Steve Jobs is good at creating
value. Seems he has done it his
entire life.
In his 20s, he co-founded Apple
Computer. This made him a
millionaire.
In his 30s, he took control of
Pixar and turned it into an
animation studio. This made
him a billionaire.
Seems that this guy knows how
to create value.
Perhaps it is his ability to
recognize what it is that people
really need and want that makes
him so successful.
Take the iPod as an example.
Other people seemed to have thought
they were selling MP3 players.
Jobs understood he was selling an
easy way to download and play music.
That's a huge difference. An MP3
player is a technology. An easy way
to play your music, on the other hand,
is a timeless ideal.
People will always want an easy way
to play their music. Always.
Selling MP3 players, on the other hand,
basically leaves it up to the consumer
to put it all together.
With the launch of the iPod and the iTunes
store, Apple made it very very easy to
download and play music.
Easier than any other way.
A prime example of Steve Jobs genius is
that he has resisted all attempts by
outsiders to introduce variable pricing
at the iTunes store.
There's much wisdom in this. Making every
song 99 cents means that you never have to
wonder how much you are paying. Everything
costs the same thing.
It liberates you to think only about whether
or not you like a song, not how much it costs.
Also, it liberates you to buy the song right away
because you know it is not going to be selling
at a discount later.
Other people who sell music online do not seem
to fully appreciate the value of such simplicity.
Maybe they do now. However, they were not as
quick to understand as Steve Jobs was.
More later,
Ed Abbott
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