蘋果需要應對的更大挑戰
本周二，當蘋果(Apple)首席執行官蒂姆•庫克
(Tim
Cook)接受美國參議院有關其公司稅務問題的質詢時，他或許還遠沒有擔心蘋果的下一個大問題是什麽。但蘋果涉嫌在巨額利潤上避稅，讓人們的註意力偏離了
該公司面臨的一個更根本性的問題：蘋果的下一個產品是什麽？
但還有一個更令人擔憂的情況。去年，庫克辭掉了長期擔任其移動操作系統iOS主管的斯科特•福斯托(Scott Forstall)，並提拔蘋果備受贊譽的設計主管喬納森•艾夫爵士(Sir Jonathan Ive)負責掌管其所有軟件和硬件的開發。據報道稱，喬納森爵士正對蘋果軟件進行全面評估。
這一舉措相當危險。蘋果在全球範圍內的主要問題是iPhone銷量增速放緩，以及整個產品系列利潤率下滑。在解決這些問題的所有方法中，為什麽要花費如此多的時間和精力來重塑iOS？
這 是因為，在科技行業，重新設計界面已變成一個解決所有商業問題的全能解決方案。當微軟(Microsoft)發現其個人電腦(PC)王國衰落時，為新版 Windows操作系統設置了新的適合平板電腦的界面。這一舉措既沒有幫助微軟贏得平板電腦市場，還嚴重疏遠了長期用戶，以至於該公司被迫推出升級版 Windows 8.1，以恢復該軟件老版本中的一些外觀和功能。Facebook在推出Home應用軟件時也有過類似令人尷尬的遭遇，該軟件試圖增強用戶在其移動軟件的 活躍度。這款應用把安卓(Android)用戶的系統主界面變成了Facebook的留言板，用戶認為這種變動令人嫌惡，他們正紛紛棄用這款應用。
在蘋果以外，沒有人知道喬納森爵士的計劃。有報道稱，他希望“壓平”iOS軟件的設計，讓它的界面比當前版本更“平滑”，自從2007年iPhone首次推出以來，iOS的界面實際上一直沒有變過。
不管喬納森爵士進行得多麽緩慢和謹慎，把更新界面放在優先位置都是一個令人困惑的決定。確實，iOS正落後於安卓——谷歌(Google)的這款操 作系統現在占據了智能手機市場一半以上的份額。iOS也遭遇過一些引人註目的失敗。蘋果的地圖應用比不上谷歌的同類版本，蘋果大力宣傳的個人助理Siri 似乎在電視上的表現要好於實際應用。
然而，我們很難說，這些問題是由於設計不佳所致。地圖軟件的失敗源於蘋果相對缺乏地理數據。與此同時，蘋果市場份額萎縮可能要歸咎於價格：安卓系統 的低端手機不計其數，而產品價格高企的蘋果無法在這一領域展開競爭。同時，用戶數據顯示，如果人們對蘋果的界面感到厭煩，他們表現出來的方式卻很有趣。盡管安卓的銷量超過iOS，但人們還是會更經常地使用蘋果產品。
這些無一表明，在手機行業蘋果萬事大吉。iPhone銷量增速放緩，這可能源於同安卓手機的競爭加劇，特別是在發展中國家，在這些國家，很多手機的 銷售沒有運營商補貼。在這些市場，蘋果最便宜的手機iPhone 4價格在400美元，仍高於安卓競爭機型。如果蘋果發布一款更廉價手機，它或許會搶奪部分市場份額。但這麽做是要付出代價的：如果很多人購買這款較廉價的 手機，而不是旗艦機型，那麽蘋果引以為傲的利潤率將下滑。
這是個棘手的問題，不過，該公司以前曾應對過這種問題，首先是眾多系列的iPod，最近是iPad Mini。如今，在平息外界有關稅務問題的強烈不滿的同時，庫克必須成功應對iPhone的問題。然而，不管他如何做，動作都必須足夠大：也就是說，不只 是給其移動軟件換個外表那麽小打小鬧。
本文作者是《Slate》雜志專欄作家。
譯者/梁艷裳
| Google faces new FTC probe over display ads Washington Post Federal investigators have begun probing whether Google is using its increasingly potent position in the online advertising market to undermine competition, an issue officials have monitored since its acquisition of digital ad company DoubleClick in ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Google Maps Reveals Panoramic 'Street View' of the Galapagos PC Magazine The Google Maps team has been collecting panoramic Street View imagery of the Galapagos Islands, including Underwater Street View photography, and said Thursday that this rich new visual content will be made available on Google Maps later in 2013. See all stories on this topic » |
| Review: Google's new music plan solid, serendipitous, but touchy interface can ... Washington Post LOS ANGELES — Google's new music service offers a lot of eye candy to go with the tunes. The song selection of around 18 million tracks is comparable to popular services such as Spotify and Rhapsody, and a myriad of playlists curated along different ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Google acquires kite-power generator BBC News Google has acquired a US company that generates power using turbines mounted on tethered kites or wings. Makani Power will become part of Google X - the secretive research and development arm of the search giant. The deal comes as Makani carries ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Google engineer bashes Microsoft's handling of security researchers, discloses ... Computerworld Computerworld - A Google security engineer accused Microsoft of treating outside researchers with "great hostility" just days before posting details of an unpatched vulnerability in Windows that could be used to crash PCs or gain additional access rights. See all stories on this topic » |
| Google's Eric Schmidt: Company is doing 'right thing' on tax Times of India LONDON: Google boss Eric Schmidt insisted that his company was trying to do the "right thing" as it faces criticism in Britain over the amount of tax it pays, saying it was for countries not companies to decide tax policies. Schmidt was commenting ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Google Copies Amazon's Playbook Wall Street Journal SAN FRANCISCO—Google Inc. co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin say they don't pay much attention to rivals. But the search company increasingly appears to be following Amazon.com Inc.'s lead. The latest example involves cable ties, AC-DC ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Google Glass Explorer Edition Turns Up for Sale on Craigslist PC Magazine A Google Glass Explorer Edition headset turned up in an ad on Craigslist last week in violation of Google's rule against reselling the augmented reality heads-up displays. The Craigslist ad was posted by a resident of the San Francisco metro area ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Google Said to Consider Buying Waze Presaging Bidding War Bloomberg Google Inc. (GOOG), maker of the Android operating system, is considering buying map-software provider Waze Inc., setting up a possible bidding war with Facebook Inc., people familiar with the matter said. Waze is fielding expressions of interest from ... See all stories on this topic » |
| Moore, Oklahoma Tornado, Google Maps view - May 20, 2013 YouTube Transcript No statistics available yet. Report. Published on May 23, 2013. A Google Maps view of before and after images of the Moore, Oklahoma tornado of May 20, 2013. By John Aravosis of AMERICAblog.com. http://americablog.com/2013/ See all stories on this topic » |
沒有留言:
張貼留言