Posted via web from GLTSS
Monday, August 31, 2009
Apple: The New Microsoft (AAPL, MSFT)
Well, that didn't take long.In a decade, Apple (AAPL) has gone from niche-market roadkill to a company whose growing dominance and competitive tactics in a booming market are thrilling investors, angering competitors, and drawing regulatory scrutiny.
Unless Apple shows a quick change of attitude, the benefit of its market position--power, scrutiny, and tens of billions in profit--are only going to grow.
Apple is no longer the beloved underdog that Microsoft kept alive in the late 1990s to improve its own standing in the eyes of regulators (remember the investment and agreement to keep building Office for the Mac?). Apple is now the wildly profitable owner of the dominant iPod platform and rapidly-becoming dominant iPhone platform, which are really one in the same. Unlike any other competitor in the industry, moreover--including the still PC-centric Microsoft--Apple has managed to link the two big personal computing platforms together, through its software and resurgent Mac business.
As Apple extends its lead as the mobile computing platform of choice--calling the iPhone a "phone" misses the point--Apple's dominance of this enormous opportunity will increase. This dominance should put Apple in a position to generate an extraordinary share of the value in the this industry over the next decade, just as Microsoft did with desktop computing. The FCC investigation of Apple's rejection study of Google Voice, meanwhile, should serve notice that Apple's days of doing this beyond the gaze of regulators are over.
To appreciate why Apple investors are so excited--and why competitors and regulators are concerned--you need to understand the real source of value here. At first glance, Apple's market position seems much weaker than it actually is:
- less than 10% share of PCs (lower worldwide)
- ~ 1% of global phones
- ~ 20%-30% share of US smart-phones (lower worldwide)
- ~ 70% share of US standalone music players (50% worldwide)
If the standalone music player market were still booming, Apple would be getting a lot more heat for its market position. As Apple itself has admitted, however, standalone music players are dying. Fortunately for Apple, iPods aren't really "music players," and the larger mobile platform market is very much alive.
The iPhone and iPod touch are two gadgets based on a single mobile platform, one that now supports thousands of popular apps. To get a true picture of Apple's dominance of this platform, therefore, you need to look at the iPhone and iPod share together. And then you need to consider the relative popularity of Apple's mobile platform as a platform for apps versus the alternatives.
In reality, "music" and "phone calls" are just apps--and as Apple has already illustrated, they are far from the only ones. The real value in plaftorms is created by network effects: The more end users and developers that adopt a platform, the more valuable it becomes. Apple is already well on its way to owning the standard platform in mobile computing, just as Microsoft did on the desktop.
If you view iPhones and iPod touches as "mobile platforms that support a wide variety of third-party apps," Apple probably has 30%-40% of the US market (less worldwide). If you consider platforms that already have huge, vibrant developer communities, thousands of apps, and all of the momentum, however, Apple's share of this market (US) is probably more like 80%-90%.
This chart tells the story, and it's already three months out of date:
Google's Android is a player here, but it's relatively tiny. Android also has no mind-share outside the tech community. Nokia is a player internationally, but not in the US smartphone market. BlackBerry has a huge piece of US smart-phone market and a very loyal following, but it's still weak on third-party apps. In short, Apple is running away with this game.
The bottom line: The mobile market seems to be well on its way to becoming a platform market, just the way the PC market did. And Apple is well on its way to dominating this market, the way Microsoft did with PCs.
So it's no wonder that Apple investors are excited about the company's future. And it's no wonder that consumers, competitors, and regulators are already getting agitated.
See Also:
The Life And Awesomeness Of Steve Jobs
Microsoft's Real Problem: The Second Coming Of Apple
Posted via web from GLTSS
Friday, August 28, 2009
If Marijuana Was Legal, This Is How It Would Look | Top Cultured
62If Marijuana Was Legal, This Is How It Would Look
2nd August, 2009 - Posted by Evol Jess
Recently, Print Magazine approached four design and packaging firms with a simple brief: If marijuana was legal, how could it be packaged? The following are the ideas and proposals that came from that brief. So… which one would you pick?
Version 1: By The Heads of State
Version 2: By Base Design
Version 3: By Stromme Throndsen
Version 4: By LUST
62 Comments
Stonker
August 2nd, 2009 at 10:48 pm
Wow that looks really awesome. I think it should be legal anyway, does less damage than drinking and NOBODY has ever died as a direct result of it.
as they say on twitter #FAIL.
unimaginative and lacking innovation with regards to font-work and lack or originality. some of the casing has interesting design.
this is a disappointment.
so much more could be brought into this re: symbolism, iconography and simply the history and different stands and variations of the plant.
i’ll stick with a zip lock bag for the moment . . .
