Apple Ain't The Beatles

• Report this Comment On December 05, 2008, at 3:09 PM, MADACASTO wrote:

  I'm not sure if I can improve upon the Jonas Brothers analogy. Maybe trumping that one with a Back-Street Boys, but that would seem duplicative.

  Regardless, Isn't Tim's arm getting tired from waving the Apple flag in relentless fashion? Give it a rest already. Good to see Motley Fool is dedicated to being the forum for contibutors to pump their own stock holdings. Shameless.

• Report this Comment On December 05, 2008, at 3:29 PM, japanimejello wrote:

  I virtually never feel motivated to post comments. But this author's initial article was one of the most outrageous, least informed pieces on Apple I've ever had the displeasure of reading. This current article is empty and ridiculous. Sure, everybody can have fun and say absurd things when they want, but these articles are being linked on Yahoo finance. They make Motley Fool look foolish. Honestly, I can't help but wonder if the writer is merely trolling.

• Report this Comment On December 05, 2008, at 3:49 PM, codachrome wrote:

  There's arrogance on both sides of this furor. And IMHO, it's really a non-issue. The Beatles don't need Apple, and vice versa. Really, who cares if the Beatles are on iTunes? All of the older generation who want to listen to them already have their music in other forms. And for the youngsters, "Love Me Do" just isn't of a viral genre.

• Report this Comment On December 05, 2008, at 4:11 PM, Underbelly wrote:

  I've been using Apple computers since the late 80's and I've heard all this crap before. THis has to be the stupidest column I've every read.

• Report this Comment On December 05, 2008, at 8:10 PM, jbelkin wrote:

  Of course, you were poking the hornet's nest with your first analogy because Iomega's success wasn't just that they were a one-hit wonder but that their success was as an add-on device maker to the general PC market - something akin to a car Cd player before the automakers started installing it in their cars. Imoega served their puropse with that niche during a period when hard drive storage was very expensive and a floppy was too small. They were a one-trick pony but could never figure out the NEXT niche that was there ... Apple is nothing akin to anything you described below whether you want to call them them the Police or the Jonas because neither is apt. Apple has now essentially invented three or four DIFFERENT mass markets - the personal computer, laserprinters, DAP and the smartphone ... just like Edison didn't invent the light bulb, he made it popular ... so you can quibble over the details ... comparing them to a band is ultimately pointless unless of course, your intent is merely to insist they are a teen band. You are certain free to make that limited analogy if that is all you can grasp or you think all we can grasp but you would be pretty much wrong on all accounts. face it, Apple is like no other company on Earth, I'm not claiming the are perfect but not many companies can claim to be ahead of the curve on so many selling points in their industry or related industry and like it or not, they all involve Steve Jobs to some degree ... from the first consumer personal computer to GUI, to the laser printer to ethernet to networking to hypercard to GUI internet to GUI online community to all-in-one machines to getting rid of the floppy to desktop video to seamless hardware-software ... the ipod, and to the iphone - not invented at Apple but molded into something useful and sold succesfully AGAINST huge competitors who had the EXACT same choices to make and FAILED ... that's a pretty amazing legacy for 30 years ... good luck finding another such company ... It could be Sony 1960 to 1990 in that same 30 year period but few others?

• Report this Comment On December 06, 2008, at 10:42 AM, BerkeleyDoc wrote:

  The author of this article misses the analogy on many levels. The Beatles are one of the top selling bands of all time in an industry where the price of one band's album is almost the same as another band's album. So, record sales can be a marker of success. In the tech industries this is not so. So, commenting on the large (but fading) base of RIM compared to iPhone, or Dell and HP compared to Apple's computers is a straw man comparison.

  If Apple's products were priced the same as it's competitor's would there be any competition left?

  The Beatles have for generations been the gold standard by which other bands have been compared, not only for their popularity, but also for their influence on other band for decades to come. They became an icon, further igniting a generation to different levels of creativity and revolution.

  Regardless of the number of units sold by its competitors, Apple is still the gold standard by which all other products measure their success. They are still (usually) the driving force of innovation and creativity, leaving most competitors to develop copy-cat versions. I've been an Apple fan, loyalist, and user since the 1980's. I am not the least bit bothered by the iconic and popular retail stores. In fact, I feel vindicated. Apple may slash prices, but I don't see their products losing their creative edge in an effort to appeal to the mainstream. On the contrary, I see the mainstream losing its fear of the unknown and overcoming its addiction to the Wintel platform which has led to Apple's increasing success (if measured by number of units and percent of market share).

  No, Apple is not perfect. Yes, it has had product blunders. But Apple recovers from such blunders much faster than most companies.

