“I have always had to defend my love of the vertical markets, especially to the hortizontal dominated business world. However, in The Register’s send-off for the departed Sun Microsystem’s CEO Scott McNealy, the commentator made an economic comment that hit me so square between the eyes it summed up the entire reason for the need of there to be an Apple, Google, and other one-integrator strategies that have recently come back in to vogue,” Software Architect Brandon Werner blogs.
Wall Street had long waged war against McNealy’s insistence on Sun as a vertically integrated systems company: one that produces a finished widget. Financial markets prefer to see horizontal vendors, exemplified by Wintel and Dell, because they squeeze the costs out of a business. In reality, the costs are simply transferred elsewhere, usually to the customer in the form of integration woes, shorter buying cycles, and lower reliability.
Werner writes, “Think of that when you buy a $500.00 Gateway from Best Buy. It is true that the majority of people who read this blog are the technological heavy-weights, and might not believe they feel all the integration cost and reliability issues that come from the Windows (Is it really Wintel anymore?) ecosystem. However, I don’t go a day without someone complaining about some lost productivity do to their Windows XP workstation, and these are some of the smartest people to be had in a workforce. Coming home to (and using at work when possible) Apple technology has always created longing looks when I show the one step .Mac sync or the bluetooth pairing for my HID devices, or even my ability to direct music to any stereo in my house with one touch.”
“Participating in Vertical Markets does tend to be more expensive up front, but the cost isn’t non-existent in the Horizontal model, it’s just more hidden,” Werner writes. “Sadly, before most markets move to the costlier but more quality driven Vertical process, there is always the Horizontal market before prices come down enough so that a person can switch brands, not just components. Steve Jobs and Scott McNealy are both people who never gave in to the Horizontal marketplace, never willing to give in to the quality penalty such a move would give their companies and their reputation. They have had to live deep in to their middle-life to see it come back, but in the world of PSP, iPod and Google where entire industries have had sprung up around these Vertical ecosystems, they can finally say they never gave up on the idea of quality and integration championing the dull and the mass produced.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Bulls-eye! Apple’s control of the whole widget (hardware+operating system] guarantees as seamless an experience as possible for Mac users. Those using Windows have no such guarantee. Over time, no matter how little you value your time, the Apple Mac is less expensive than Windows, even if it did cost a little more upfront. The more you value your time, the quicker the Mac saves you money versus Windows. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is perhaps the most overlooked idea by the vast majority of PC buyers. It’s as close to all-important an idea as you can get when it comes to purchasing decisions, yet it somehow goes completely ignored by most people! The exact same idea holds true for iPod+iTunes vs. also-ran digital music player trying to interact with somebody else’s struggling online music outfit. Control of the whole widget always was, and still is, one of Apple’s main advantages.
Related articles:
Pfeiffer Consulting: Mac vs Windows: Total Cost of Ownership, Productivity and Return on Investment – March 30, 2006
Windows to Mac switchers: recommendations and Total Cost of Ownership analysis – September 29, 2005
I like the article. You can argue little details on every article. This is one of the few I have enjoyed in a while.
I am not a marketer, but I do know and want quality. Case in point: Japanese cars.
Horizontal, vertical, diagonal, inverted, or cross-sector. Make a superb product and people will buy it – gee, that’s a concept worth considering.
the truth is that people have understood this for a LONG time, the people who think you can afford to be horizontal also think you can outsource everything and still have a brand.
THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS.
MS made a better business decision. We know they don’t make a better PC experience because they’re horizontal. What’s the result? A handful of ‘suppliers’ pointing at each other when the computer isn’t good enough.
HOWEVER.. whenever I read an article like this I always think, “Why did you have to wait until Apple was the media darling to put this out?” I’d be more impressed if this had been written about 5 years ago. As it is now, he just sounds like a dope who realized why the iTunes+iPod music experience has an 80% marketshare.
Hrm.
But what a coup if Apple spent $1 billion showing how they could run a massive business project like the Olympics with all the coverage world-wide.
What if Apple put that $1 billion into something that made money?
The Olympics are a lost cause. I don’t think anyone cares who the Olympics’ IT provider might be.
$1 billion is a steep price tag for bragging rights.
“In a Mac what exactly does Apple build?”
The OS tied to the processor along with included software IS the whole widget. Your analogy is a very Wintel minded argument, because all you see in that world is hardware and parts, not the software user experience.
In the Mac World, the experience IS the whole widget, and when you control the OS and the motherboard, you control the whole widget, and who makes the RAM, HD and so forth is about as relevant as who makes the box it ships in.
RE: LAZERKUN
Do you mean Japanse cars made in Japan or Japanese cars/trucks made by Americans in American plants exported to Japan? Per Toyota, American made cars/trucks are viewed as higher quality outside the states. And by Americans before they learn “Made in America.”