Joe
August 3rd, 2009 at 12:27 am
haha i like the heads of state
case
August 3rd, 2009 at 12:30 am
#4 is full of lies, #3 looks pretentious, #2 is non-existent (how sickeningly clever?) and #1 would only sell three out of the six varieties. who would ever want seeds & stems, schwag, or “possibly oregano”?
anonymous
August 3rd, 2009 at 12:42 am
marihuana IS legal in some countries
it’s sold in little bags just like where it’s illegal…
Devin
August 3rd, 2009 at 1:58 am
I wish people would get over the “roll your own joint” look and graduate to something that actually looks mass produced. Take cigarettes for example, if you roll your own, then yes they look like the pics above, but straight out of the factory they look like the cigarettes that we know and smoke today. The packaging looks great, but i can’t take it seriously when every picture has hand rolled joints in it. Does that make sense or am i just over analytic?
I personally would purchase the first 2 pouches. I’d pay upwards of 60-70 if that is some really good dro. All my friends are old school joint smokers though, so they would go for those packaged ones and be set for life. Just the ease of using pre-rolled joints is great for the eldery patients like my grandpa.
And on that note. Megalize Larijuana!
Mchael
August 3rd, 2009 at 2:15 am
I would not pick based on marketing, I would look for some that Monsanto hasnt messed with.
Jason
August 3rd, 2009 at 2:17 am
These are kind of lame.
#1 looks sterile and medical like suppositories.
#2 looks generic,you ever see those white cans with just BEER on the side?
#3 is the only mildly appealing design
#4 I don’t even understand, do you smoke the chart?OK I gave them a second look and they are ALL terrible! Nothing realistic or mass producable, these art students ideas are just mediocre! (The leather case has a Weezer insignia on it!)
Did these designers even research weed… or even listen to any reggae before attampting this?
Tami
August 3rd, 2009 at 2:22 am
I’d go for the tin/plastic box
echo
August 3rd, 2009 at 5:16 am
probably #1
also, first post
doesn’t matter how it’s packaged it needs to be done. I’m 50 with a 25 year old daughter and a sone who was murdered at 17. none of this had nothing to do with weed exceptd if the police had more time chasing the real bad guys instead of busting weed crooks maybe we’d have a better societey. as an adulut who used to smoke given the choice of a state sponsored outlet of some guy who deals out of his house i would go to the state controlled store instead of risking a blacket marketeer. on and by the way it would free up the police to chase after the bastards like the ones who shot my son, and the black market dealers who sell to anybody. where i grew up it was easier to score weed than booze. prohibition doeson’t work. legalize this plant for adults and collect taxes on growth and disrtibution and help keep the government from jacking up all of our other taxes.
G
fersure
August 3rd, 2009 at 6:05 am
don’t assume it’ll be smoked. the packaging will have creation date, health warnings, tax stamp, probably embedded rfid, usage warnings, multiple colors in a branding scheme, chemical content, weblinks and 800 numbers, marketing contests/subscription/coupon.. for rolled cigarettes, would probably use very similar boxes to todays for shipping/retail/cost purposes. i’d bet the real innovation would be in edible forms and hemp products.
S
August 3rd, 2009 at 6:07 am
When weed is legalized, Monsanto is going to make a genetically-engineered version of it.
Some lawmakers love weed so much…they want to keep it illegal so Monsanto doesn’t get their dirty hands on it.
Vivian
August 3rd, 2009 at 6:59 am
I can see this as part of every metrosexuals “man bag”
Richie
August 3rd, 2009 at 7:12 am
1st link is French not German.
joe
August 3rd, 2009 at 7:45 am
Is it just me of has basedesign phoned this one in? Putting a sticker on a glasses case, a film case and an altoids tin doesnt really scream ‘design’ to me.
Also, cant help thinking that if it was legal, they would look just like cigarettes
Clive
August 3rd, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Legalizing marijuana makes a lot of sense. And i am not a pot smoker (never did).
cheese
August 3rd, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Version 4.
Version 1 would not protect the product.
Version 2 does not give USDA or FDA information.
Version 3 is wasteful packaging.
Tom
August 3rd, 2009 at 1:19 pm
If Marijuana WERE legal.
john
August 3rd, 2009 at 1:20 pm
I think versions 1 and 3 are the best, the other two aren’t bad but are a bit tired in their approach to the drug. The two that look a mix between cigarettes and sweets are the nicest..
Eric Gates
August 3rd, 2009 at 2:27 pm
If Marijuana WERE legal.
Subjunctive.
Great Design. Poor Grammar
Marcy
August 3rd, 2009 at 4:38 pm
Why would manufacturers twist the ends when they already have manufacturing processes that make thin cigarettes? Instead of re-inventing the wheel, they’d use machinery they already have to create a product that looked like one that is already on the market to assure the customer that what they’re getting is quality and not something grown in someone’s back yard.
