The recent introduction of iPhone 6 Plus has motivated some pundits to accues Apple of being a me-too company. After all, the large format iPhone comes years after Samsung created the first phone-tablet, or phablet, the Galaxy Note.
Is creativity dead at Apple in the post-Jobs era?
Probably not.
It’s difficult to guess what Jobs would have done at Apple had he not passed in such an untimely manner. Jobs was rather unpredictable, which was his charm. While many praise his insane successes, he did have his share of boners when it came to technology.
Supposedly Jobs was against the smaller format iPad from the start. He criticized Samsung when they came out with the 7-inch Galaxy Tab. Yet the iPad mini is a definite success. So who knows?
Then again, Apple is consumer-driven. If the people handing over fistfuls of cash want a humongous phone, Apple should give them one — but do it right, of course. The jury is still out as to whether the iPhone 6 Plus is a smashing success or simply another phablet.
Of course, Apple can find success as a me-too company. Keep in mind that the successful iMac line was simply another all-in-one PC when it was introduced. Yet Jobs (and Jonathan Ive) showed how much better it could be done.
Despite any misgivings, I still have excitement for the post-Jobs era at Apple.
Before he died, Jobs spoke of an incredible product Apple was about to release, something that he was personally involved with. That could be the Apple Watch, although I doubt it. I think the product is something bigger, something that Jobs and Apple are willing to do right and surprise everyone.
While I don’t have any insights as to what Apple is doing, it’s always been my hope that they would take on Internet-ready television.
The problem with any Internet-ready TV is the stupid interface. You have multiple remote controls with dozens of buttons and features that no one uses. My HDTV has three remotes: One for the TV, one for the Cable box, and one for the BluRay player. Each remote has duplicate functions, multiple features I never want to learn to use, and the same silly interface.
The method for inputting text is clunky, like from a 1980s Atari 2600 video game. Seriously? I want to search for a movie on Netflix and I have to up-up-up-left-left-OK for the letter J?
So I was hoping Steve’s final project would be an Apple TV with an incredibly beautiful interface. That may still be coming. If so, it would demonstrate again Apple’s ingenuity, not at coming up with original products but with making existing products even better.
Steve Jobs has been dead for 4 years now, I think its a little late to be saying that Apple had any roadmap for future development when Apple has not released a single new product since that time. They have only offered resized versions of their existing product line. A lot of people are saying they are making OSX worse and less intuitive. The fact that they bought Beats headphones for a couple billion dollars proves they are scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas. Since you write books about high end Android phones, you would be in a good position to judge whether the iPhone is falling behind Android.
Comment by BradC — October 3, 2014 @ 12:05 pm
Mmmm…. True about Jobs, I didn’t (hadn’t) known about the Beats headphones but it makes sense. Off topic sort of I remember Woz had something to do with a remote control…
Comment by glennp — October 3, 2014 @ 4:04 pm
My guess is that Apple releases Apple TV or iTV or something next year. It could be an update to Apple TV with a better remote, but I would hope they just do a redesigned TV. That would be something.
Remember: None of Apple’s products were truly unique. Beyond the Apple II, everything they did was just a better, more expensive version of something already on the market.
Comment by admin — October 3, 2014 @ 6:35 pm
I think it’s also important to mention that as a company they just go where the market share is.
With your 7 inch Galaxy example, yes Jobs might have thought it was a dumb idea, but he couldn’t afford to ignore that market and lose all the customers who would be interested in that product to Samsung.
Same thing with the large iPhone. At the end of the day, any company will take market share over principles.
Comment by gamerguy473 — October 5, 2014 @ 6:26 pm
Whatever the case, I don’t envy Tim Cook his job. Steve Jobs really set a mark, good or bad, flawed or perfect. The pressure must be immense, but it certainly doesn’t show during his interviews.
Comment by admin — October 5, 2014 @ 7:00 pm