The Innovator’s Dilemma is a good read for more information on this topic. In fact one of the examples/case studies focuses on Sears and how the were nearly taken down by discount retailing.
The book can be found on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Innovators-Dilemma-Technologies-Man...
It would not be a horrible decision for Apple to make, because they embrace a solution to the Innovator's Dilemma.
The Innovator's Dilemma [1] is something that Steve Jobs seemed to have solved. How? Selling one product that cannibalizes sales of another from the same company was A-OK on his watch.
The iPod Mini was a perfectly fine device, yet Apple introduced the iPod Nano at the height of the Mini's popularity. The Nano had less storage [2], but it had solid state flash memory, and therefore was thinner yet.
How'd that work out for Apple? Just fine [3] - they kept about 80% marketshare for the entire life of dedicated digital music players in the market, and that market only went away when Apple brought out a phone so good that it made carrying a dedicated digital music player unnecessary.
Competing with themselves is a key piece in Apple's sustained success in a few markets. The iPhone 8 / X matchup shows they continue to not be afraid to do that with their phone, and I think that's a very healthy thing for their continued success... which also feeds into continued success of their ecosystem, including app developers (like myself!).
The book can be found on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Innovators-Dilemma-Technologies-Man...
The Innovator's Dilemma [1] is something that Steve Jobs seemed to have solved. How? Selling one product that cannibalizes sales of another from the same company was A-OK on his watch.
The iPod Mini was a perfectly fine device, yet Apple introduced the iPod Nano at the height of the Mini's popularity. The Nano had less storage [2], but it had solid state flash memory, and therefore was thinner yet.
How'd that work out for Apple? Just fine [3] - they kept about 80% marketshare for the entire life of dedicated digital music players in the market, and that market only went away when Apple brought out a phone so good that it made carrying a dedicated digital music player unnecessary.
Competing with themselves is a key piece in Apple's sustained success in a few markets. The iPhone 8 / X matchup shows they continue to not be afraid to do that with their phone, and I think that's a very healthy thing for their continued success... which also feeds into continued success of their ecosystem, including app developers (like myself!).
[1] https://www.amazon.com/Innovators-Dilemma-Technologies-Manag...
[2] https://everymac.com/systems/apple/ipod/ipod-faq/differences...
[3] https://stratechery.com/2010/apple-innovators-dilemma/
https://www.amazon.com/Innovators-Dilemma-Technologies-Manag...
Back in the 1970s you had a lot of people in the U.S. who fought in WWII or were Jewish or Polish or Italian or who otherwise would refuse to buy Japanese or German cars. They would buy American cars no matter how bad they were.
So American cars got really bad.
One of the most popular topics on HN is handwringing about what Mac laptop they want to buy. This model is underpowered, this one is expensive, that one has too few ports, etc. They might be happier if they bought a Dell, but they think of that like they think of putting a hand in their toilet.
So long as people buy Apple products on the basis of how they make them feel about themselves, they have no reason to make improvements in Siri.
The best thing you can do to make Siri better is vote with your feet.