> Apple has been researching personal computing since it was founded, and invests heavily in figuring out exactly what works to make viable products.
Apple actually does comparatively little spending on R&D when contrasted with the likes of Microsoft or even Google. [1] When it comes to design, it's well known that Apple is of the mentality that good design is something recognizable and, that being the case, they don't invest in human-computer interaction research. [2]
As the government has found out, R&D dollars spent is not the best way to rate the output. To put in programmer terms, we have all seen projects that spent a lot of money on developers and shown no more than a 5 person team would have had. The companies process (and desire) in patent making is an important item also.
Apple is in comparatively less markets then Microsoft and Google so it would make sense that they could spend comparatively less then Microsoft & Google in R&D.
I don't see how [2] says anything about whether Apple invests in HCI research. Whether they do market research or customer research is a completely different matter.
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> Apple has been researching personal computing since it was founded, and invests heavily in figuring out exactly what works to make viable products.
Apple actually does comparatively little spending on R&D when contrasted with the likes of Microsoft or even Google. [1] When it comes to design, it's well known that Apple is of the mentality that good design is something recognizable and, that being the case, they don't invest in human-computer interaction research. [2]
[1] http://b2bspecialist.posterous.com/chart-randd-spending-comp...
[2] http://cacm.acm.org/blogs/blog-cacm/97958-why-is-great-desig...
As the government has found out, R&D dollars spent is not the best way to rate the output. To put in programmer terms, we have all seen projects that spent a lot of money on developers and shown no more than a 5 person team would have had. The companies process (and desire) in patent making is an important item also.
Apple is in comparatively less markets then Microsoft and Google so it would make sense that they could spend comparatively less then Microsoft & Google in R&D.
Actually, they spend substantially more on R&D than appears under that heading in their financials.
Much of their R&D is outsourced to component suppliers, paid for by advance funding of new factories and other production facilities.
But their spending is incredibly effective in terms of developing products people want.
I don't see how [2] says anything about whether Apple invests in HCI research. Whether they do market research or customer research is a completely different matter.