10-11-2011, 06:08 PM
Things that become popular are things that are generally agreeable to a wide spectrum of people.
"Garfield" may be the best example of this. It's low brow, it's inoffensive and while I don't think anyone over the age of 6 really likes Garfield, it's generic enough to get into every paper in the nation.
D.C. has some truly authentic Chinese restaurants and I'd say their clientele is about 95% Chinese. While they are quite possibly quality places, I can't really tell you what high quality pork blood cubes are like because I don't like pork blood cubes and neither do most Americans. These places will never turn into a nationwide chain, except in areas where there's a lot of people who really like authentic Chinese food.
McDonalds became a huge worldwide chain because they found a sweet spot of quality, taste, expediency and price -- which is to say, given the price of McDonalds food, it's hard to beat it on taste, quality or expediency. 5 Guys is better than McDonalds but it's also more expensive and slower. There are tons of places better than 5 Guys but they are even more expensive and even slower. When I'm on a road trip and want a quick stop to eat, I don't look for 5 Guys or a sit-in restaurant; I use the McDonalds drive through.
To bring the topic back around, what I think Steve Jobs brought to Apple was a realization that Americans can find appeal in artistry. Zune vs iPod, the iPod looked better and had a far superior ad campaign. It was never about quality. I had a Rio MP3 player and they were all about quality and appeal to audiophiles and their website and forums were all about discussions on the finer aspects of electronic audio reproduction. Obviously they never put a scratch on iPod sales. Steve Jobs isn't Newton, he's Ronald McDonald. No offense. McDonalds found a way to bring cheeseburgers to a ridiculously huge audience -- with the right combination of price, advertising, marketing to children (get em early!) and even answering, in greater detail than pretty much any other chain, concerns about health and calories. Steve Jobs figured out how to bring the same mass appeal to Apple products.
He couldn't really undermine Windows, because that was a technical concern moreso than one of visual appeal. You can't market your way past the fact that your operating system doesn't run what people need it to run. But for devices like the MP3 player, phone and tablet, Apple was able to corner the market by cornering the popular appeal, largely on looks and shine.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
"Garfield" may be the best example of this. It's low brow, it's inoffensive and while I don't think anyone over the age of 6 really likes Garfield, it's generic enough to get into every paper in the nation.
D.C. has some truly authentic Chinese restaurants and I'd say their clientele is about 95% Chinese. While they are quite possibly quality places, I can't really tell you what high quality pork blood cubes are like because I don't like pork blood cubes and neither do most Americans. These places will never turn into a nationwide chain, except in areas where there's a lot of people who really like authentic Chinese food.
McDonalds became a huge worldwide chain because they found a sweet spot of quality, taste, expediency and price -- which is to say, given the price of McDonalds food, it's hard to beat it on taste, quality or expediency. 5 Guys is better than McDonalds but it's also more expensive and slower. There are tons of places better than 5 Guys but they are even more expensive and even slower. When I'm on a road trip and want a quick stop to eat, I don't look for 5 Guys or a sit-in restaurant; I use the McDonalds drive through.
To bring the topic back around, what I think Steve Jobs brought to Apple was a realization that Americans can find appeal in artistry. Zune vs iPod, the iPod looked better and had a far superior ad campaign. It was never about quality. I had a Rio MP3 player and they were all about quality and appeal to audiophiles and their website and forums were all about discussions on the finer aspects of electronic audio reproduction. Obviously they never put a scratch on iPod sales. Steve Jobs isn't Newton, he's Ronald McDonald. No offense. McDonalds found a way to bring cheeseburgers to a ridiculously huge audience -- with the right combination of price, advertising, marketing to children (get em early!) and even answering, in greater detail than pretty much any other chain, concerns about health and calories. Steve Jobs figured out how to bring the same mass appeal to Apple products.
He couldn't really undermine Windows, because that was a technical concern moreso than one of visual appeal. You can't market your way past the fact that your operating system doesn't run what people need it to run. But for devices like the MP3 player, phone and tablet, Apple was able to corner the market by cornering the popular appeal, largely on looks and shine.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.