Here's the plan for S.J. to revive Detroit, install an iPod into every GM cars and that would solve everything. Look at it this way. People love iPods, install iPods to everycar, people will buy the iPod w/the car in the package. Go at it Jobs.

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GM needs new leadership that is not committed to old Lock-ins if it is going to ever be a viable competitor. Only someone from outside the industry will be able to implement necessary Disruptions and create White Space that will allow GM (or Ford or Chrysler) to address long-term shortcomings. I don't know why Jobs would take the job, but someone who is Jobs-like is necessary. Read more at http://www.ThePhoenixPrinciple.com

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ABSOFREAKINLUTELY!!!! Friedman is good at one thing and one thing only: snowing people. There is nobody better in perfecting the art of transforming absurd opinions and senseless ideas, into something that resembles high-minded thinking (at least for his sheepish, un-informed readers).
I just can't believe crap like his gets published and his numbnuts followers would glow. Then, if a real expert would suggest somebody, like say...Ghosn, to fix one of the big threes, that opinion gets buried. What a whack job.

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Steve Jobs did two things:

1) Branched Apple out into the personal electronics biz by putting the apple touch on already existing products. He hit big by entering the MP3 market at around the time it lit up.

2) Turned Apple computers into PCs with a proprietary OS and distinctive cases.


So, his plan for GM would be what? Rebadge a bunch of Camry's and put a nicer interior in them and what, GM branded towing products?

Jobs is good at what he does, but he took the core strength of Apple (good design and software) and got rid of the weak part (actually making computers). It wasn't some amazing miracle; he just stopped trying to be a hardware developer and concentrated on what Apple is good at.

If you jettison what GM is weak at, what do you have left? Sadly, I can't think of anything.

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Part D - refuse to add FM radios even though every competitor has them... stupid ipod.

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rofl @ Tim

well if GM could cut costs even more, without cutting product quality (not like there is much there) it would be awesome. I would be more than glad to buy a loaded Malibu for 20k.

Their products are as pricey as the competitors and aren't as good. What Jobs can do to fix this. I dunno. Add click wheels to everything and make snazzy "Gm vs Toyota ads".

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apple motors...
you must buy and service your car only at apple motors.
the sales rep and service reps will be cross trained to instruct you to never try to fix your car by yourself, or to take it to an independent repair shop (or void your warranty)
do not try to change your oil unless you have the special tool needed to open the hood
there will be no price negotiations, the price ont he car is what you will pay
if the dealer tries to sell the car for less, their sales license will be revoked
there will be many competing companies for apple auto, but they will offer a product that the consumer can fix on their own
the competing products will perform all of the same functions, come in a varierty of designs and cost less
competing products will also offer stereo bluetooth

vs MS autos... where your ECM runs on vista, and at any time you could potentially BSoD, which leads to soiled undergarments if it happens at freeway speeds.

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Part E: Must sync with iTunes and depending on the version, will cause your Windows to blue screen creating severe viability problems unless you buy a Mac.

The cars will naturally be made of "environmentally friendly" aluminum and arsenic free glass.

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JCoke,

With respect to #2 - you literally have no idea what you're talking about. Nobody took Apple computers and "made them into PC's". Macs are by definition personal computers, they always have been. Just because Apple strategically changed CPU vendors doesn't mean that now they're suddenly building PC's. Nothing about the user experience on the Mac, other than performance changed when Apple switched to Intel.

The prime differentiating factor between the Macintosh and a 'PC' has always been the software. Jobs has said this a number of times. Coupling that with hardware that's designed from the ground up to work seamlessly with the software gives Apple an advantage that no other computer manufacturer has - an end to end product over which they have complete control. Customers have warmed to this idea because they've seen the difference at makes to the overall quality of the product.

I don't suggest that Jobs is the man to fix Detroit. It's worth noting that this was pretty much a throw away comment at the end of the article. I suspect Jobs wouldn't hear of it - he's much more valuable in applying his talents to what he knows: the high tech industry. You should probably take the same approach, and stick to whatever it is that you do. I'm pretty sure that has nothing to do with Apple.

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You are correct, Glen. Macs have always been PCs but they were not considered "PC platform" because they were using many different proprietary hardware components. Now they use virtually the same processors and RAM with specially designed for Apple logic boards. But one important thing that differentiates Mac from Windows is that Apple knows exactly upon what hardware their operating system is going to be used. This gives a stability advantage because they don't have to worry about tens of thousands of different drivers for whatever hardware made by whomever. But there are also disadvantages such as lack of choice.

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I Forgot

Lock the Hood. You can have Mr. Good Genius look at your car if you have a problem. Forget replacing your own car battery

Love those GM v Toyota Ads

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@happy_penguin:
Apple's components pre-Intel were not proprietary. They were sourced from PPC vendors, and 68k before that. They might have a proprietary connector on the graphics card - they still do on the ATI and Nvidia cards in Mac Pros - but the actual device is also sourced from a vendor.

In any case, Ghosn is a much better suggestion to fix GM than Jobs.

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replacing the battery? Please, this is a steve jobs product you cant replace the battery you have to buy a new one.

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@Tim: LOL!!! That is great!

@JCoke: "If you jettison what GM is weak at, what do you have left? Sadly, I can't think of anything." So true.

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