Non-organic apples
Let’s start with the iOS vs. Android debate which, when you think about it, is really a battle between open vs. closed systems. Apple is off to one side, alone, playing with iOS whilst Google is busy sharing Android with all the other kids.
Apple has built an rather extraordinary (albeit it closed) ecosystem comprising not only software but also the hardware it runs on. In contrast, Google has focused on software alone, explaining why it has had to play nice with hardware providers.
The late Mr. Jobs once said that design isn’t about how things look but about how they work. In retrospect, it’s easy to see how he (and the rest of Apple) went on to apply this idea not just to individual products but to their entire ecosystem (e.g., iPod, iTunes, AppStore, iOS, iCloud).
Google, and others, have followed suite by creating their own ecosystems (e.g. Android Market), but so far they’re one or more steps behind (in my opinion). Apple, post-Jobs, is still leading the charge. But for how long?
Apple’s hallmark, I think you’ll agree, is the simplicity of the its products and services. If they do one thing well over there, that has to be it. They’re masters at removing complexity and making things simple and easy to use.
This is surprisingly hard to do. It might even be impossible to do without steadfast, at times even brutal, leadership from a man like Steve Jobs. Simplicity practically underpins Apple’s meteoric success. But simplicity comes at a price. And this, I think, will eventually be Apple’s downfall.
Organic produce provides a useful parallel here, the success of which may also be attributed largely to simplicity.
An organic apple has the same nutritional value has its non-organic counterpart. The “organic” moniker is little more than a label (a brand) in this sense. But organics does have one distinguishing feature: it’s limited. If I want to buy apples at my local supermarket, I’ve got a choice of maybe ten different varieties. But if I’m looking to buy organic, my choice is limited to one or two.
Buying organic is much simpler, and this may well be the real reason to why organic produce has become so successful in recent years. As consumers, we’re inundated with choice. We like choice. We want choice. But too must choice is problematic. Organic produce provides an easy-to-justify way to simplify a rather mundane task such as buying apples.
The Apple ecosystem is simple in the same way that organic apples are simple. It removes choice from something otherwise complex. It imposes limitations. And maybe that is one of Apple’s greatest realizations; that limits are a good thing.
The challenge, I think, is to know when enough is enough. At what point does it become detrimental to impose more limits and further reduce choice?
Imagine if two kinds of organic apples were the only kind of apples available to you. Imagine that there were no other apples. What do you think would happen if someone came along with eight new kinds of non-organic apples? Wouldn’t that be great? More choice! Everyone would finally be able to buy their favorite apple whenever they wanted – organic or otherwise.
I think Apple will face the same threat. They’ll continue down the line of limited ecosystems and they will, I suspect, have a marvelous time doing it. But at some point someone will reintroduce non-organic apples into the mix, and Apple will suddenly find itself in the limited-choice hole it has dug for itself, unable to get out.
Who this “someone” will be remains to be seen. Maybe it’ll be Google’s Android, maybe it won’t. It doesn’t really matter. The fact is that Apple will continue to make fantastic products for some time. But as with all good things, it can’t last forever – however much some of us might want it to.
Respectfully typed on an iPad.
Image: Apple store in Beijing, China, curtesy of Ivan Walsh