Stephen Elop talks about Apple’s ecosystem in a message that was supposed to be internal, but somehow reached outside media like Engadget:
Apple disrupted the market by redefining the smartphone and attracting developers to a closed, but very powerful ecosystem.
He defines it:
The battle of devices has now become a war of ecosystems, where ecosystems include not only the hardware and software of the device, but developers, applications, ecommerce, advertising, search, social applications, location-based services, unified communications and many other things. Our competitors aren’t taking our market share with devices; they are taking our market share with an entire ecosystem. This means we’re going to have to decide how we either build, catalyse or join an ecosystem.
It might seem a bit unfair that Apple has created a brilliant ecosystem, but let’s not forget that PCs have created their own ecosystem as well, which is why it has been so hard to get people to move from second-best, lower-quality PCs to first-class Apple computers, Macs. No, I don’t mean the way Microsoft managed to make Windows the most widely used OS, even though it was only a poor copy of Mac OS.
I mean a system with computers that have faults, making the user dependent on a PC expert, often a local salesman or a friend. Since computers break down now and then, it is very important to have your own PC expert. Every time something breaks down, the PC expert will feel needed. Viruses are a central part of this ecosystem. They are the built-in insurance of the need for PC experts. They can show off their knowledge and get a bigger ego every time someone gets the help they need.
But at some point, this PC owner might think that it could be better to buy a Mac. It seems like Macs don’t have this virus problem? And Mac people seem to love their computers – is that strange? Maybe it’s because they are really good? And then he/she asks the pc-expert. Do you think I should buy a Mac?
The answer is, of course, NO. Every person who buys a Mac means less status for the PC expert. He/she will lose the power. Mac is a serious threat to the PC expert’s existence; therefore, they will never advise anyone to buy a Mac.
There you have it, the real PC ecosystem, built on low quality and faults.
Apple’s ecosystem is built on high performance, the best quality, easy solutions for buying music, apps, books and videos, excellent design and happy people. I know what I prefer. We bought our first Mac in April 1989. We have had no need to change to the second-best computer.
