO Tim Cook recently revealed that the launch of the iPhone 5c resulted in some inventory problems for the company, as it had underestimated people's desire for the iPhone 5s.

The company expected a more balanced demand for both phones, which led to iPhone 5s inventory shortages. Due to the lack of demand for the iPhone 5c, it remains unclear if Apple will continue on with both a higher-end and a mid-tier phone for future releases. A recent report from The Wall Street Journal suggested that while Apple will release two phones in the future, it will abandon plastic casings.

As Isaacson suggested, Apple is rumored to be working on several products that have the potential to be "disruptive." The company is said to be close to the launch of a revamped Apple TV product that will incorporate games, which could severely impact the existing console market, and the much-rumored Apple smart watch is also on the horizon.

[ 161 comments ]


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GoodWatch
69 months ago

Walter Isaacson, back peddler.

By the way, writing a book about Einstein doesn't mean that you are smarter than Einstein.
Thus, writing about Steve Job doesn't mean you can be a better CEO.


By the way, posting on an Apple forum about Walter Isaacson doesn't mean you can be a better biographer.........
Rating: 15 Votes
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Consultant
69 months ago
Walter Isaacson, back peddler.

By the way, writing a book about Einstein doesn't mean that you are smarter than Einstein.
Thus, writing about Steve Job doesn't mean you can be a better CEO.
Rating: 13 Votes
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Rogifan
69 months ago

I can drink to this. The tech world in general isn't turning out very much innovation at the moment, that's coming from what you could say is a tech splinter, video games. But yeah, Cook is a bean counter, everything Apple has done has been evolutionary, even iOS 7 was really just a new set of graphics. I thought it was hilarious when the iPhone 5S's slogan was "Forward thinking" when all it was was a spec bump and finger print scanner.

If you can't think of what 64 bit and Touch ID might mean for the future, then you're not very forward thinking.
Rating: 11 Votes
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iSRS
69 months ago
With regards to Google and innovation, I can't help but think of the Princess Bride.

With the exception of how to mine data (and they excel at that, and I am not judging them for it), what have they really innovated on? What forward thinking advancement have they really made? On their own, even?
Rating: 11 Votes
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Rogifan
69 months ago
Shut up Walter. Just because you wrote a book on Steve Jobs doesn't make you an expert on the tech industry. :rolleyes:
Rating: 10 Votes
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kobalap
69 months ago


Now of late I don't think one can honestly say Apple has been great at execution. Tim Cook, 3 times in his short tenure as CEO, as had to make a public mea culpa because slow product ramp or poor demand calculations caused product contstraints resulting in revenue or sales shortfalls. For someone who's known as being brilliant at supply chain management Cook has been a dullard.


Wow.

To read these threads, Apple products are behind (smaller screens, no expandable storage, no configurability), Apple doesn't innovate anymore, and Tim Cook is a dullard in execution, particularly as it rlates to supply chain.

And yet, Apple reported record revenue and profits, record sales for iPhone and iPad.

I wish my employer and its CEO could fail and be as disappointing as Apple and Tim Cook are. It would make me a rich man.
Rating: 8 Votes
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Reason077
69 months ago

A recent report from The Wall Street Journal (https://www.macrumors.com/2014/01/23/apple-to-release-larger-screened-iphones/) suggested that while Apple will release two phones in the future, it will abandon plastic casings.


That's ridiculous! Poor iPhone 5c sales have nothing to do with the plastic casing. It's actually a great design. The problem with the 5c is that it sells for almost the same price as the 5s, yet is a full generation apart in specs and features.

Even if you like the design (I do), it's hard to see the sense in buying it because you're more or less just getting an iPhone 5 in a colourful case, at practically the same price as the 5s.

The 5c either needs to be cheaper, or be closer to the 5s specs. And if the iPhone 6 is just going to be a 5s with a bigger screen, then sadly, Apple really have lost their spark.
Rating: 8 Votes
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26theone
69 months ago
Cheap phone?

Why is the 5c constantly referred to as a cheap phone at $550 off contract vs the "premium" 5s at $650 off contract. Anything over $400 unlocked is not considered cheap to anyone I have talked to. If the push from the carriers is to unsubsidized cell plans I don't get the pricing on the 5c.

An iPad mini retina 16gb cellular is $529 unsubsidized. Why does an iPhone 5c 16gb cost more than this retina iPad?
Rating: 8 Votes
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Tankmaze
69 months ago

Google is the more innovative company, with a clearer integrated strategy, Apple is better than Google at bringing products to fruition.


you got that right Isaacson, with motorola blunder sales to lenovo.
Rating: 5 Votes
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bmunge
69 months ago

I can drink to this. The tech world in general isn't turning out very much innovation at the moment, that's coming from what you could say is a tech splinter, video games. But yeah, Cook is a bean counter, everything Apple has done has been evolutionary, even iOS 7 was really just a new set of graphics. I thought it was hilarious when the iPhone 5S's slogan was "Forward thinking" when all it was was a spec bump and finger print scanner.


You clearly don't work in IT. The A7 processor is an amazing piece of hardware and TouchId is the first mobile fingerprint solution that actually works and adds to the experience. No one else was able to compete in that space and we still haven't seen a competitor release a comparable fingerprint security mechanism. Add in the improvements Apple has made to their camera sensor tech and the 5s is an impressive upgrade. I'm not sure what else you'd be expecting...
Rating: 5 Votes

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