Innovation: Apple at Macworld vs Microsoft at CES
Each January, Bill Gates addresses the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, outlining Microsoft’s plans for new products. Around the same time, Steve Jobs addresses Mac users at the San Francisco Macworld Expo.
The difference between the two speakers and what they present in their keynote presentations is further apart than the 570 miles that separate the two cities.
Even Microsoft’s official cheerleader Paul Thurrott says “[Gates’] keynote addresses are typically boring, droning affairs, though they always draw a standing-room crowd.”
In contrast, the media not only compares Jobs’ Apple events to rock concerts ad naseum, but Jobs frequently presents major artists in concert on stage.
Many Macworld Keynote attendees actually leave after Jobs stops talking and the free concert begins! Jobs isn’t just a better speaker; the real difference is that what he presents actually matters.
Since 2000, Jobs has presented a steady stream of new products that have resulted in billions of dollars in profits; Gates announcements have nearly all ended up as either vaporware or major money losers.
To clarify just how embarrassing Microsoft's efforts to create consumer products have been, here's a comparison of recent Microsoft announcements at CES next to Apple product releases at the January Macworld Expo, along with a few delicious observations made by Paul Thurrott.
Microsoft at CES vs Apple at Macworld: 2000-2007
2000 CES: Web TV and Microsoft TV; WinCE smartphones pre-announced two years early
Macworld 2000: The G4 Cube, a preview of Mac OS X's new Aqua, and iTools, the beginning of .Mac services
Macworld 2001: The Titanium PowerBook and the release of Mac OS X 10.0, iTunes, and iDVD
"...a casual look at the Mac OS X feature set reveals more than a passing resemblance to features Microsoft first made popular in Windows. Even Apple's high-profile "digital hub" strategy was launched a day after Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates announced a similar push for Windows at the 2001 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). [...] Apple is actually delivering a Web services vision that, so far, Microsoft has only made promises about" - Paul Thurrott
Macworld 2002: Flat panel iMac G4, 14” iBook, and the release of the new iPhoto
2003 CES: Media Center PC, Tablet PC, SPOT watches; the "Video iPod" Media2Go is delayed until mid 2004.
Macworld 2003: 12” and 17” PowerBooks, Final Cut Express, Safari, and Keynote; introduced the iLife bundle
"Because [Steve] Jobs gave his Macworld address just days before Microsoft Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates presented his 2003 International Computer Electronics Show (CES) keynote address, not comparing the two events is impossible.
“The most obvious difference is support: Apple appears to be interested in going it alone, even to the extent of creating applications that don't break new ground or introduce new product categories but instead compete with existing third-party applications.
"Meanwhile, Gates's address continually touted Microsoft's many industry partners, such as the hardware makers working on Media2Go and Smart Personal Object Technology (SPOT) devices, Media Center PCs, and Tablet PCs.
“All of Microsoft's initiatives appear to be collaborative efforts, whereas Apple is basically circling the wagons and seizing any lucrative (and in the case of Safari, nonlucrative) businesses for itself. Put simply, comparing the reality of these two companies with way the public perceives them is astonishing." - Paul Thurrott
2004 CES: Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004, and Portable Media Center devices announced last year.
Macworld 2004: Xserve G5, iPod mini, Final Cut Express 2, GarageBand in iLife 04
"I spent some time with three Portable Media Center devices (from Creative, iRiver, and Samsung) and ... wow. These devices are going to blow you away. Expect prices in the $400 to $600 range, 20GB to 40GB hard disks, and 3 hours of battery life when watching video [...] these devices are going to be the must-have gift for the 2004 holiday season.
“Lost amid all the hubbub of CES was the start of Macworld Conference & Expo, which opened Tuesday with an unexciting Steve Jobs keynote. [...] All in all, Macworld was a rather boring affair." - Paul Thurrott
"Jobs's Macworld address, widely expected to be an almost funereal event for an ailing company, instead turned into a tour de force celebration of technology, marketing, and sheer chutzpah, with Jobs touting the company's Switch ad campaign, retail stores, and consumer-oriented products such as iPod, iCal, iSync, iTunes, and .Mac. Jobs also wowed the crowd and industry watchers with a slew of new product announcements, virtually none of which the rumor-savvy Macintosh online news organizations predicted." - Paul Thurrott
Yes, both comments were made about the same event. Apparently the "boring," "unexciting Steve Jobs keynote" was also "a tour de force celebration of technology" that "wowed the crowd." Amazing stuff Paul.
