To be able to make a product that just works you need to control the whole ecosystem. Only with this level of control over every part of the product can a company accomplish this. This was Steve Jobs thinking. This is why Apple is structured the way that it is. By the way it also happens to make great products but you already knew that.
Steve Jobs’ philosophy was counter to that of Microsoft which made software that was designed to run on everything so that others would make the hardware. For a long time Microsoft was the dominant force in the industry. The OEMs that used its software sold hundreds of millions of computers. But things change.
It is clear from the product reveals of the last month that the idea of making an operating system without controlling the hardware side of the operation is dead in the water. Google thought they could be the Microsoft of the phone age. It created the Android operating system to also run on everything so that OEMs would make the software. However, it is clear that they have finally seen the errors of their ways and released the Pixel phone which finally allows them to control the whole ecosystem. And guess what? It’s an Android phone that I would seriously consider giving up my iPhone for.
Today Microsoft announced a slew of updates to their hardware products together with new hardware products. These are clearly to take on Apple straight on. Specifically the iMac and the MacBook Pro. Again, it is clear from these products that Microsoft has also come to realise that control of the whole ecosystem is needed.
The lesson in this is perhaps not that Google or Microsoft erred but that OEMs did. It is clear that the OEM’s could not get their acts together and make a product that people actually wanted. In order to do that the companies that actually make the software had to put down their collective feet and create the hardware that they had envisaged for their software. I am ecstatic to see that Microsoft and Google have taken this decision because it means that Apple finally has some real competition. With these behemoths going head-to-head I can only imagine what kind of innovation will be born.
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