“The fight for the digital home has a heckuva lot more to do with content than with any technology. While the iPod is a fabulous design, it wouldn’t have sold well at all if it wasn’t for iTunes and the ability to put content on it. The next generation of devices requires good video content and getting that, legally, has been a nightmare for everyone, including Apple,” Rob Enderle writes for Designtechnica. “Of all the studios, Disney is the only one people actually ask for by name. While this usually applies to media they are buying for their children, it is a unique and powerful asset. Disney is also seen as a market leader; the other studios still watch what Disney does closely and are very likely to follow Disney’s lead. In short, were I to pick one studio to first partner with, Disney would be on my own short list. And Jobs went vastly farther than just a partnership here.”
“Pixar, which I admit has produced some of the most entertaining and creative movies I’ve seen over the last several years, is a godsend to Disney, which clearly has lost its creative edge. As an ex-Disney employee myself, I still have a little pixy dust in my vanes [sic] and long for the day when Disney resurges and takes back the market it created. Pixar, like no other resource, could help them do that,” Enderle writes.
MacDailyNews Take: Enderlogic Alert: Rob longs for the day Disney when takes the market back from Pixar, thanks to… Pixar. How Pixar can take back the market from itself is understandable only by Rob “Microsoft wrote the first Mac OS” Enderle.
Enderle continues, “We already know that Apple can build a compelling hardware design and user interface. If they can get access to Disney content, and this becomes a trend resulting in broad content access, they can be a credible competitor to Cisco who, along with the cable industry, is on the fast track to owning the digital home space right now.
“Jobs is not good with employees in general, and creative types are one of the most difficult to manage. In entertainment, the best often need special handling because they trend towards the temperamental (I think some folks that know this industry will point out my gross understatement here). Remember, Jobs is a guy who sends his food back in restaurants for no good reason, yet hasn’t figured out why he probably shouldn’t be eating what comes back out. (If you’ve ever worked in hospitality, you know what I’m talking about.) His strength, strangely enough, really isn’t understanding people; this would be a huge problem if he tried to manage Disney directly,” Enderle writes. “Jobs doesn’t like being in a subordinate role; once he determines that the CEO he is working with isn’t as smart as he is (and I doubt there are few people in the world he considers as smart as he is), he is likely to move aggressively against them and attempt a coup.”
“The result, if successful, would shift his focus away from Apple (where he remains desperately needed) and put it on Disney (where he probably isn’t even particularly wanted). If the coup succeeded, we would likely see the typical result, an unqualified CEO running a large company with an iron hand. The phrase ‘train wreck’ comes to mind, and this wreck would include all of the properties. If the coup failed (as did his first one at Apple, and you have to believe that Robert Iger sees this coming), Jobs would be fired from the Disney Board and Apple would drop to the last (as in cold day in hell) position in the content access list for Disney—and Disney’s lead here would probably be followed by others,” Enderle writes. “The Lisa, the Newton, and Microsoft Bob all started out as brilliant ideas, the execution turned them into dismal failures. I believe that Jobs knows and will follow the right path; however, I also know that Jobs can be his own worst enemy at times. I hope that won’t be the case here, as I would really rather the cable industry not own my future digital home.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Train wreck? Enderle’s been reading too many of Paul Thurrott’s Microsoft Longhorn Vista reviews. Enderle misses one large possibility, of course: Apple bought NeXT, but in reality: NeXT took over Apple. Could the same thing happen with Disney and Pixar?
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Enderle’s a fscking idiot.
The end is nigh! Disney is dooooomed!
Oh, and so is Apple.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”tongue rolleye” style=”border:0;” />
According to Enderle, Microsoft invented Mickey Mouse.
Whew – another ad at the top.
How many ads can MDN squeeze on its pages????
Dustin’s right. BTW, I don’t think it’s fair to hang the Newton and the Lisa on Steve Jobs. The first was as we all should know, proposed, implemented and marketed while Steve was away. I’m one of those who wish he hadn’t killed it.
The second was the $10,000 before-the-mac mac. I don’t think you could call macs failures. As for BOB… just another failed product from m$.
Only a fool thinks Disney bought our Pixar… just as only fools think Apple bought out NeXT.
“As an ex-Disney employee myself . . . “
Worked in the commissary, did you?
Unless you worked at Disney in any executive or creative capacity, mentioning so is irrelevant and gratuitous at best.
Steve doesn´t get creative.
At first He was against Pixar getting into making full length cartoon movie animation.
One can tell by the lame TV commercials Steve (creates) approves that he just doesn´t get the creativity thing.
He knows how to pick out a good design of a computer or iPod or desktop window that is presented to him by his designers, but deciding on something beyond the looks of a physical object….nah, not Steve.
I still have a little pixy dust in my vanes
I think he meant veins, as in blood vessels.
Unless he is as big a turkey as we believe him to be, concenting his vanes, as in feathers.
And he calls himself a professional journalist. Sheesh.
“I still have a little pixy dust in my vanes”
Of course, “vanes” means “ass” and “pixie dust” is a euphemism for something too disgusting to mention.
As for “pixy dust in his vanes” I assume those are the vanes on his helicopter beany hat. There’s a “heckuva a lot more” to proof-reading than a spell checker…
Steve behaves as is needed. With Pixar, he had visionaries in place and left ’em well enough alone. Except for… deadlines and roadmaps (sound familiar?).
Steve like to plan ahead and release when he thinks it’s the appropriate time. This is what we all need to learn to do… It’s Steve’s battle plan.