2005 CES: Digital Entertainment Anywhere ramblings
Macworld 2005: Mac Mini, iPod Shuffle, Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, Final Cut Express HD, Pages with Keynote 2 in iWork 05, iMovie HD in iLife 05
"while the Microsofties were freaking out about the technical issues at the keynote and the way they would be misperceived by the public, we argued that they were missing the point entirely. Technical problems are horrible, but there were much bigger issues with the Gates keynote and we think they speak volumes about the divide still separating the consumer electronics and PC industries. Specifically, Gates and presenter Sean Alexander, who otherwise did an excellent job despite some technical issues, quickly blurted out the names of various complicated technologies without ever pausing to explain what they were. PlaysForSure? Windows Media Connect? IPTV?" - Paul Thurrott
Macworld 2006: Mac Book Pro, Intel iMac, Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger for Intel, iWork 06, iWeb in iLife 06
"And if I can make a small prediction: Despite the size and scope of CES, expect Apple to generate more news and excitement next week with MacWorld than the entire CES show does this week. They're just on top of the world right now, so deal with it." - Paul Thurrott
"CES is typically a show that highlights the future of consumer technologies, products and services that won't typically ship for several months or years. This year, however, Microsoft has decided to focus its CES energies on products that are happening more quickly.
“'They're not just futuristic,' I was told. 'This year, they're real.'" - Paul Thurrott
Products vs Pontification
Thurrott’s comments sum it up well: since 2000, Apple has introduced real products, while Microsoft has announced broad strategies of how it planned to shepherd the industry by shaping every solution in the form of a PC and affixing a Windows sticker to it; the company has been wrong every year.
Microsoft's product ideas were frequently laughable and forgettable, from SPOT watches to Mira wireless displays. The only one consumers would recognize is the Xbox, but it follows Apple's strategy of selling a finished product, not Microsoft's ongoing plan to unleash new Windows licensing initiatives in every new product category.
Even so, the only way Microsoft can sell the Xbox has been to give it away at a loss; more recently, it has stuffed the channel with Xbox 360s, which sit in unsold piles at retailers. Microsoft claims it has "sold" ten million, but huge inventories and slack demand show that it has really only shipped that many, a big difference.
Apple's announced products at Macworld have all subsequently become household names, and nearly every one has brought striking success, even ones that step out of the company's existing footprint of consumer and education markets.
The biggest "failure" from Apple since 2000 was the Power Mac G4 Cube; despite being a modest success and generally perceived as overpriced, it still sold, at a profit, and received critical acclaim. The biggest “success” from Microsoft has been the Xbox, a profitless endeavor that lost well over a billion dollars just in the last year.
How Apple Beats Microsoft
One of the reasons Apple is beating Microsoft senseless in home and consumer electronics is because it isn't trying to copy Microsoft. Nearly every other company in the industry has bent over for Microsoft to offer itself up as a guinea pig for the company's ridiculous experiments. 
Apple didn't beat out a wide array of independent competitors with the iPod; they all destroyed themselves by signing up with the ill fated PlaysForSure program, offering consumers a variety of Microsoft-designed "choices" in music players.
Bill Gates likes to ridicule Apple's efforts to build its own products and highlights how Microsoft works with a variety of partners.
After creating the PlaysForSure partnership however, Microsoft turned around and blamed its partner hardware makers and music stores for being poor competition to the iPod. It then introduced its own music player product that turned on and killed PlaysForSure this last holiday season. Nice!
What a team player Microsoft is. With partners like Microsoft, who need enemies?
Stop Cloning Failure
Beyond the tech companies blindly following Microsoft as licensees, other independent competitors have largely sought to copy Microsoft's strategies, and similarly failed. How many Linux desktop developers have done much beyond copying Windows broken desktop, its dated Office suite, or its problematic messaging server?
Rather than lining up to feed at Microsoft's trough, Apple has designed its own products that solve some of the same problems but in original ways.
A fourth example of how Apple is outthinking Microsoft in consumer electronics will be examined in tomorrow’s article. Guess what it is?
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Thursday, February 22, 2007
