The majority of current DOD technology providers deliver “soulless”, “ruggedized” green boxes that when finally released to the Warfighter, four years post contract, house outdated technology at 10-100X the cost of Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) items. Not exactly how I want my own tax dollars used. As a former Warfighter nothing is more frustrating then getting your hands on kit that is outdated and not engineered with end users in mind, the latter being a HUGE problem in my opinion.
“DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO DELIGHT CUSTOMERS Six weeks before the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, Mr. Jobs ordered a crucial design change. Until then, the planning for supplies, manufacturing and engineering had been based on the assumption that the smartphone’s face would be plastic, recalls Tony Fadell, a former Apple executive who led iPod and iPhone development from 2001 to 2009. Plastic is less fragile than glass, and easier to make.
But the plastic touch screen had a drawback. It was prone to developing scratches. Those scratches, Mr. Jobs insisted, would irritate users and be seen as a design flaw. “All the logical facts told us to go with plastic, and Steve’s instinct went the other way,” Mr. Fadell says. “It was Steve’s call — his gut.”
The glass choice was a challenge that seemed “nearly impossible” at the time, he says — a last-minute scramble to get supplies of specialized glass and tweak the design of the phone’s casing to reduce the chances the glass would crack when an iPhone was dropped. But with extra investment and a frenetic work regimen, the switch proved doable, despite the tight deadline.
The episode, Mr. Fadell says, points to a principle he took away from his years working with Mr. Jobs. “You do not cut corners and you make sure the customer gets an experience that is an absolute delight,” observes Mr. Fadell, who heads a Silicon Valley start-up company whose product has not yet been disclosed and will not compete with Apple.”
Essential Writing Kit: My MacBook Pro
Anyone that manufactures technology for the Defense market could learn a lot from Jobs’s and Apple. The DoD industry at large is prone to making decisions more focused on saving pennies then what’s ultimately good for the Warfighter. If the industry were to follow Apple’s example I predict that they would win the hearts and minds of the Warfighter and this would ultimately deliver more contracts and much larger profits in the future. After all, I’m a capitalist at heart but I do share the Jobs’s ethic of taking care of the customer first and foremost. I still have hope that a DoD version of Jobs’s Apple emerges from the mist of mediocrity. There are a few companies out there bucking the system and focusing on the Warfighter such as London Bridge Trading Company, SureFire, General Atomics (The Predator Drone was built in the face of a skeptical DoD), Divisions of L-3 (not all), Crye Precision and SOFCOAST. I know there are a few others out there but these cover a wide range and come to mind quickly.
I fought off the switch to Apple for years until one particularly sharp SEAL technophile buddy of mine, “Arty”, finally convinced me to buy my first Apple product, a Mac Pro. Arty has since disappeared into OGA service but hopefully I will see him again one day to thank him for his diligence. I couldn’t believe how damn useful and intuitive my first Apple computer was and after 6-months I’ve never looked back and have since been a loyal fan of all things Apple. The IT guys at our command used to actually joke and say if we switched to Apple products that they would be out of a job….somehow I believe them.
The lesson here for DoD contractors is an easy one. “Do whatever it takes to put the Warfighter’s needs first”.
I’d have you on my fire team any day Steve, see you on the other side brother.
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{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post. I am an Apple fan myself, and had a very similar story to yours. I went from the world of Windows and substandard computers, to the world of Mac and Apple. The bottom line, my mac and iPhone does exactly what I want them to do, and they are tough. And the customer service is excellent.
But the other point you made about Apple is exactly what I hound my industry with. Customer service and satisfaction is what made companies like Toyota great, or Apple, and it is what security companies should continually strive for. Or better yet, continuous improvement (kaizen) applied to the service that we provide, in order 'to' create a satisfied customer.
Like you with your industry, I would love to celebrate a private security or private military company that commands the same kind of respect that Apple receives. I would also like to see a leader in this industry that could rise to the level of Jobs, in order to lead and guide such a company. Someone who has passion for the service they provide and is an innovator.
Stay hungry, stay foolish…..
Great post! -Brandon
I gave up on PCs in 2005 after going through nearly 5 laptops in 5 years. Putting the disparate hardware and clunky operating system aside for a unified, high quality system was an eye opening experience. Buying a Mac is an investment. They last far outlast their PC counterparts.
