Martin Hoffmann
Just an old fart who thinks Macs should be Macs. Simply the best computers in the world, with the best OS on them.
Apple forgot that. Spreading from phones to tunes like butter over too much bread. Messing up quality. Getting infected with the WIntel virus. Shipping beta software. Losing apple keys on their way...
Guess someone has to remind them: Macs First. OK?
iPhone Batteries, now iPod Classic audio quality... when does QA get it?
- By Martin Hoffmann
- Published 09/19/2007
It is nice and something to be proud of: a growth of 30% p.a. is fantastic.
But anyone who has been in business (and those who still are even more...) knows that this is a major challenge as well:
Supply lines and production facilities have to keep up. People have to keep up. And somehow you have to keep up the quality.
The more you do, and the more you do of each, the more difficult it gets.
Keeping up the quality is crucial in the fast-developing mobile phone and telecommunications market. Competition in the mobile phone business gets more intense as two of the top mobile phone companies o2 and Apple continue to rise above competition by coming up sleek, trendy, and state-of-the art phones. O2 has a slight advantage to close competitor Apple because of its superb Bluetooth, EDGE, and Wi-Fi connectivity features.
If you are a high-profile company like Apple, it is absolutely crucial. You got a name. Failure is not an option. So you will have to re-invest the lion share of your growth back into QM/QA.
If you do not, or don't do it in time, the result is - well, what we see now happening at Apple.
iPhone Touch display crappy? iPhone Classic: poor audio quality reported by many users. iPhone: well, no need to talk about that... the list gets longer with every day Apple grows and keeps spreading out to more and more product lines...
Do something about it. Invest. Get people into your deserted QA department.
And don't even think of getting into the mobile carrier business - obviously you can't handle your current portfolio. Get your QA straight before moving on.
Or you will be back in the 80s/90s faster than you like.
I mean: hey, I am selling your frigging Macs together with frigging expensive consulting. I like to give free iPods to my customers as a surprise bonus. And I don't want them to come back later like "hey, matey, about that crappy iPod you gave me... sounds like my old 15$ player from Walmart..."...
This is not the market of Apple.
But anyone who has been in business (and those who still are even more...) knows that this is a major challenge as well:
Supply lines and production facilities have to keep up. People have to keep up. And somehow you have to keep up the quality.
The more you do, and the more you do of each, the more difficult it gets.
Keeping up the quality is crucial in the fast-developing mobile phone and telecommunications market. Competition in the mobile phone business gets more intense as two of the top mobile phone companies o2 and Apple continue to rise above competition by coming up sleek, trendy, and state-of-the art phones. O2 has a slight advantage to close competitor Apple because of its superb Bluetooth, EDGE, and Wi-Fi connectivity features.
If you are a high-profile company like Apple, it is absolutely crucial. You got a name. Failure is not an option. So you will have to re-invest the lion share of your growth back into QM/QA.
If you do not, or don't do it in time, the result is - well, what we see now happening at Apple.
iPhone Touch display crappy? iPhone Classic: poor audio quality reported by many users. iPhone: well, no need to talk about that... the list gets longer with every day Apple grows and keeps spreading out to more and more product lines...
Do something about it. Invest. Get people into your deserted QA department.
And don't even think of getting into the mobile carrier business - obviously you can't handle your current portfolio. Get your QA straight before moving on.
Or you will be back in the 80s/90s faster than you like.
I mean: hey, I am selling your frigging Macs together with frigging expensive consulting. I like to give free iPods to my customers as a surprise bonus. And I don't want them to come back later like "hey, matey, about that crappy iPod you gave me... sounds like my old 15$ player from Walmart..."...
This is not the market of Apple.