In 1984 Steve Jobs addressed the Apple shareholders and quoted Bob Dylan by saying, "...for the times they are a changing." As we know, they continue to change--at an ever faster rate everyday. I found a site that has some of the best parts of his keynote including the famed "1984" ad that launched the Macintosh. Watch them all so you can see an example of a company that identifies a never thought of opportunity and goes after it. Watching that 23 year old video, I find myself saying, "Yup, these guys create change and use it to their competitive advantage."
It's become a yearly event for me. I enjoy watching Jobs deliver his keynote at Macworld Conference & Expo each year for the past several years. Head here to see his 2007 keynote from earlier this week. I know I'm not familiar with every industry, but I can't think of too many companies that have a trade show just for their customers, where the CEO gets up and demonstrates what is going to be the hottest things for the years to come? Can you? If so, let me know.
As always, Steve Jobs does an incredible job delivering key messages thanking his customers, showing where the company stands and where it is definitively going. For the first time his clicker (what advances the slides) breaks down and he dynamically comes up with a college story about how he and Steve Wozniak used to go around with an electronic device jamming the TV signals in the lounges just to watch the students try to fix them. His presentations are well thought, real and relevant.
The big announcement this year was the launch of iPhone (an iPod, Phone and Internet Communicator wrapped up in one) and Apple TV (a box that connects your mac to your TV so you can watch Music Videos, TV shows and movies from iTunes).
One interesting set of statistics Jobs uses to justify "why a cell phone" is the following. In 2006, the world wide sales for Gaming Consoles: 26 Million, Digital Cameras: 94 Million, MP3 Players: 135 Million, PC's: 209 Million and...hold onto your hats Cell Phones: 952 Million. Jobs said they'd like to go after just 1% of the market. Selling 10 Million iPhones isn't a shabby thing.
Oh...two more things. They're selling 5 million songs a day and the day of and the day after the keynote their stock jumped 12%.
There are plenty of places to go and listen to more of the buzz around these products and more so I'm not going to go further into them here. (I already have an iPod video and a smart phone that makes calls, gets and receives e-mail and SMS and I'm signed up for another year with Sprint--so I got at least a year before I jump in to that pond--for now).
But I wanted to share two thoughts with you that keeps this post in line with our theme of this blog.
1. Here's a 31 year old "computer company" that has gone from making money selling computers, to selling software, to selling music players, to selling content (music, videos, TV shows and movies), AND manufacturing a communication device that incorporates the best of their business and helps us communicate the way we want to. That's being innovative! They also announced they will drop the word "Computer" from their name and will be formally known only as "Apple."
10 years ago my company used to teach people how to use software in the printing and office business. Today we help businesses grow by teaching people how to use technology to enable people to communicate in multiple mediums. We've changed too! We're not complaining about how the world is changing and how it's not like it used to be. We're loving the change and trying to share with people the new opportunities created by it. We face many issues you face: not enough time and resources to keep up and go after everything. But we make choices to get involved in projects that push our creativity and teaches us new things so we can share those experiences with others.
Apple has a lot of experience they've obtained over 31 years of being in business. Watching the keynote from 1984 and earlier this week showed me a company who thrives on change and doesn't just try to deal with it or survive. Do you?
2. This point is simple--don't tell me you're not Apple and you don't have the resources they do. You're right, you're not Apple. You're you. And you've got your ideas and your company and your customers. 31 years ago Apple was just two people and look what they did. What will you do?
Watch the keynotes and let us know how you use change as an opportunity for yourself or your business.
Keep the learning going, pass it on.
~Peter
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