6 years later, the old Powerbook G4 remains highly dependable and reliable, booting just as fast today as it did on day one…
Good stuff downrangegear. G4 rocks…-Brandon
Great article. Couldn't agree with you more, also love the cold steel recon on the notebook and macbook. Looks kinda like my desk lol.
What? Like outsource all manufacturing to Communist China to reap higher profits? Or charging double or more for the same hardware other vendors use? How about annoying iBomb updates every time you try deploy a weapon. Forget about modifying your own gear or using 3rd party anything, iWar isn't compatible with ANYTHING! But hey, at least everything would be trendy.
Martin M..outsourcing to China isn't what I'm advocating although the computer you are typing on is made in China I suspect…..What I'm saying is FOCUS on the customer and we need to take a look at acquiring/manufacturing US technology product much faster if we want to remain competitive….iWar is a different topic altogether. -Brandon
I understand what you're trying to say, Brandon, but Apple/Jobs was never really that focused on the customer. How about no Flash, despite the masses demanding it. The list goes on. As an IT professional, and a veteran, I can tell you that Jobs/Apple was all about image, which translated into sales. Jobs was a very persuasive salesman, but not exactly an innovator.
BTW, I do my best to buy computer components that are made in fabs in the ROC, Korea, and Costa Rica.
As a graphic/web designer that relies heavily on video, I can tell you that Jobs/Apple put out some killer products that out-do any PC I've ever used. I'm at work now on a PC doing graphic work that's driving me crazy because Windows can't handle it or the system resources are being sucked dry. At home I have an iMac that is user friendly, never crashes, needs no maintenance and is twice as fast as the PC – but has half the "specs" of the capabilities of the PC. At my last job I was using an iMac that was 8 years old (G4) that still worked as well as the day it was bought, with no repairs and no upgrades besides RAM. I've never had a PC last more than four, and that was after several OS upgrades and part replacements. I may not be a "professional" IT guy – but I've got plenty of experience that says UNIX and Apple products put PC to shame.
Agree with you Martin. Proprietary technology sucks. In military it's a nightmare. Think about the revolution this standardized picatini rails did in the firearms industry! It sucked with every company having their own mounting solutions.
If you look at it that way, you can see why Jobs/Apple is anti-flash. It's a clunky mess, HTML5 is a better way to work – it's just taking them a while to convince everyone.
"But hey, at least everything would be trendy."
I was wondering when that was going to come up. Apple does have a cult following. Some people make the mistake of confusing that popularity with a lack of substance without looking beneath the surface. No doubt there's a segment of the customer base with superficial buying habits. But Apple is popular for a reason. Hype will only get you so far. A company that builds customer expectations and cannot sustain them does not endure the way Apple has.
The products just work. They are highly user friendly and functional.
The products are rock solid. They don't cut corners, components are of a high quality.
The quality sets the standard in the industry.
Hardware and software are highly integrated.
Outstanding customer support and service.
Amazing leap ahead technology.
Superb design, and not just in looks, but in areas that really matter like unibody aluminum structure.
That's substance.
HP, Compaq and others treated the last half dozen laptops I had as disposable as soon as the warranty expired, not that the service was worth a damn anyway. The components were cheap. The operating system required an extraordinary amount of maintenance and constant "tuning" and the only way to get the sort of performance you had out of the box was to periodically wipe and reload the whole system.
Never again.
I don't have that problem with a Mac. Never have.
Gripe about the price all you want, buying a Mac is an investment. Never has the adage "buy cheap, buy twice" been more applicable.
In our industry, two companies come immediately to mind when I think about the parallels in vision, leap ahead technology and an ability to push the state of the art: Magpul and Crye Precision. They are others, but like Apple, these two are iconic and have the same sort instantly recognizable brand and dedicated loyalty for many of the same reasons.
Think Different.