  Dell and HP outsell Apple indeed. But so too did GM, Chrysler, and Ford outsell their Japanese and German counterparts for decades. What does that prove? Simply that the average consumer is dumb enough to buy poor-quality products if out-of-box price is low enough, without regard to quality, innovation, reliability, and satisfaction from just being fun to use.

  As long as we are comparing Apple to musical bands, I would compare them more to U2, a band that has been around for almost 4 decades and continues to release albums that appeal to both early loyalists and newcomers. When their iconic leader (Bono or Steve Jobs) eventually and inevitably retires, they may finally begin to fade.

  But then again, people keep seeing Elvis, so maybe the ghost of Steve Jobs will continue to inspire future generations long after his retirement...

• Report this Comment On December 07, 2008, at 7:57 PM, hanlen wrote:

  Sorry, didn't realize there was gonna be a round 3. Wouldn't want to deny anyone the piquant pleasure of my comment for round 2. Njoy:

  As popular as this is going to be with all of apple's frothing hissing denial zombies, I have to say something to at least try to prevent Mr. Byers, one of my role models, from making a small f fool of himself. Nothing like dropping some water on empty oil heating by itself.

  The Beatles? Only the beatles? They only revolutionized culture, and brought the entire world into the modern zeitgheist. Don't you want to go a bit broader in your comparison? Why not compare Apple to the French Revolution? Or Classical Greece? Perhaps the invention of Fire?

  Here's a quick recap of Apple's "achievements".

  The Apple II, which helped to define the personal computer.

  Uh, I was there. I remember buying something called Pineapple because I couldn't afford an Apple. I remember the stance:

  "Here are your purchase options: You will pay the premium because we're beautiful and elegant or you can just go and sulk in loserville."

  Oh, and that was a different Steve, he's not with Apple anymore.

  The Macintosh, which ... Well, you don't need me to say anything more here, right?

  Yes I do Tim. They stole that from PARK Zerox, then sued Microsoft for stealing it from them, and lost. But in the interim, they taught me why windows was worth sacrificing my soul and dignity. At least windows had enough buttons on the mouse to do SOMETHING!! (And by the way, in case you're curious, microcrap didn't steal anything, they don't have the intelligence or finess to aspire to theft, they simply bumbled and stumbled into the space after Apple said to the manufacturers: "Here are your purchase options: You will pay the premium because we're beautiful and elegant or you can just go and sulk in loserville.")

  The Apple LaserWriter, which, when combined with Aldus PageMaker software, birthed the desktop publishing industry.

  What!!!

  The iPod, which, when combined with iTunes, transformed Sony's once-iconic Walkman into a distant memory.

  Granted. Apple developed the iPod. Wonderful! That's one hit. Somebody hold the count for me. One so far.

  Mac OS X, which was born out of elements of the NeXT operating system built by the company CEO Steve Jobs left Apple to found in 1985.

  Mac "OS" X is a layer of fingerpaint over BSD UNIX, the real Beatles of technology. Apple has never developed anything more sophisticated than a color theme. An operating system? Give me a second to catch my breath. I think I had an accident, warn me when you're about to do that.

  The iPhone, which was the world's second-best-selling smartphone during the third quarter

  Well, Apple took a phone and made it expensive. I still don't see what they invented here. Hey by the way what else happened during the third quarter? I know this one I know this one! The world ended. Yeah, people are stocking up on canned food. And here's all these smart phones (thanks for finding the new consumer weakness Steve, you're a king among ferrets) that cost about as much as a smart phone should, and Apple is facing

  down the starving throngs with, what else? "Here are your purchase options: You will pay the premium because we're beautiful and elegant or you can just go and sulk in loserville."

  And some of those cheap phones still found a way to have buttons, by the way.

  But my favorite iPhone observations is that Google is launching a phone based on open standards. Just like microcrap did all those years ago when Apple first found a way to seduce the first victims with the fist pc. Some things change, and some things stay the same.

  Nice mention of Apple's failures, let's just not bother counting them all or keeping score, just don't forget to mention Newton, Apple worked hard for that one.

  The Beatles Tim? Really?

  If you are determined to credit Apple with any intentional repeat success, may I make an alternate suggestion? There's a pop icon who had a lot of hits, made a lot of money, and made subsequent generations of consumers weaker, stupider, and poorer.

  Yeah I'm talking about Madonna. Every time the latest generation of pre-teens faces the inevitable moment of agonizing realization that their idol and lifestyle guru has led them to beliefs that are sickening, weakening, and no longer fun, she reinvents herself to become the parasite of a "new generation of pop". Woman has an IQ of 200. Used to be a high profile vegetarian. Hmm. In fact, now that I think of it, I have never seen Madonna and Steve Jobs in the same place at the same time, have you?

  But the analogy only goes so far. Madonna's fans do eventually mature to a realization that she is not a victimless waste of their money.

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