*michael parekh on IT*

ON A NEW PLAYBOOK FOR CHRYSLER

SOMETHING BORROWED

Normally a story on how one auto company plans on turning around another post a merger would not be head turning in the current environment where all auto companies, especially US ones, seem to be driving in only one direction.  But Time magazine's story on how the CEO of Fiat, Sergio Marchionne, plans on making it's investment in Chrysler a success, caught my eye with this bit:

"Since he took over as chief executive of Italy's Fiat in 2004, the chain-smoking Canadian Italian has used Apple as a model, focusing on the way Steve Jobs transformed it from an also-ran computer company into a global icon of cool. 

He encourages Fiat managers to take a close look at Apple's branding prowess and even asks them to benchmark their activities against the company. 

His biggest success at Fiat is the 500 — a tiny, very cool 21st century version of a 52-year-old Italian icon once driven by movie stars such as Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren — which Marchionne calls "our iPod."

Apparently, Mr. Marchionne intends on using a similar playbook at Chrysler, where his company starts with a 20% stake, that could go as high as 35% depending on how the turnaround goes:

"Marchionne is likely to hew closely to the playbook he used to revive Fiat. On June 10, the day Fiat sealed the deal, he announced a thorough organizational revamp. From now on, each of the four individual brands — Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Mopar (which makes parts) — will be distinct business units responsible for profit and loss. He also reached deep into the ranks, bypassing the engineers and putting a younger, energetic generation of managers with marketing experience in charge of the brands. "That's a mirror image of what he did at Fiat," says a longtime Fiat executive. Next up: installing Fiat production platforms at Chrysler plants and using Fiat's sales network to sell Jeeps and other Chrysler models around the world."

Who knows, Mr. Marchionne may even come up with a way to make a car dealership as fun to go to as an Apple store.

ON COMPANIES THAT PROVIDE AN "APPLE-LIKE" EXPERIENCE

LIKE IT LIKE THAT

On a recent plane ride, as I was taking out my favorite gadgets for the flight, it hit me that there are some products that provide almost as much a thrill in using and handling, as an Apple product.  The notion was triggered by taking out my Bose QC-3 headphones for the 5-hour flight. 

The thing is encased in it's own, compact zippered case, with it's few components all laid out in their own little compartments.  Also, as I walked up and down the aisles, I noticed almost as many folks using Bose headsets, as there were iPods on the plane.

This got me thinking of an on-going list of products that one can consider as "Apple-like".  Products that give the user as much satisfaction, visceral and otherwise, as any popular Apple product.  To paraphrase that popular saying about defining porn, one may not be able to precisely define an "Apple-like" experience, but we know it when see and feel it.

One condition for this "Apple-like" list, is that their key product/s must be an elegant combination of hardware and software. 

This is not to say there aren't software only products and/or online services that provide an Apple-like experience (Google Maps and Gmail come to mind). 

Nor can it be a company that provides an elegantly designed hardware product, like Monster's compact travel power-strip that I wrote about a while back.

For the purposes of this "Apple-Like" list, we'll stay with companies that uniquely combines hardware and software, in either a key product, or a family or products.  And of course, provides a "Thriller" experience.

So to kick off the list, I'll start off with,

1.  The Bose family of products of course.  Whether it's their headphones, or any of their various music systems, Bose seems to generally provide an "Apple-like" product experience.  I've been a long-time fan of their music systems, like the Soundock, I use the guest bedrooms at the house.

2.  Sonos is another company that in my book qualifies as an "Apple-like" product experience.  I've talked about their Sonos home music systems before, as has Fred Wilson, who particularly enjoys his Sonos system with Real network's Rhapsody music subscription service.

3.  Segway would be another company I'd nominate for an "Apple-like" qualification.  Their products are not mainstream yet, and at $5,000 plus a pop, not easily accessible.  But if you haven't tried out a Segway, I'd encourage you to check it out at a Segway dealer. 

The sheer experience of gliding along with almost not physical effort, is worth the time to check it out.  Again, their products provide a "magical", "Apple-like" experience, via an utterly innovative combination of hardware and software.

4. Research in Motion (aka RIMM), the makers of the Blackberry devices, has really pumped up their ability to provide an "Apple-like" thrilling product experience, especially with it's "Pearl" family of devices, with their integrated track-balls.  Again, these are products I've raved about before.  Speaking of cool software touches, I've long loved the way a double tap on a Blackberry space bar gives you a period, something that the iPhone would do well to "emulate".

5.  Jawbone, a relative new-comer, has one of the best blue-tooth headsets I've used (and sometimes I feel like I've used them all).  The product combines it's "Noise-shield" software, in a hardware design aesthetic, that makes you do a double-take when you see it.  Although it doesn't have a body of products yet, the first product is "thrilling" enough to qualify for an "Apple-like" rating.

This list of five is but a start, so much so, that I'm establishing an "Apple-like" category, to use on future posts featuring cool gadgets that aspire to the Apple aesthetic.  Also, would be very curious to hear what products you'd nominate for an "Apple-like" qualification.  Thanks.