I see a whole load of wishfull thinking in your post. When it comes to gadgets Apple is cool. For a computer it royally sucks. I can build a PC in few hours for half the price you pay for the Mac and it most likely it will outperform yours. Remember, Apple buys many of their hardware from te same companies we buy. The only difference is that I bought my Intel I7 straight without the middle man Apple is. The same goes for most important parts in your computer. I can choose what and from who and I can shop around for the best price. You can't. You'll get whatever Apple wants to sell to you at whatever price they want.
Steve Jobs was a great inventor and he did a lot for improving the looks and easy access to computers. I'd say tho, the " I-gadgets" are his biggest hit. I-pod, I-phone and ipad. When it comes to personal computers I don't find Aple's achievements very impressive. Only few years ago Apple computers were on the brink of extinction when the performance of their chips was left in the dust by newer Intel and AMD chips. It was Intel's chips that saved Aple from extinction.
Heavily controlled proprietary technology is a very bad thing no matter how you look at it. In millitary it would be a nightmare. Look at the ripoff going on in other sectors of technology with proprietary technology, like photo, TV's, Audio and so on.
IBM PC's standardized architecture made it possible to get exteremely competitive prices from a lot of vendors.
I built my last five PCs myself with whatever harware i wanted for cheap. A Mac with the same performance would cost you twice as much, and you still won't be able to use the vast aray of software a PC can use.
For a phone or some portable gadget is ok. You don't need much on those anyway, but for a computer Aple is way to limiting for me.
Even now with all the advertizing Aple got from the gadget market, they do mizerably in the computer market. Look at Steam hardware survey for example. Less then 5% of computers use OSX (aple's Operating system).
That kind of proprietary control over military technology would be a nightmare.
Great post, Brandon. But I want to add a perspective you overlooked when you said "The DoD industry at large is prone to making decisions more focused on saving pennies then what’s ultimately good for the Warfighter." I won't disagree at all about the defense industry's general lack of design (and sometimes common) sense.
But equipment for warfighters is purchased by the government under the Federal Acquisition Regulation. Procurement officials often set the standard for winning as "lowest cost, technically acceptable." I'm a taxpayer myself, and all for saving tax dollars. But if the rules give the prize to the cheapest alternative that barely meets the standard for acceptability, you will never see Apple-quality products in the hands of the warfighters. Blame the contractors if you like, but they're just playing by the rules the government sets. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple's board meetings included discussions along the lines of "Should we invest in a division that creates and sells spectacular products for our warfighters? Of course not. We'd never win a single procurement under the LCTA rules. Don't waste our shareholders' money."
Nothing that hasn’t been heard before by many others that have preceded you that tinker with computers… or guns for that matter. I don’t want to build computers, I want to have a solid end user experience and be productive in the areas that really matter. Computers are just tools.
I don’t know that Intel chips “saved” Apple so much as the boost it got from Microsoft after that company inflicted Vista on it’s customers. Thanks Microsoft, I’ll stick with OSX.
Actually there’s a lot of practical thinking in my post.
Value: you can build a computer with the same hardware from the same sources that make up the guts of my Mac? Would it come with a custom designed solid aluminum unibody enclosure? Same display? Glass trackpad? Comparable battery run time? Magsafe power supply? Do you make your own operating system with an ecosystem of apps to support it? If I bought one of your computers for half the cost, would you warranty it and offer technical support for years after purchase? Can you build them in the millions? If you can accomplish all that, and it’s not your day job, you may be in the wrong line of work. Otherwise, it’s just wishful thinking.
The cost of materials for a piece of gear like a magazine pouch wouldn’t break a dollar’s worth of thread, webbing, and Cordura fabric, materials anyone can obtain, right? Does that mean anyone can make a living doing it?
I was at a course a couple of years ago where one of the students was running a 1911 he built by hand. It probably cost half of what mine did and had comparable components. The only difference was while the rest of us were shooting, he was practicing malfunction clearance drills. There’s a lesson in that. If you can do it, do it, otherwise, leave it to the professionals. A little humility goes a long way.
Mike-
Thank you for the solid comment. I agree that the Federal Aquisition System puts out requirements and pricing limitations. I would argue that if companies focused on releasing Apple quality product that we would start seeing requirements being written around these types of standards. After all, operational needs are driving a lot of procurement these days.
Mike you make a very good point that DoD imposes the requirements and ultimately approves the purchase, but it's difficult to appreciate at the grunt level.