Most of the “Japanese” cars are made in the United States now, including trucks………perhaps you were referring to management by the Japanese.
Management and labor working together means a lot.
Hope you are not a union member, their plants are union free in the states.
“And yes we know Intel is working with Apple to design logicboards.
There has to be a extra level of “something” that will differ Mactels from generic PC’s”
“Apple designed” hardware is different all right, most notably INFERIOR to top tier PC brands.
….While the Dell Inspiron E1705 performs pretty poorly given its CPU speed, the MacBook Pro is actually even worse. The E1705 holds about an 8% performance advantage over the MacBook Pro with an 8% faster CPU; however, neither Winstone test scales 1:1 with CPU speed increases so Dell’s faster CPU is most likely only buying it another 3% performance advantage here. Obviously neither notebook comes anywhere close to the performance of the ASUS offerings, which continue to be the fastest I’ve ever encountered in a Core Duo notebook.
I don’t really have a good explanation for the MacBook Pro’s disappointing Windows XP performance, because all of its hardware is built out of the same major components that ASUS and Dell use for their notebooks. The only thing I can think of is that out of all these companies, ASUS is far more experienced with tweaking and tuning their motherboards for every last ounce of performance while honestly, Apple has never had to really care. Given that ASUS actually manufactures some of Apple’s machines, it may be time to enlist its help in performance optimization as well…..
http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=2740&p=1
ASUS, along with many other brand name motherboard makers, make far superior hardware than Apple. You won’t find them in an OEM PC like Dell, but you will find them in a plethora of custom built PC’s and non OEM PC vendors.
Not to mention, while everyone has been enamoured by the mobile Core Duo chips, the fastest Quad Powermac continues to get eaten alive by AMD’s latest 285 offering:
http://renderfred.free.fr/c4d_cinebench.html
Sammy,
Really, what car do you drive….is it inferior to another or just different. But you drive it to work and do everything any other “superior” cars out there that get every once of performance out of the engine……IS THIS THE CAR YOU DRIVE or the inferior one that get you around with few problems. Did you buy your car from stats on performance or on the real world use of the car.
Hence, you do not use 100 percent of your computer! What you do use is software and how it will allow you to do daily task much faster than the raw system performance. This is where “we” live in the margins of hours and minutes with the reduced number of problems per hour.
Did you look at the stats on the problems each computer encounter on an hourly basis or these values ruin your cpu kick-ass performance point.
Well, when you tally in loss of information, hours of protection, trying to keep up the the load of adware slowing the cpu performance down to a 286 then how do your numbers relate.
Oh, for the those who seek the truth-Macs are not for XP…AN OPTION TO USE. It is designed to run OS X….get it.
Now how well does the other computers run OS X????? We need stats on that!
Oh, what brand of car do you use..I need engine size, options, etc….I willl tell you which car is stat wise superor to yours. Then you can go buy that one.
Peace!
Unfortunately, my obsession with all things Mac (including frequent readings of MDN) has probably overall left me less effective.
Maybe I need to switch back to Windows…
HAS ANYONE READ ABOUT THE NEW MAC OS X VIRUS
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/TECH/04/30/apple.security.ap/index.html
Sammy,
We are whating for your hardware stats, that way I can tell you what horsepower your car makes and how much real horsepower makes it to the rear wheels, Then how the weight and options effect your acceleration and what the programming in the cpu is holding you back on 15 percent of performance.
But, you need every bit of this to go from stop light to stop light and the traffic you encounter. Because all the other car out there will magically get out of your way so you can run full blast through the city and country roads with not one single car to be infront of you. Your car with every once of performance will get to work or your date at breakneck speed.
Well, this is what happens in the computers daily use. Just like traffice.
Try not to be a PC TECHNO STAT DRONE and you will understand the use of a computer. It is not based on stats but how fast you can move an image from point a to b and not lose it or get a blue screen then resinstall the os.
Did you factor in all the profrormance gremlins that is loaded to the OS so it can protect your computer. They take cycles and bandwidth.
See not stats on that- be balanced on how you proceed.
SSSSSpeeeeeeeeddddddididdiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnngggggg aaaawawwwway!!!
Is that one virus????
Stats oh the number on the pc—please list!
And if you are less effective on a Mac….please switch. No harm or foul.
I find it much faster than a Windows since I have used both since 1982.
So I am happpy with it and advise all others it will be own your own to find the suit that fits one.
But, with any OS or Software….you must learn the ropes to get there.
But, choose the one that fits you….but dont give speed specs when we never use that much 100 percent of the time!