Disney will benefit from Steve being on the board.
IMHO
Jb
Monte, lay off the crack. I’ve heard / read alot about Jobs and that all seems the exact opposite of what Rob writes here. Seems Jobs does get the creativity thing, and anyone who can reverse the moral of a major computing company and return it to creative resurgence can definity deal with people, just not people not of the same mind. As Iaccoca said, “lead, follow, or get out of the way”.
As for the Apple commercials, have a gander at the latest Jag. commercials – based on the theme beautiful. They don’t even show the car! Everyone here complains about Apple advertising, but you what, everyone knows (or thinks they do) what a computer can do. The idea then is to associate yoru product with an idea or theme – hence the reason light beer ads feature sporty types, so that people will associate that product with that lifestyle. Apple needs to associate their product with the creative lifestyle – not work and excel spreadsheets.
Steve has no patience with incompetent fools. That’s what Enderle is. So if they’ve ever met, I’m sure Steve gave him the cold shoulder.
But Steve has managed Pixar to success. And he has managed Apple to success both in his first and second go-arounds. So all of Enderle’s ramblings is just that – uninformed rambling.
Now there are two things that I agree with, recognizing that even broken clocks get the time right twice a day:
1. Disney is the most known brand and the innovation leader in the content distribution market
2. I would like to have neither the cable nor telephone companies be the portals into my digital home.
Enderly started out ok, but he got carried away with his obsession with seeing the downfall of Steve jobs. He needs to be taken off the air.
MDN, this is hadly worth your time or our time. I see no value in putting Enderly’s posts here, even to make fun of him.
It’s true, Enderle used to work at Disney, but back then he went by the more fitting name Goofy.
I can’t tell you how shocked I am to read yet another article by Comical Rob E. that is complete nonsense! You want to talk about a train wreck? His article, no, make that his career, is a train wreck. His conjecture about SJ wanting to take over Disney is beyond ridiculous. He was the CEO of Pixar, and he worked there one day a week. He’s not a movie producer, or a studio head and he doesn’t pretend to be. Ed Catmull and John Lasseter run, and have always run, Pixar. SJ recognizes that these guys know what they’re doing and he leaves them to it. Why would things at Disney be any different, especially considering his role has been greatly diminished?
As for him staging a coup, like he supposedly did at Apple, all one has to do is read the interview recently done with Edgar Woolard Jr., the former Apple Board Member, who said that he personally talked Steve into taking Gil Amelio’s place, it wasn’t even Steve’s idea.
Lastly, I love this quote, “The Lisa, the Newton, and Microsoft Bob all started out as brilliant ideas…” – Microsoft Bob was a brilliant idea? Wow. That’s all I can say. Wow.
Oh, and don’t forget MDN, according to Enderle, Microsoft has also helped Apple write Mac OS X as well. From a long and painful e-mail exchange I had with him a few months ago, “By the way you do know they are helping with the current version of the OS right?”
What Enderle means by having worked for Disney is that he is a Mickey Mouse analyst. How he even got a job with such poor writing skills and spelling is beyond me!
I doubt that he’s ever met Jobs, yet he goes about judging someone based on second and third hand accounts.
I thought that an analyst’s job was to research and predict what the market may do. I’ve rarely found Enderle to be right – hell, I’ve rarely found him in the same ballpark with reality. You’d think that the company that employs him would do annual reviews of his work to determine accuracy, and that he’d be fired by now. Oh yeah, he works for The Enderle Group and some 2-bit tech rag. Never mind.
So Rob does come by his Mickey Mouse, Bullshit opinions honestly.
I bet he was a Mouseketeer sitting on Walt’s lap. Or maybe that was Annette. I get the two of then mixed up. Honest mistake.
“While the iPod is a fabulous design, it wouldn’t have sold well at all if it wasn’t for iTunes and the ability to put content on it.”
While the BMW is a fabulous design, it wouldn’t have sold well at all if it wasn’t for the ability to put gasoline in it.
Amazing insight, this Enderle fellow has.
Look, you’ve really got to stop quoting this guy – he’s a freakin idiot. By quoting him you’re just encouraging him to keep up this uniformed drivel.
Give me a break
“wouldn’t have sold well at all if it wasn’t for iTunes”
Umm… the iPod was out and DID sell “well at all” long before the iTunes music store. In fact, it sold well on Windows long before even the iTunes jukebox was available for Windows. iPods USED to come with MusicMatch for Windows.
And way to make stuff up about how Steve Jobs handles people, despite all the evidence that he manages creative types REALLY WELL. And despite the article just out by an Apple board member about how Steve Jobs CAN and does take orders from others. Oh, but in Enderle’s world, the funny cartoon Steve is the real deal, and don’t let facts get in the way–not when there’s an Apple Death Knell due and M$ has a check for you.
One thing I got from the article is that if Steve Jobs became frustrated with the Disney board and tried to wrestle them into shape – get them to see things his way, that would be a fairly large fight that could possibly take precious time away from his CEO job at Apple.
On that point I agree.
what annoys me is that he pulls every cliché out for his writing..
what’s the point? if you’re just going to regurgitate stuff like “jobs is terrible with employees, and creative types are the hardest to manage” then any conclusion he comes up with is worthless (typical outcome for Enderle)
I want to hear a clear prediction from Rob.. so far he has generally longed for.. umm.. Microsoft domination.. and there is no deadline on that one..
there are so many holes in this..
content is king? says who? content is the only thing ubiquitous between all mp3 players for example..
Is Ender… squeezin his dick?