I remember sitting through a 8 hour course on how to operate a PLGR and I was thinking that my iPod was more intuitive and user friendly and it only had one button! My Garmin eTrex had 3! Was I comparing apples to oranges and do the commercial devices really stack up to military hardware with all it's capabilities? Of course they're not in the same league nor built to do the same thing, but still, the disparity is huge.
Of course it will change. The generation coming up with iPods and various flavors of smartphones have higher expectations.
Well said downrangegear. I'll give it to Mike that the DOD acquisition system needs fixing! I've initiated contracts for specific kit and got something undesired because of the FARs.
What turned me off of Apple was actually their fantastic customer service. Ironically. My iPod Touch's screen went bonkers, and I tried searching for a fix and couldn't find anything. Taking it into the Apple store to have it looked at, they just swapped it for a new one. I was pretty happy about that, except I knew that if it ever broke again there's really nothing I can do to fix it.
With Android, there is a whole host of tools you can download and use to do this or that to the phone to fix a problem should you come across one. You might argue that with iPod, you'll only ever have a problem once in a blue moon, in my own experience, Apple products haven't been any less prone to issues. I recognize that I'm probably in the minority on that one. Just, for computers and gadgets, I prefer to customize the experience to my own needs and preferences, rather than pay more for a standardized set of features. I'm not talking about website configured products, but having my choice of brand memory, processor, GPU, what have you. There are pros and cons to having higher end-user customization but I can handle the cons.
I definitely agree though, that the DoD and the defense industry can take a lesson from Apple. In the commercial world, Apple was ALL about hi-speed/lo-drag. The iPod Touch was such a revolution (despite touch screen handheld devices existing many years earlier) was because of the user-centric iOS that offered a simple, and quick interface. The hardware isn't all that fantastic, and the software was necessarily that optimized, but the functionality was supreme. As others have mentioned, this type of intuitve design is present in the "trendy" defense industry names such as Magpul, Crye, Blue Force Gear, and others. It's just there aren't enough people who need this stuff to fund so many companies the way Apple can.
We can all agree that Steve Jobs was an icon, but let's be honest an not imprint false ideals about the man, or the company. Apple people worship Apple because there is only one Apple. It was a central piece of Job's business model. In other words, Apple's products are corporate driven. iPhone users want Flash, but since Apple doesn't want that in their product, consumers can't have Flash. Since there is only one Apple, there is no competition, and prices stay high. iPods are a thing of the past, since their function has been folded into Smart Phones. iPhones and iPads are bleeding market share to Android powered devices. Why? Because unlike Apple, these devices are consumer driven.
PC's and other devices, being open standard, have a lot of competing manufacturers. This drives innovation forward, and prices down.
If anything, the Military Industrial Complex operates too much like Apple. Major vendors are few which drives up the costs and stretches out the lead times on new gear. Take the F-22, for example. The USAF began the program exactly 30 years ago. The end product, while marketed as the bees knees, costs about 10x a fully loaded F-15. Personally, I'd rather have 100 F-15s than 10 F-22's. There needs to be more competition, and more war-fighter driven products.
Besides, Woz was the real brains behind Apple. Jobs was just the pitch man.
Oh, and UNIX rules.
Apple has generally not succeeded by innovating, they have succeeded by putting out products that are well-designed on the outside, and have a solid set of features.
They didn't invent the GUI, the MP3 player, the smartphone, the PDA, or the tablet computer. In many cases, products in those categories existed for more than a decade before Apple moved in. What they did was come out with compelling designs where no one had really hit the mark before.
As for DOD vs Apple, the two are not really comparable. DOD work is done to specifications that are developed by committees, and which are prone to shifting. This would drive someone like Jobs straight up the wall because he couldn't control it and do what he wanted. And sometimes it produces kludges, but Apple has produced their share of kluges over the years too. For instance, Apple's unwillingness to use standard USB ports on their devices.