I hate hardware nimrods……because I know many and they are always working to keep there systems up and stable.
I work with the software to get work done to make money.
To all who cares about reduced problems.
UNIX
was browsing the Web when he clicked on a series of links that promised pictures of an unreleased update to his computer’s operating system.
That’s a exploit from a malicious website utilizing a flaw in Safari.
Mac OS X security has been absolute garbage ever since it’s release.
Guess Apple will be dumping Mac OS X here soon because it seems they really don’t give a rats ass anymore.
I used to be one of Apple’s biggests fans, but now…
Oh, for everyone that brings up the virus thing.
I will go buy a car with 70000 problems per unit and ditch the car with one problem…..damn, it has a problem….better stick with the car with 70000 problems and be safe.
Wisdom and the luck of the irish be with you.
OH MY GOD
Steve Jobs killed in car crash!!!
http://abcnews.go.com/
Harmless
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Al Jazzoo
Yea, I know the feeling. I used to sit around eat cake, drink, and dream of beautiful women as I plodded through my daily work to the ending of gaining massive weight and breaking my standard stock chair capable of supporting an elephant. I loved that chair!!!!
But, you are right……switch over and all the stress will shed those pounds right off. Running around trying to use a computer or having a file corrupting everthing or the numerous exploits.
Wise choice, I wish I was as smart as you!!!!
From a inbound global killer……I will not see the planet…oh, apple icon….pretty icon……ooooohhhhhhh
peace!
Hell, where is Sammy?
I am still waiting for the stats!!!!!
I remember that fake Leopard screenshots thing. That was months ago, it was a trojan horse, not a virus, it probably affected two people worldwide, and the vulnerability that allowed it has been patched. Try to keep up with the rest of the class, Timmy. Do you really get your computer news from the world-class technology gurus at CNN?
Harmless Al –
Hey JERK! Don’t post links that cause problems! That’s a pretty lo-res life.
“They will live in a dump for their whole lives without even investigating how to live cleaner, more fashionable lives.“
WTF? I would venture into more detail, but the idiocy of the satement above speaks for itself.
Hmmmm? New Apple ad campaign to be launched this week. What do ya know, news of a Virus that has hit Mac OS X. Hmmmm. I sense a disturbance in the force.
This virus news is appear on all major news sites now. Hmmmmm. I smell a rat and it’s address is in Redmond.
How coincidental. hmmmmm. And only 1 or 2 computers out of how many, 12 million? Hmmmmm.
The battle has begun. Enemy engaged.
From CNN article: “Benjamin Daines was browsing the Web when he clicked on a series of links that promised pictures of an unreleased update to his computer’s operating system…….Daines, a 29-year-old British chemical engineer”
The infamous Leopard pics “virus” – from what I read, all it did was attempt to mail itself to people on your buddy list. AFTER he downloaded, unzipped, and then opened the file – after clicking on a series of links to get to it. This guy is a chemical engineer and should know better. Lots of red flags, but it still didn’t stop him. This is the first time I heard that this Trojan did ANY damage whatsoever. Why such a late report?
“Tom Ferris said malicious Web sites can exploit the holes without a user’s knowledge, potentially allowing a criminal to execute code remotely and gain access to passwords and other sensitive information.”
These are the image buffer overflow errors that have been talked about recently. Serious – seems so, but the statement above is hyped-up to make for good copy.
“Apple plans to patch the holes reported by Ferris in the next automatic update of Mac OS X, and there have been no reports of them being exploited, spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said. She disagreed that the vulnerabilities make it possible for a criminal to run code on a targeted machine.”
The jury is still out on weather the arbitrary code execution can make it possible to run code.
“This week, SANS updated the list to warn against flaws in Safari, the Mac Web browser, which the group said criminals were able to attack before Apple could fix.“
ANY security flaws in a browser are serious. Still, they give no evidence or examples of what got through Safari. That’s not to say anyone should turn a blind eye to this situation – quite the contrary.
“Less than a week after Daines was attacked in mid-February, a 25-year-old computer security researcher released three benign Mac-based worms to prove a serious vulnerability in Mac OS X could be exploited.”
Leap-A? The Bluetooth “worm”? – a serious vulnerability? This one was a non event.
CNN just rehashed old news. Probably took the writer 10 minutes to whip this story up. Still, computer security measures are not to be taken lightly. Think about what you are clicking on, the sites you visit, and the files you download. Nobody else is going to do it for you……………..
This is pure propaganda helped along by MS for sure. Mid-February event now making headlines? Hmmmmm. This is only being done by MS backers in the media to counter the new ad campaign coming out. Listen to me now, believe me later, MS is behind this.
That SHOULD read – The jury is still out on weather image buffer overflows can make arbitrary code execution possible………