Reinventing the wheeI

I was just reading a column about Apple’s stock prices by Leander Kahney and found the following quote “Who isn't kicking themselves that they didn't buy a few shares in February 1997, just before Steve Jobs took the helm again, when Apple was trading below a split-adjusted $4 a share?”

Steve Job’s has a clear vision of what that great product is and the market place is proving his vision right. Fitting computers to the natural working style of people is a key component, but if the product does what it’s supposed to do with little or no fuss most folks will change their work habits to take advantage of that product.

Mr. Job’s reengineering at Apple echos Lee Iacocca’s rebirth of Chrysler where (according to his autobiography) he resold the idea that “first build a great car” and then we’ll figure out how to make money.

How many times does this have to be repeated before the boards of directors of American companies learn that the first thing is to create a great product not a great financial plan. Everything is subordinate to the product and anything that cuts into the product is wrong.