Isn't that the point of a Mac though? I'm not a computer builder. Don't want to be either. 99.5% (totally made-up figure BTW) of people don't want to build their own computers, they just want a computer that will reliably work when they press the "ON" button. Just like downrangegear said, Macs are an investment. I own several Macs. My first Mac lap top, Gen2 iBook, lasted almost 10 years! Installed OSX on it and it ran better than new. I finally got a new MacBook Pro when the hard drive and DVD reader both gave up the ghost within a few weeks of each other. In the same time period, I had several family members and friends go through a dozen different PC lap tops. Sure, my iBook was probably $200-300 more expansive initially than a comparable PC, but I only bought one over 10 years. Amortized for it's 10 year life cycle, it was basically free.
I do have to say Apple makes great products. My first phone with Apple is the Iphone4 and I can say it's the best quality phone I have had. It's easy to use and when you pick it up, it looks and feel like high quality. It has survived a few bumps and drops (still looks new). Yes, there are components made in China for Apple as well. But their attention to details on quality can be notice. Currently, I have PCs at home and I have had several occasions get more RAM memory for my computers. I have debating if I should go to Mac on my next computer purchase. The initial price is tough to swallow (no sales, no discounts),but it's an investment…just like a good quality AR or 1911.
For 15 years I have worked in the defense industry designing electro-optics for small arms. I often disassemble commercial products to find out how they are built to "learn" what I can. The reason they can do a lot of the amazing things they do is simply because of overseas manufacturing and quantity. ipods and cell phone sell millions of units a year and are made in China, without much government regulation, EPA concerns or labor issues (that is a whole other issue though…). An laser aiming light or thermal sight has a lifetime buy of maybe 500K units (if you’re lucky) and is subject to ITAR regulations, even for the procurement of components. The only parts we can use from overseas manufacturers are off-the-shelf or catalog items that are often not up to the task. Often, certain types of technology (displays, etc) are only made in the Pacific rim and having those companies manufacture custom designed components for military end-items is either not possible, or requires months of wrangling with the gov’t to get licenses to even talk to them. Commercial innovation is not fettered by such restraints.
I neede to continue that thought…
Military hardware has to meet requirements that commercial products simply cannot stand up to and it's easy to lose sight of this comparing a PLGR or even DAGR to a Garmin. That’s not to say that more companies shouldn’t be more focused on the user experience, but there are obstacles to overcome there as well, mostly from the gov’t procurement side. One of the products I designed and fielded several years ago came up for a contract re-compete last year. We spent a lot of time and money redesigning it to be cheaper, smaller, lighter, better looking and FAR easier to use than the predecessor, all primarily in the interest of those who would actually USE it. The gov’t said “no thanks, maybe later” mostly because it didn’t look and operate exactly like a smaller version of the original. Poorly written Specs/requirements, logistics, and convenience for the government often trump innovation. In these times, many defense contractors simply need orders – It doesn’t pay to innovate if you can’t sell the product…..
Steve Jobs wasn't teh saint everyone made him out to be. Cheated his partner out of money, and tried during a court case to say he was sterile to not pay for his children. Scumbag, no matter what you think of Mac's or your precious I phone..
There are some military units (both US and NATO partners) and government agencies that are now using Macs for special tasks. The primary reason is technology driven where an "off-the-shelf" Mac's processor and graphics are better than a high-end PC workstation. The ease of use should be the first thing considered for general MIL/LE deployment; as stress, weather, etc. take its toll on motor and mental skill; but it is unfortunately not. As Brandon mentioned, the "green box" mentality is still there. Innovation is a tough sell to the procurement folks, but an easy sell to the troops. A ruggedized Mac would be ideal, but with Apple's licensing of Mac OS strategy (as well as very tight control of development) and other issues, this seemingly ideal marriage will only happen if it is a shotgun marriage initiated by one side or the other.
My own experience has been that there are some out there that really think a 400 slide power-point is better than a more intuative product and ten minutes of training. That's a shame as the approach should more efficient and the ultimate goal should be the welfare of the user.
There are many ways to stroke your ego. One is to go forth and achieve great things, another is to find fault with ant criticize those who do.
Jobs had a pretty messed up personal life, but that didn't hold him back from true greatness. At his best, he benefitted millions of consumers, built a great company and influenced an industry. Nitpick all you want but the legacy stands -I certainly wouldn't be ashamed of all that he achieved.