Just for fun. Following the infamous leaked letter from Google indicating its vision for the travel sector, Apple is clearly not letting such opportunities drift idly by.
Here, in a lengthy and detailed missive from CEO Steve Jobs, Apple sets out its own plan for global domination of the travel industry.
Dear Elite of the Faithful,
I am writing to you today to formalize the iX initiatives, in particular I want to make these initiatives apply to travel as the main platform plank of my last few years as your leader.
As we start the new year as one of the strongest and fastest growing IT businesses in the world, we cannot rest until we are number one in all things
And I want to be El Gato in travel.
But things are not getting there fast enough and we have a big obstacle. It's called Google. These guys are smart – fortunately they are just as arrogant as the Redmondians, so they will make stupid mistakes. This is almost guaranteed.
When Woz and I started Apple, we had a vision that the device and the software on that device had to be one and inseparable.
We believed - as we still do - that users were the ones to drive decisions and that innovation always comes at the hands of the user, never in the smoky backrooms of corporations and retail outlets.
We never believed in an open platform and I see no reason to change that now.
The closed platform and the resulting focus we as a company have had on the human user experience is the core to the success of Apple as a company as a brand.
Our time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking.
Don't let the noise of other opinions drown out your own inner voice. And, most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
We must remember that there is no bigger closed shop than the world of travel – especially airlines - and there is one other distinct advantage: have you ever seen a business sector that is more stupid?
However, we have always been behind the curve in our adoption of the final role we have to embrace.
Apple must now truly mean THE Human Machine Interface (the HMI). As an apple is core to the quality of life, Apple must be core to any and every form of man-to-machine interface.
In travel, I see our chance to prove this once and for all. In the same way as we changed the market for music, so we must change the market for travel. It is our DESTINY. We must follow our hearts.
But first, let us review what we have today. We have reached already level four in the iX initiatives.
- i1 - we have the core hardware platforms that are now truly understood to be world class. Our server, workstation and personal devices do an outstanding job.
- i2 - our operating systems and application software commands the world from free apps to complex mega performance computational requirements.
- i3 – our storefront means we have built the world’s largest store for music and applications and there is huge growth for different sectors.
- i4 – we have made our advertising model embedded into the core platform a major revenue stream. I look with reverence on the concepts of King Gillette all we have done is to update his model for the 21st century.
Our devices are touched by more people every day than by any other hardware manufacturer ever. But this is not enough.
Apple has yet to achieve its destiny as the preferred method of ALL man and machine interaction.
Our travel initiative will be based on a three new platforms and enhancement to the global Apple product world.
After all, it's Travel – how hard can it be?
Where Apple exceeds in quality will leave everyone else in the dust. As I have said before, you can't just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they'll want something new - and with travel everything is always new.
The three new iX platform initiatives are:
- New i3T - the Apple Travel Store (Code Name Agora).
- New i5 - Apple Find (Code Name Gold Ticket) with a focus on travel, using the tools largely developed in iTunes search.
- New i6 - Apple Proximity (Code Name Ulysses).
Let's look in detail. The Apple Travel Store. We have built the best ecommerce platform on the planet and now have more customers in more countries than ANY other travel vendor.
Here we can beat Google as it is just too lazy to offer the total travel experience as a vendor. Buying travel must be as easy as buying a song.
The Apple Travel Store will sell all forms of travel from a single place. Apple iTravel will also be looking to acquire companies with Apple branding in this space - just look at East Coast-based Apple Vacations and think how we might rename it Apple Travel, so that we can brand our products in travel with a clear message.
I do not t want a repeat of that silly problem with the Beatles. It will also allow us to start offering a full hospitality and airline brand - a long been a dream of mine.
With search/find (i5 project Gold Ticket) I see that Google does, indeed, stand in our way. Building on search, it has dominated the market for applications in a neutral environment. And here it does thwart us. And now it threatens the space we covet most - travel - with its purchase of ITA Software.
So we must deploy a new i5 search/find product service for travel that can knock the crap out of Google.
Everyone else will become roadkill because travel user interaction is, let's face it, such a crappy experience.
This must be deployed no later than mid-2011. i5 must come bundled with every Apple product and platform. I am encouraged by the progress you have made with the Eastern European scientists and our new facility there.
But I see that something is also missing. This leads me to i6 Apple Proximity (Ulysses), our next extraordinary development.
I dream that the machine/human interface no longer requires paper and supports instant ubiquitous access in a secure mode to airlines, trains and all forms of transport.
By eliminating expensive and complex readers and interface systems, Apple can reduce the cost of secure airport/terminal access using our NFC iTravel application set - that's Near Field Communication for those that missed the excellent three-day seminar earlier this year.
So, remember our mantra: design is not just what it looks like and feels like, design is how it works.
While everyone is focused on the hardware side of NFC, we look at the total experience. We know that data capture and integration with the other iX initiatives will finally allow us to crush Google, much as we demolished Microsoft.
I am pleased to tell you that by the time the next hardware platforms and OSs (including iOS5 and OS X Civet) refresh occurs in mid-2011, we will have broad adoption of the NFC chip systems, with commitments from major service providers.
We are testing at several major airports around the world. The savings for the airports and the airlines are phenomenal and add a value benefit to our large scale customers that they have never had before.
The roll out of the next iteration of the iPod microshuffle USB dongle and the iPhone Nano in Q3 will enable us to give away to our third party distributers a ubiquitous set of devices that are essentially disposable in cost yet have high customer retained value via music.
The airlines and airports are particularly happy with the retrofit application for less than $100 per gate/access point, allowing an airport to re-equip without major hardware investment for less than $10,000 and no change in service model while improving customer satisfaction.
The halo effect of our iPad/iPod/iPhone sales will more than cover the development costs. Giving away the core hardware development program for free could have been a very good use of our cash pile, but we will always live by the assertion of money made every time.
Today we are the only true innovators. This distinguishes us from Google, Microsoft and the social services of Facebook and other copycat low value systems.
As always – I exhort you to secrecy. To turn interesting ideas and fledgling technologies into a company that can continue to innovate for years requires a lot of disciplines.
I will not tolerate leaks or leaving these new devices in bars. Using our own NFC-based gate access system, Apple now has the unique ability to verify the location of each and every Apple-owned and issued device.
In the future, who knows, perhaps we will go one better than Oracle and actually implant an iNFC chip in selected employees. I trust you have all read your contract and will be joining me in volunteering for this important in body enhancement. Be a yardstick of quality.
Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected, and nowhere is this more relevant than travel.
So, finally, bring me iTravel and I can retire in peace.
Go forth, as always, and conquer,
Steve