John on Tech...
A look at technology from MY point of view
Tuesday 21 July 2009, 1:46 PM
Rob Enderle keeps making the same mistakes...
Rob Enderle has clearly articulated why Microsoft will fail going up against Apple. The so-called "principal analyst for the Enderle Group, a consultancy that focuses on personal technology products and trends." has an article up at techworldnews: Microsoft Makes Apple Eat Humble Apple Pie. He is referring to the tub bashing from Microsoft's Kevin Turner earlier last week. Who claimed that he was called by "Apple legal" to pull the current batch of Laptop Hunter ads from their current campaign. Much laughing from MS shills all week ensued.
Rob Enderle's article is full of the standard misconceptions that Microsoft and it's fans make when looking at Apple. The first error is that Apple is NOT just a marketing company. There is engineering and design work done at Apple that is of extreme value and beyond anything Microsoft is capable of - until Apple does it - and then they just fire up their photocopiers. This has worked in the past as Microsoft have had boatloads of money to throw at stuff. Apple innovate by developing stuff in house; Microsoft innovate by buying in the technology they want.
Secondly if Microsoft were an engineering based company then where's the meat? Where's the innovation? We see lots of stuff shown off by Microsoft - some of it very interesting - say project Natal. But it is all years away - it is all smoke and mirrors. If Apple were to show off something like project Natal (I am not saying Apple would do this - it is just an example for sake of argument) then it would be released immediately or within weeks (the iPhone was an exception being pre-announced a whole six months before release - but hey - we're not talking sometime in the vague future like we are with project Natal).
"For Apple, marketing is strategic, and top marketing people would like to have Apple on their resume." See - he is damning Apple yet again with faint praise. Top "anything" people would like to have Apple on their resumé. Try the guys at Palm - a job at Apple seems to be the BEST thing to have on your resumé to work there at the moment. John Rubenstein (pretty certain not a marketing job he held at Apple) and Lynn Fox (OK perhaps PR was a part of marketing) are all ex Apple as well as many others.
Finally the "whiny call" from Apple was only articulated by a Microsoft employee. Call it spin. I would say more likely someone phoned to tell them they would have to update the ads following the recent price cuts - but to them it - and by Rob it was a "whiny call".
BTW in the real world since when did legal representatives just phone to complain? If Apple really was doing this then where is the typed letter in cryptic legalese - Apple are pretty good at sending out cease and desist letters I believe?
The whole premise of his argument is that Microsoft have finally got the "marketing" thing sorted and are now ready to take on the world is great - save for the fact that that is NOT the reason that Apple are succeeding. Rob is looking at all the noise and fury while all the time forgetting that the magicians are actually doing real work in the areas you are ignoring. It is sleight of hand trick but everyone seems to be looking at the magic trick while ignoring where the real work is being done.
The irony of all this is that the so called "successful Laptop Hunter ads" are working wonderfully for the wrong party - Apple may have had a bad May (people were waiting for the new machines) but rumors are surfacing that June was spectacular. Quoting from Philip Elmer DeWitt's site: "Well, the NPD numbers came out and they blew past even his most optimistic expectations. Rather than up 5% in June, as he hoped, they were up a whopping 16%. According to Munster’s second note of the day, that implies sales for the entire quarter of 2.6 million units." So looks like Kevin Turner may have misinterpreted the call. Perhaps Apple legal were calling to warn him that the Microsoft Ad Campaign was actually working - Apple sales were through the roof.
Rob Enderle's article is full of the standard misconceptions that Microsoft and it's fans make when looking at Apple. The first error is that Apple is NOT just a marketing company. There is engineering and design work done at Apple that is of extreme value and beyond anything Microsoft is capable of - until Apple does it - and then they just fire up their photocopiers. This has worked in the past as Microsoft have had boatloads of money to throw at stuff. Apple innovate by developing stuff in house; Microsoft innovate by buying in the technology they want.
Secondly if Microsoft were an engineering based company then where's the meat? Where's the innovation? We see lots of stuff shown off by Microsoft - some of it very interesting - say project Natal. But it is all years away - it is all smoke and mirrors. If Apple were to show off something like project Natal (I am not saying Apple would do this - it is just an example for sake of argument) then it would be released immediately or within weeks (the iPhone was an exception being pre-announced a whole six months before release - but hey - we're not talking sometime in the vague future like we are with project Natal).
"For Apple, marketing is strategic, and top marketing people would like to have Apple on their resume." See - he is damning Apple yet again with faint praise. Top "anything" people would like to have Apple on their resumé. Try the guys at Palm - a job at Apple seems to be the BEST thing to have on your resumé to work there at the moment. John Rubenstein (pretty certain not a marketing job he held at Apple) and Lynn Fox (OK perhaps PR was a part of marketing) are all ex Apple as well as many others.
Finally the "whiny call" from Apple was only articulated by a Microsoft employee. Call it spin. I would say more likely someone phoned to tell them they would have to update the ads following the recent price cuts - but to them it - and by Rob it was a "whiny call".
BTW in the real world since when did legal representatives just phone to complain? If Apple really was doing this then where is the typed letter in cryptic legalese - Apple are pretty good at sending out cease and desist letters I believe?
The whole premise of his argument is that Microsoft have finally got the "marketing" thing sorted and are now ready to take on the world is great - save for the fact that that is NOT the reason that Apple are succeeding. Rob is looking at all the noise and fury while all the time forgetting that the magicians are actually doing real work in the areas you are ignoring. It is sleight of hand trick but everyone seems to be looking at the magic trick while ignoring where the real work is being done.
The irony of all this is that the so called "successful Laptop Hunter ads" are working wonderfully for the wrong party - Apple may have had a bad May (people were waiting for the new machines) but rumors are surfacing that June was spectacular. Quoting from Philip Elmer DeWitt's site: "Well, the NPD numbers came out and they blew past even his most optimistic expectations. Rather than up 5% in June, as he hoped, they were up a whopping 16%. According to Munster’s second note of the day, that implies sales for the entire quarter of 2.6 million units." So looks like Kevin Turner may have misinterpreted the call. Perhaps Apple legal were calling to warn him that the Microsoft Ad Campaign was actually working - Apple sales were through the roof.
PreviousComments on this post
Apple made a more appropriate reply to the Laptop Hunter ad back in April: “A PC is no bargain when it doesn’t do what you want,” Apple spokesman Bill Evans says. “The one thing that both Apple and Microsoft can agree on is that everyone thinks the Mac is cool."
We will know a bit more in four hours. I will try and either update with actual figures or post in the comments section.
