Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Throwing An Unforgettably-Productive Work Party

Work Party? That's an oxymoron that has somehow turned into standard practice. But who says work can't, or shouldn't be, enjoyable? I think we can all drink to that!

My Favorite Work Party, Ever, Was a Big Mistake

I once hosted a "Work Party." It was terrifying. Scores of the nerdiest, freelance developer/authors on the planet, all in San Francisco to attend one of Apple's WWDC gatherings. This was an after-hours gathering, and few of us had met face-to-face before, so it had to be socially comfortably—AKA: beer, wine, and nerd snacks aplenty.

I had some distinctly work-oriented objectives, and once the conversations got going, there was plenty of talk of our many collaborative projects, current and future. The fact is, iOS and mobile developers are a congenial and basically happy lot. The place was pleasant, the food was good, and most people stuck around through more than a single bottle of suds.

We made lots of new friends, and there were so many substantial ideas discussed, I had to break down and take notes for follow up. In fact, we ate all the food and hung around chatting until we were kicked out. All seemed to have gone successfully. I later learned that all was doomed from the start!

Experiencing Both Sides of The Double-Edged Sword

As it turned out, the corporate culture of my employer was distinctly anti-Work Party. This was not an acceptable way to do business, and for all sorts of non-business-like reasons that went unsaid during the planning process. Seems there were managers who were jealous of our "fun," which I failed to anticipate.

In short, from a productivity point of view, much was accomplished by gathering to party. From a corporate point of view, no good deed goes unpunished. But my lesson is not a negative one. You see, I remain friends and collaborator with many who attended the party and long ago said goodbye forever to the corporation!

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Apple—Singin' & Dancin' in the Rain

I read the following article in Quartz: Why Apple should make its own TV shows, just like Netflix. It's a wrongheaded, poorly argued piece that made me angry. Here's the nutshell version:

  • Statement: Netflix, Sony, Yahoo, Amazon, and Microsoft are all acquiring and/or producing exclusive content.
  • Problem: Apple "confronts slowing growth in the sales of its devices."
  • Conclusion: "Maybe it’s something Apple should consider as well."
So says Macquarie Equities, which, according to Quartz, "became the 63rd research house to cover the world’s biggest company this week." And they show an impressive lack of expertise on the subject.

Let's restate the problem by changing one word:
Apple notes slowing growth in the sales of its devices.
It's true, Apple's sales curve is no longer growing logarithmically. The numbers for Apple's most recent quarter, reported January 27th are as follows:

  • 51 million iPhones vs 47.8 million the previous year, up 6.7% 
  • 26 million iPads vs 22.9 million the previous year, up 13.5%

Both of these figures are all-time quarterly records for Apple. Since the article speaks of devices as a single category, I'll lump Apple's iDevices together, yielding:

  • 77 million iDevices vs 70.7 million previously, up 9.1%

IF 9% growth is a problem, would 10% growth to 77.7 million units still be perceived as a problem? At what point is Apple's growth sufficient? Would 15% growth, 81.2 million units, avoid the need for problem confrontation?

This value judgement notwithstanding, the rate of growth has undoubtedly slowed, which is what one expects in any product lifecycle. At the same time, "Apple…, is being criticized for not innovating enough." To which we can only wonder, how much innovation is enough?

For the sake of argument, let's accept the assertions that slowing iDevice sales are a concern and that Apple's ability to innovate is in doubt. We must also assume that the likely introduction of an iPhone 6 in June will be a disappointment, requiring Apple to look beyond its devices for additional sources of revenue.

I know, let's make content! Macquarie says:
We believe that Apple would benefit from the deployment of some of its considerable cash balance toward securing exclusive media content. In our 15 years of covering the interactive entertainment space, we have frequently observed the value that can be generated through high-quality, desirable content that is exclusive to a platform (the original Xbox is a classic example of this, with early-stage growth driven in large part by the popularity of Halo). We think just one or two key exclusives could be very helpful in establishing new products and extending iOS’s reach.
Translation: sometimes high-quality movies, TV, and video games make money.

This is not a profound insight. Furthermore, what has this got to do with iDevice sales? The article says:
There are already reports that, as sales on iTunes dwindle, Apple is trying to convince record companies to provide it with music that only it may sell.
Except that Apple reported a 20% increase in sales on iTunes for the last quarter. So maybe there's something else?
Of course, there’s no suggestion the company is even contemplating this, but if it ever did, Apple’s ruthless obsession with quality means it would probably be worth watching.
There it is. We'd really like to see something produced with such ruthless attention to quality that only Apple could make it. If only they'd admit that they're getting clobbered in the marketplace by the likes of Google and Samsung, we could end this charade and get down to some serious entertainment!