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Former Apple CEO Creates an iPhone Competitor
An anonymous reader links to Fast Company's profile of Obi Worldphone, one-time Apple CEO John Sculley's venture into smartphones. The company's first two products (both reasonably spec'd, moderately priced Android phones) are expected to launch in October. And though the phones are obviously running a different operating system than Apple's, Sculley says that Obi is a similarly design-obsessed company:
"The hardest part of the design was not coming up with cool-looking designs," Sculley says. "It was sweating the details over in the Chinese factories, who just were not accustomed to having this quality of finish, all of these little details that make a beautiful design. We had teams over in China, working for months on the floor every day. We intend to continue that process and have budgeted accordingly."
Obi is also trying to set itself apart from the low-price pack by cutting deals for premium parts. "Instead of going directly to the Chinese factories, we went to the key component vendors, because we know that ecosystem and have the relationships," Sculley says. "We went to Sony. It’s struggling and losing money on its smartphone business, but they make the best camera modules in the world."
Only two rounded edges, maybe he hopes Apple will only half-sue him.
" quality of finish, all of these little details that make a beautiful design"
Yeah, that's nice and all, but what we really want is usability. Freedom from the advertising deluge. Control. Everybody and their brother can make a svelte 3D mockup that looks beautiful. But in the end it's going to come down to software. It's why Apple ruled the roost early on. A beautiful piece of garbage is still a piece of garbage. And, tbh, we have enough of that out here at the moment.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Yeah, you might want to think about how you word that.
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
I can see you do not own an iPhone either.
That being said, I think the Nexus 5 really was the best looking phone on the market when I bought one. Mostly because it did not have that goofy curved back that some Samsung phones have, nor that absurdly large bezel that Motorola has. I hope the Nexus 5mkII looks the same.
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
I wonder if that's a result of Sony buying Konica-Minolta's camera operations.
Many DSLRs use Sony CMOS sensors. They are also the king of low-noise CCD sensors.
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
Non-Compete Clauses are illegal/void in California:
http://californianoncompete.co...
I've never seen a non-compete that was even remotely enforceable for more than a reasonable time frame (ie 2 years). This guy hasn't been CEO of Apple for 20+ years.
"Don't meddle in the affairs of a patent dragon, for thou art tasty and good with ketchup." ~ohcrapitssteve
Apple has nothing to worry about.
The article says they're not aiming at Apple. Instead they're actually jumping, feet first, into the commodity smartphone market. Which might seen suicidal, but, again as the article points out, that's where Scully actually excels (and probably why he didn't get as far with Apple, which was never commodity based, when he was at the helm.)
Essentially he's going to be selling nice, but not spectacular, Android phones, and using branding to differentiate the phones in the market. And he'll probably make a success of it because instead of having the overhead of a giant electronics company to contend with, unlike say Samsung, he's just having a third party put together a design, then outsourcing the manufacture of the thing, concentrating largely on quality (which affects brand) rather than features (which doesn't.)
It's not actually that exciting to nerds. The news is probably orgasm-worthy though if you work in marketing.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
Non-competes are often not enforceable after a person's employment contract is over. If a company doesn't want you to work for a competitor, they can usually be required to compensate you for that, typically in an amount equivalent to salary for the duation of the non-compete.
They may be able to successfully sue you for NDA violation, as long as they have a sufficient factual basis to show that it was more likely than not that you had actually violated the NDA. But that's not the same thing as a non-compete.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
The headline should have read "Idiot who almost killed Apple does obvious business thing."
Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
They may be able to successfully sue you for NDA violation, as long as they have a sufficient factual basis to show that it was more likely than not that you had actually violated the NDA.
That would be difficult to prove in this case since he has been gone for 20 years and apples reputation for keeping it's trade secrets secret.
I wonder if that's a result of Sony buying Konica-Minolta's camera operations.
It is. I have a Sony a65, which is an awesome camera. But, yeah, its lineage is Konica-Minolta.
Do you have ESP?
A 22 year non-complete? That would not be an agreement, it would be indentured servitude.
A company that made a serious concerted effort to do Android correctly could plow Apple under.
It would have to be a service oriented company intent on maintaining a secure and up to date Android distribution for users of it's phones. The app base is there waiting for somebody to roll out the right platform for it to run on.
I call BS. The people running Chinese factories understand quality far better than most of the world. They are constantly concerned with it and have a mandate to move up the quality and technology chain, else lose their shirts when Vietnam or Bangladesh or some other poor Asian country hits the power curve part of the contract manufacturing business.
This guy must have picked the cheapest of cheap desperate Chinese manufacturers and then decided to ride them like hell on details. Apple, LG, Samsung and so many others build the top-quality devices in China. Anyone credible over there knows what they're doing.
Sure, the guy ran Pepsico for a while.
But his business management was so damn pedestrian that he took Apple from a growing company with a complete lock on the education and AV markets to an also-ran that became so afraid of innovation (mostly because Jobs had gone wild, running after any and everything, before that) that the company stagnated nearly to death.
He was okay as a brand manager. But absolute shit at actually LEADING the company and bringing forth new products.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
Why does the interface look like an ipod? Oh right...
Not just many DSLRs, but some of the best performing DSLRs with some of the best specs in the market. Canon used to give Nikon a lot of flack for using 3rd party sensors in their cameras when they design their own. Yet here we are and they have yet to release a product capable of matching the dynamic range and SNR of the D800 4 years after its release. The sensor in the D800, It's a Sony IMX094AQP
CMOS and CCD sensors are now the only time I will use the words "It's a Sony" out of praise rather than disgust.
But wasn't Jobs the one who gave Sculley the job? So the pre-iMac Jobs was just as guilty as Sculley of nearly running Apple to the ground?
I thought large bezels were absurd until I actually started using an assortment of portable devices. Now I realize that having a place for my fingers to wrap around to on a phone, or just a place to hold the thing between thumb and forefinger for a tablet, is actually a feature and not a problem. Having the screen right out to the edge means accidental touches on the side of the display, at least, for my fat fingers.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Scully increased Apple's revenue ten fold during his tenure as CEO. It was the idiots who followed him that tanked the company.
No, Scully allowed Apple to become unmanageable, Spindler nearly died trying to get a lid on it, and then Amelio made the decision that saved the company from oblivion, by picking NeXT over Be.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."