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"Were the iPhone built like a Chipotle burrito, its processor would be on the outside."

parislemon:

Brilliant takedown by Mat Honan of a post on Slate entitled: Chipotle is Apple. Yes, there was an article on Slate on Thursday with that title. And yes, it was ridiculous. 

Chipotle is fine. Compared to say, Taco Bell, it’s fantastic. But as Honan points out, if you include some of the best burrito joints in California, Chipotle wouldn’t be in the top 100. It’s still fast food.

Name a smartphone better than the iPhone. 

You can’t because most of the other manufactured ones are junk. There are a few other good ones, but there are none made by small shops like the best burritos are. Totally different industries. 

Writes Honan:

Finally, we should look at the build quality. As we we said before, the Chipotle burrito essentially ripped off the design of the Mission Burrito. However, in doing so, it got important details wrong. The Mission Burrito is eaten vertically, by standing it on one end, and unwrapping the aluminum foil at the top side as you work your way down. It is flawless. The Chipotle burrito, on the other hand, is typically put together without care or attention by those aforementioned low-paid workers. They typically stuff them so full that the ingredients come bursting out of the side, and it is impossible to eat the burrito vertically, as the good Lord intended burritos to be eaten. Were the iPhone built like a Chipotle burrito, its processor would be on the outside.

I dunno. I think that if you thought about it, you could think of ways to make better macs, and better smartphones. What Apple - and Chipotle - do is make the best possible product they can, without ignoring financial constraints. Jobs often compared Apple to BMW - he did not compare them to Maserati or Lambourghini or Rolls Royce or Maybach. Financial reality guides companies like Apple and Chipotle in a way that they don’t for companies like French Laundry or Cray. They are companies who masterfully balance the featureset. The lack of a smartphone better than the iPhone just indicates differences whithin the industries. I don’t think anyone thinks it’s impossible to make a smartphone better than the iphone - faster processor, bigger screen, more memory, maybe thunderbolt, etc. It’d just cost a fortune. 

And I have eaten hundreds of Chipotle burritos. Every time I eat one I unwrap it, stick it in the foil on its end, rewrap it vertically, and eat it in the manner you describe. It works just fine.