Quality differentiation is the key to mass marketing away the segment from the street vendor.
The Lust design sucks, as the label contains some misinformation about marijuana.
Dependance/addiction? Please! Serious scientists haven’t believed that in 40 years.
As for the rest of the designs, none of them is going to convince me to give up homegrown.
Dismissed. Next?
Smokes alot
August 3rd, 2009 at 5:26 pm
I just want my weed to come in a clear bag not pre-rolled or in some fancy container. I want to roll my own joints and blunts. What they should do is sell pot packages which could include a bong and a onze or papers and a slice. Why not get a 12 pack of dutches and a half all at one location in a “Get High” bundle.
jonathan duenez
August 3rd, 2009 at 7:46 pm
well dats great but need to come more in a package lol
Gnarly
August 3rd, 2009 at 7:53 pm
That was the most AWFUl thing i have ever seen, the people that made this clearly don’t know what a spliff loks like…
K
August 3rd, 2009 at 8:49 pm
I’d appreciate it more if it were in simple packages like cigarettes.
I like the White Widow design box in Version 3, but the logo seems like a rip of Weezer/Wonder Woman. Version 4 is making my brain bleed.
I would go with the simple baggie design K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Stupid and while on the subject make it legal tax it and leave my cigarettes alone.
The baggies who cares about packaging not pot smokers (I live with one). Content is king I say sell it tax it and help pull the economy out of this slump oh and leave my cigarettes alone
hurtzsogood
chadz
August 3rd, 2009 at 11:57 pm
i would only choose something made to be bio-degradable because you are goi ng to thro the package away anyways and we allready poduce way to much garbage with products now days. marijuana is good we should not make it produce harmful by products to litter the streets with.
Scotty
August 4th, 2009 at 12:22 am
Is that a flying =w=?
andrew
August 4th, 2009 at 12:51 am
why would people buy possibly oregano or stems and seeds joints? thats fucking retarted haha
gnome
August 4th, 2009 at 1:01 am
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!
blackd
August 4th, 2009 at 5:34 am
God this makes me want pot legal..
Anonymous
August 4th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Version 2 because that’s how I carry it around right now. Just a tin/metal box where you can put all kinds of stuff in, everyone should get one.
I’m from the Netherlands and marijuana is legal out here. But they still wrap a little plastic bag around it.
Robots.Optional
August 4th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
i’m thinking the black and green pouches for sure.
jaof
August 5th, 2009 at 1:56 am
LOL Make Weed legal and smoking illegal =)
Frederick
August 5th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
The first one. hands down. the third comes in second. and the other two… umm?
It’s cute, but it will not be legalized. However, let’s just say it might, the packaging should be clear with the actual bud showing… like a good old dime-bag.
Breezy32
August 6th, 2009 at 5:55 am
i like design #1 and #3 (the green and black baggies and the black container that looks like a cigar holder, i dont however, like the box design that says white widow on the side of it). design #2 made me literaly lol i love how u can read altoids on the outside of it…classic.
That third version - definitely! The black-green-white color scheme looks great.
dondondon
August 6th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
You’re a loser, these suck. Bad rolls too.
akon
August 7th, 2009 at 9:40 am
no need those fancy design still get the great sales!
Mary Joe Anna
August 8th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
In some countries it’s legal, and believe me, it also comes in little plastic bags.
I am a fan of the option 1 and the G13 version of 3. The others seems as if they would blend into the chaos of the product shelves. I think that v1 and v3 would stand out from cigs and convey a clean branded product.
I dont like them rolling my spliffs it should be sold like a pouch of tobbaco.
Rob
August 13th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Great work. Too bad most of the comments contained here read as though they were texted while en route on the short bus.
you kidding me? Way to put a sticker on an existing box. They should have at least shopped out the ALTOIDS letters!
I would go for the little film canisters in design #2. Looks so old school. LOL
nichan
August 15th, 2009 at 8:08 am
everything is allowable, now…if not, it will againts human right…
ddduuuuhhhh…
Marijuana should never be legalised..like alcohol its sting is slow in coming but wow when it does (and it will) it is devastating….and if you ever mentally recover….its a long hard road back to normality reality and ultimate joy (naturally)
weed4life
August 24th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Why are we not showcasing the actual product? This is horrible packaging. Everyone knows you gotta look at the product before purchasing it…
Obviously these people don’t smoke and are just amateur package designers.
NEXT.
Gannimal
August 26th, 2009 at 12:16 am
dude what about buyin a box of big ass blunts just like cigars? lol a cuban of weed? omg
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