The Difference Between Someone Who Makes Something and Someone Who Sells Something

by Kevin on August 29, 2008

In a world where people love to talk about “decentralized” this and “open source” that, Rohit makes the excellent point that much of Apple’s success comes as a result of its tight-fisted control over “distribution” — which doesn’t sound as sexy as “design.”

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Asides
- Ah, Associations ... We Are Ancient
  Preparing for trip and skimming through "A Traveller's History of Paris" I stumbled across this passage: "Two booksellers, Fust and Schoffer, brought printed books to Paris in 1463. Fearful of competition from this new art, the powerful scribes and booksellers guilds had the books confiscated."
- That Thing You Do
  The November issue of Associations Now includes a "Horizons" column I wrote wondering why completely different markets all just happen to need the same kinds of things, according to the associations that serve them. I don't see the November issue online quite yet but through creative URL typing I was able to locate the article here. Thanks to Lisa Junker for the opportunity and, especially, the help! Update: The November issue is now online with a nifty new homepage design.
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Recent Comments
- Ellen said, "Great post and comments! I've been watching various discussions of what's happening in the ..."
- David Gammel said, "I heard a quote years ago (sorry can't remember who said it!) that an association is not a single ..."
- Joe Rominiecki said, "I suppose it's my turn to respond here, as I think I'm partly responsible (at fault?) for getting ..."
- Kevin said, "@Mark - Excellent comment, thanks for leaving it. Great point that one of the primary differences ..."
- Maddie Grant said, "Ha - Kevin I knew you wouldn't disappoint. I was waiting for someone to say "hold on a minute" and ..."
- Mark Athitakis said, "Eeep! I meant to say that "the association model has enough revenue streams in it that (most) don’t ..."
- Mark Athitakis said, "I'm on much firmer footing talking about the newspaper world than the association world, but I feel ..."
- Kerry Stackpole said, "Well said Kevin. MarketingSherpa and thousands of for-profit specialized information publishing ..."