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Magic Lasso Adblock: Block ads in iPhone, iPad and Mac appsBy Jason Snell for Macworld
Apple’s historic successes have bred its recent failures
Truly, Apple’s rise from near-bankruptcy to being one of the most valuable companies in the world is a story for the business history books. But as legendary football coach John Madden frequently said, “winning is the best deodorant.” When you’re riding high—and have been riding high for a couple of decades—it’s very hard to notice the parts of your business that have begun to emit a bit of an odor.
To take another page from football, Apple has a winning playbook, and it keeps using it. But if you keep calling the same plays without adapting and reacting, a winning playbook can become something much worse. In the past year, two major Apple product launches show just how calcified the company’s strategy has become—and how much it needs to change.