i thought radio shack was just a store that sold the stuff? or did they actually make some of their own stuff as well?
Back in the day, Tandy manufactured all their own computers in Ft. Worth, they also made all the furniture they sold and many speakers as well. At that time Tandy was Radio Shacks parent company.
All the printers Radio Shack sold were manufactured specifically for Radio Shack, by TEC and Ricoh.
their marketing is fantastic, but their real strength is their core culture. in common with what I consider the best companies out there, their focus is on making great products, which tend to sell themselves anyway. they make stuff which makes their lives easier or more fun. which generally means that it will make some consumers' lives easier or more fun.
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I highlighted the part which Apples marketing has done for them. The fact you believe it is what great marketing is about. I know for a fact Apple does not make anything that would make my life easier or more fun. I picked up an iPhone once and stood there for 15 minutes trying to figure out how to make a phone call. Not fun at all. The keyboards on an Apple computer are the worst keyboards I have ever put my hands on. The operating system is the most convoluted system I have ever tried to use. Not easy at all. That is not the point though.
Apples success lies at creating a need for something that no one considered they needed. I was successful at creating a market for a product no one ever asked for and it was a huge hit. I know what it takes to get this done. It is not easy. When done correctly the result is much of what you claim. However, in order for the marketing to sustain itself, the products do need to be good products.
The best marketing alters perception without the user being aware they are being manipulated. You only need a small percentage of people to be effected, as they tend to be very aggressive about supporting the product and thus creating a desire for the product through various emotional hints (i.e. ego, pride...).
I was always envious of Apples ability to do this consistently, as it takes an enormous about of work to create the strategy which accomplishes this.
Did Apple push Microsoft? Not so much. Xerox did more than Apple did. Microsoft's first version of Windows (Windows 1.0 never shipped. I still have a copy of it) was based on a next generation CP/M OS which Microsoft bought. They have never really created anything. They buy technology and put their name on it. In a lot of ways though, Microsoft and Apple are the same.
As far as Apple goes, Microsoft had always considered Apple to be a niche product. So much so, that when Apple was in serious financial trouble, several years ago, Microsoft bailed them out. Yet, they are both very similar companies, in many ways. They both have derived the current technology from older technology or from other companies. As an example. Apple used to have their own OS. Now they have wrapped their GUI around another OS. That saves them a ton of development dollars. They are getting it. Get the OS out the door for as cheap as possible is the fastest way to create a profitable computer system. The marketing is so well done no one gets upset that they have exited OS development.
Microsoft started with the UNIX core, striped it down to basic components, (and DOS was born) and wrapped CP/M code around it. Market all this technology as their own and here we are.
At the end of the day, Apple has done a much better job of marketing than Microsoft has. Even so, both companies have needed each other from time to time. It is a strange, yet somewhat symbiotic, relationship.
Heck, I could write a book about this topic. I was fortunate to be right smack dab in the middle of most of it. Apple would probably sue, or get an injunction, to keep it from being produced. They are very aggressive about attacking anything which would upset the marketing machine.
