Inside Apple
Based on numerous interviews, this book offers exclusive new information about how Apple uses secrecy, accountability, and a quirky management structure to ensure that the world's most valuable public company -- with over $100 billion in revenue and more than fifty thousand employees -- remains as nimble as any start-up. By exposing what Apple's new CEO, Tim Cook, calls "our magic," Lashinsky shows how Apple's success confounds many of the general management concepts taught in today's leading business schools. Or as one leading business school professor put it, "Apple is like a bumblebee. It shouldn't fly, but it does." - Jacket.
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What Hacker News says
- I'm currently reading "Inside Apple" by Adam Lashinsky and even though I knew Apple was secretive and Jobsian and intense, I never knew the extent of it. If you want to read more about pushing boundaries, read Inside Apple.
- >why would Apple, with all its resources and talent for research and development, choose to double down on a controversial design mandate instead of rolling back the keyboard to the version most widely praised?
Because their approach to design is completely unique. Their industrial design studio is small, insular and incredibly secretive. That studio has almost complete independence; most Apple employees won't see a new product until the design is finalised and ready for launch. They have an overt belief in the wisdom of ignoring user feedback and media criticism, going back to the original Macintosh. They don't think that their role is to provide people with what they want, but what they should want.
https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Apple-Americas-Admired-Secreti...
That approach is one of Apple's greatest assets. They were right to ignore the people who said that a computer needed serial ports and a floppy disk drive. They were right to ignore the people who said that a phone needed buttons. They're willing to ignore conventional wisdom and the demands of the market in favour of a singular design vision for what technology should be. They're willing to tell their customers trust us, this is for the best. That approach is necessary if you're going to be a highly innovative company that creates entire new categories of product, but it's not right 100% of the time and it can be infuriatingly stubborn.
The strain relief on the MagSafe connector was too short. Any cable manufacturer would tell you that it was too short. Any electrical engineer would tell you that it was too short. The internet was full of pictures of frayed (and sometimes charred) MagSafe cables. The Apple store website was full of one-star reviews for MagSafe power adaptors that had frayed. Apple did nothing for over five years until a class action forced their hand; they offered replacements, but didn't fix the defect.
- Every piece of reporting I've read, including books like Isaacson's bio and Lashinsky's Inside Apple, shows that the initial plan was to not have an SDK for the iPhone, because of fears about security and terrible apps "ruining" the experience.
It was only after it launched that Jobs reversed himself and Apple came up with the idea of the App Store process to manage those fears.
- Just heard a podcast with Adam Lashinsky. He is the Senior Editor at Fortunate magazine and author of a book on Apple. In the podcast:
"[Lashinsky] shares an insider look at Apple, one of the world's most iconic and secretive companies. Based on his research into the technology giant's internal processes and approaches to leadership and building products, Lashinsky offers insights and surprises from his book, Inside Apple: How America's Most Admired--and Secretive--Company Really Works."
Cook was the supply chain guru Jobs employed to turn Apple's supply chain model into one like Dell's. No surprise with this knowledge Cook is now CEO of Apple.
[1] http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2931
