How Perfect is Enough?
How perfect must your new website be?
Here are four very different visions for perfection.
CONTENTS
A Vision of Perfection - the Second Steve Jobs Era at Apple
A Vision of Quarterly Earnings- the Tim Cook Era at Apple
A Vision of Good Enough - the Bill Gates - Steve Ballmer Era at Microsoft
A Vision of Greatness - the Satya Nadella Era at Microsoft
A Vision of Perfection
The Second Steve Jobs Era at Apple
1997-2011
When Steve Jobs triumphantly returned to Apple in 1997, he brought with him a vision I think of as “perfection.”
Steve Jobs and the other leaders at Apple wanted their products to be as perfect as possible, prior to releasing them to the world.
For that reason, Apple was rarely the first to launch in a new category. In fact, they were sometimes the last. But when Apple finally launched a new product, the market generally recognized it as pretty great.
For example, Apple was pretty much the last major company in the world to sell a portable music player. But when Apple finally launched the iPod, the market saw it as way better than the competition.
To me the iPod embodies the notion of a product that was perfected prior to public launch.
This goal of near-perfection worked for Apple. They became a prestigious brand. And they made a lot of money.
But Apple did not necessarily dominate the market in terms of popularity.
After 35 years of the Mac, Apple owns just 15% of the laptop and desktop marketshare.
A Vision of Quarterly Earnings
The Tim Cook Era at Apple
2011-present
In the years since the untimely passing of Steve Jobs, I believe the grand vision of near-perfection has been mostly eradicated from Apple.
Now eleven years into the Tim Cook era, existing product categories suffer neglect.
Instead, Apple focuses their resources on entering new categories. New services. New products.
This goal of Quarterly Earnings is working for Apple. They are the most valuable company in the world.
However, the excellence of existing categories are spiraling downward.
Some major parts of the Apple ecosystem are now average. Some parts are now worst-in-class.
In my opinion, the grand vision of Steve Jobs for perfection has been completely replaced by the vision of Tim Cook for big quarterly earnings.
And all Apple products suffer as a result.
A Vision of “Good Enough”
The Bill Gates - Steve Ballmer Era at Microsoft
1972 - 2014
Historically, the leaders at Microsoft did not seek perfection prior to launch.
For example, new releases of Windows were almost universally criticized by even the most fervent Windows fans as being too buggy.
And new releases of Windows were almost universally criticized for removing beloved features.
For example, you may remember the widespread outcry about the missing START button in Windows 8.
This “Good Enough” approach works for Microsoft. It really works. They own the laptop and desktop market.
After more than 35 years of people complaining about software updates for Windows, Windows remains the most popular computer operating system ever.
As of this writing, Windows has more than 73% of the laptop and desktop marketshare.
A Vision of Greatness
The Satya Nadella Era at Microsoft
2014-present
In 2014, a young Microsoft executive named Satya Nadella from the Cloud Services division became the new CEO of Microsoft.
Under his leadership, I believe Microsoft has come into a new springtime. I believe these are the greatest years to-date for Microsoft.
Grand sweeping changes have been gradually taking place since 2014. Among those changes is software excellence. And integrity.
I find Microsoft’s apps for iPhone and iPad, for example, are usually far better than similar apps by Apple.
And I find the recent release of Windows 11 to be the best version in memory.
This “Greatness” approach works for Microsoft. It really works. Increasingly they “own” the notions of software excellence and corporate integrity.
Originally published on January 6, 2022
Last updated on July 12, 2023
TOPICS: Apple, CMS, Microsoft, Website, Windows,