Is Apple's tent too big?

This morning I read the Tao of Steve Jobs by Elizabeth Spiers then followed it up with a dose of the comments by Paul Thurott in his post discussing the one by Spiers.

Spiers believes that Steve Jobs "seduced me into buying his sleek machines." 

Thurott says that "Apple--always choose(s) style over functionality."

I suspect I am atypical, but as someone who has been using Apple's computers since 1982, I have stayed with them because I get more work done, and the work that I do is of a better quality than I might achieve on another computer platform.'

I will grant you that if I had devoted my life to being a Windows geek, I might be just as productive a Windows geek as I am an Apple user.

I don't do programming, but I do a lot of basic website work.  Photography is important to me as is the ability to reuse my content.

One of the stranger reasons I continue to like the Mac is that in general the text that I can get on my Macs' screens looks better than the Windows text that I see.  That is actually very important to me as I spent a lot of time in front of the computer screen and my eyes aren't getting any younger.

I don't really care about having the slickest form factor or the most elegant hardware design, but I do care about functionality of the software that I use.

Sometimes I think that I'm in a no-man's land since I am not really a graphic artist, but I do use many of their tools on occasion.  I am in the same kind of limbo with web development.

I have watched Apple make the transition from small company to large corporation.  I actually don't think that is the looming problem for Apple.  You can have lots of people and still turn our great products if you are incredibly focused which has been an Apple strength in the past.

Apple's problem is not its size, it is the number of products and the quick changes to some of those products.

Most people will remember when Steve came back to Apple and implemented the matrix of four products.

There were always more products since software needs to count also, but the focus Steve brought on just those few products turned Apple around.

While both Elizabeth Spiers and Paul Thurott are complaining about hardware design, I have always thought the real genius of Apple at least before the iPod was in software so it is especially worrisome to see some cracks in the software pantheon.

If you look at what is under Apple's tent, it perhaps should be no surprise that it is a challenge delivering that many fantastic software products. 

In reality Apple has done really well in this sphere and delivered some real innovations such as iMovie, iPhoto, iCal, iTunes and GarageBand.  On top of that there are lesser know products such Key Chain Access, and one the most elegant software tools, Software Update.

Keeping every product moving forward when you have to worry about an operating system for the iPod and the Mac with a subset for the iPhone has got to be a stretch especially with iTunes, Software Update and Safari requiring Windows efforts also.

Then there is .Mac, developer tools, and a host of specialized apps.

There is absolutely no way that Steve Jobs can bring his laser-like focus to everything because like Microsoft, Apple has got its fingers in a lot of pots at this point in the growth of the corporation.

I have really been trying to use the new iPhoto, and it just doesn't feel right.  When I want to pick some photos for an album to publish to the web, I find it harder to do.  It seems like they have dumbed down cropping and by moving some things around to look flashier have ended up requiring more steps to do the same work in some other functions.  I have also said that I like the new shadows and highlights tool, but I'm not sure all the other changes were beneficial to an experience user.

I am always surprised at how few people speak up on Apple's software changes, sometimes it makes me a little nervous and worried that by using Macs I am part of cult that mindlessly takes everything that is thrown at them.

This is a screen snapshot of the new iPhoto in the cropping mode.  This is the old iPhoto in the cropping mode.  I was in a rush leaving this morning and the screens are not completely similar (I'm keep the old version on my laptop), but you should be able to get the idea.  Here is the new adjust tool which no longer has straighten on it.  I am not sure there is much consistency on "Done" and "Apply," but as usual with Apple what we have is what we got, and it likely won't change because of any complaints.

I'm all for Apple going out after new users, but the real magic of Apple has always been the ability to get more done with an Apple hunk of hardware and software than with some other hunk of hardware and software.  Sometimes most of the software has come from other vendors and sometimes it has come from Apple.

Right now we are somewhat software dependent on Apple which is perhaps changing its course as it grows. Just maybe the focus is turning to new users who need a little more glitz, and those of us who have been around many years on the platform will just have to make do.

It is pretty clear to me, some (not all) of the software coming out of Apple doesn't have the magic productivity of previous releases.  It certainly doesn't appear to have gotten Steve's laser-like focus.

As a friend said to me, something like iWeb with .Mac is a perfect solution for an inexperienced user who wants to do an uncomplicated blog from one Macintosh.  I would probably agree with that, but my next statement is that it hasn't turned out to be a very good solution for others with multiple computers and more complex needs.

Steve used to tell us that the hard thing is saying no to some very important things.  I hope he hasn't forgotten that.

Comments

[Steve]

I disagree with your comments on iPhoto. I use it everyday and think the improvements have made it better. Events allows me to organize and find photos faster. The cropping model is easier and clearer to use. I have shown people cropping in earlier versions of iPhoto and people did not get how to do it until I walked them through step by step.

[ocracokewaves]

As I have said there are things that I like about the new version.

However, as to cropping, the old version was as intuitive as it gets.

We'll just have disagree on that. You must be a better target customer for Apple than I am.

[Mike]

How do you straighten with the new iPhoto?

[ocracokewaves]

Select the photo you need to straighten. It will get a yellow border around it.

Then click on the edit tool which looks like a pencil.

You will then get a screen like this.

http://coastalnc.org/newiphotostraighten

Just use the straighten tool which will give you a slider and a grid.

When you are finished click done.

[Cube^3]

I think I get the jist of what you are getting at as I'm seeing a similar trend with Leopard. For the most part, it has shaped up okay but at this juncture so near release, it also lacks the sort of refinement we've come to expect from Apple. The UI is one example as it is currently a mixmash of new Leopard and older Aqua elements. Server Admin in Leopard Server for example is gorgeous as it is completely made over but using Workgroup Manager and other parts of the system that still use Aqua buttons, scrollbars, etc. is a jarring experience. So much for the consistency that Jobs mentioned (unless of course they do manage to fix all of this by the time they declare a GM). When you compare this with the attention to detail in both the iPhone and iPod touch UI, it is clear that the diversion of resources took its toll on Leopard for the desktop. Even the elements on Apple's website looks much better by comparison.

Stacks while glitzy looking is also a mess because it removes functionality from the current behavior. Sure, for some folks, they'll really like it but for others, the removal of functionality will become quickly apparent to those who have made heavy use of click-holding/right-clicking on a folder in the Dock and efficiently navigating the resulting popup menu; it messes with my productivity for the worse and becomes useless if you have many items in a folder. I did file a bug report and the current behavior has been flagged as a known issue but I'm not holding my breath that they will be able to address this and make stacks a configurable option given the short amount of time left. There are other little things throughout the operating system which individually seem minor but really add up when taken as a whole. I can already invision the amount of complaints that will occur once Leopard is released.

I've been involved with Apple's Mac OS X customer seeding process since Cheetah and this one has the worst ratio of issues submitted compared to what has been resolved. At least in the past, I felt that my feedback made a difference in shaping the final product but I can't say I feel the same way about how Leopard is going to end up shipping. It has actually left me feeling rather disgusted and I'm not the only tester who feels this way. Personally I felt like I've been wasting my time. I of course can only imagine how some of the engineering team feels in trying to get this out the door by the end of October after being spread too thin trying to work on two major operating system projects.