[News] Apple is done, says teens

Who is Chris Matyszczyk?

Ahh Microsoft shill.

http://yourmaclifeshow.com/inthenews/2012/11/11/chris-matyszczyk-cnet-intentionally-obtuse

As a teenager, I think Apple is done. Apple is headed in the WRONG direction. They are no longer innovators, and now just follow what the market dictates they should do.

I would think that CNET's credibility should be taking a hit now that CBS is calling the shots on what it can report (DISH Hopper dvr pulled from consideration as a best-in-show by CNET at CES due to lawsuit by CBS). How credible is anyone in the media anymore?

AlphaDogg said:

As a teenager, I think Apple is done. Apple is headed in the WRONG direction. They are no longer innovators, and now just follow what the market dictates they should do.

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I disagree that Apples done, but do agree that they have coasted & obsessed on profit taking, for too long.

It's brought them big revenue, but taken a toll on their image outside in the real world.

Within the confines of the walled garden were tens of thousands of Steve Jobs cultivated fans worship Apple, denial reigns supreme.

AlphaDogg said:

As a teenager, I think Apple is done. Apple is headed in the WRONG direction. They are no longer innovators, and now just follow what the market dictates they should do.

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Apple no longer an innovator? Better enlighten us with some facts ... look at what Apple has done just in the past 36 months. No other company has come close.

You like 'me-too' company's? Only innovation they tout is a larger screen on a smart phone, iPad wannabe's and MacBook Air look alikes. lol.

entatlrg said:

Apple no longer an innovator? Better enlighten us with some facts ... look at what Apple has done just in the past 36 months. No other company has come close.

You like 'me-too' company's? Only innovation they tout is a larger screen on a smart phone, iPad wannabe's and MacBook Air look alikes. lol.

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Larger screen iPhone, smaller screen tablet? You're telling me nobody has done this well before Apple? What about the SGS3 or the Nexus 7?

I am not surpised by this. Apple has been losing its hip factor for quite a while now. They have kind of just become another device and no longer hip.

Apple has started behaving worse than MS ever did in terms of being a bullie and it starting to have an effect on that hip factor as well.

Teens are a fickle market, they tend to buy based on peer pressure.

blueroom said:

Teens are a fickle market, they tend to buy based on peer pressure.

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This. But when pretty much the bulk of your money comes from being a fashion accessory, it can quite quickly all go wrong. I'm sure we all remember them times when having a BlackBerry made you awesome. Now look at RIM.

I'm not saying Apple will follow in them footsteps, but when people buy products simply because of the Apple logo slapped on the back, it is a possibility that fashion will have a negative impact on Apple.

These would be the same teens who think uploading everything in their life to facebook, instagram, etc. is a good idea, and who are then shocked and stunned when the above companies monetize it, as they said they would in their terms of service, yes?

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AlphaDogg said:

Larger screen iPhone, smaller screen tablet? You're telling me nobody has done this well before Apple? What about the SGS3 or the Nexus 7?

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Are you forgetting, in the past 36 months

- reinventing the tablet market - before the iPad, tablets were a niche. and a very small niche at that.
- killing the netbook market with the worlds first ultrabook (the MBA) - that competitors are still struggling to match 2 1/2 years later.
- releasing retina class displays, first on mobile and then on laptops - still the only retina class laptop displays available
- releasing a music locker service (music in the cloud)
- cloud sync across all your apple device types


They have been copied by others on all of those factors (except for retina laptops - most other OEMS still persist in pushing 1366x768 or 1600x900 res on 15" screens. lol). And those aren't "ooh we have a new software widget" type things, that cost very little in development and manufacturing.

They turned entire markets on their head by designing and building products that no one had made before. They put their balls on the line to do this and spent a lot of money to do the R&D and produce the hardware.

Only once the new devices were proven did the other OEMs decide that they wanted a piece and try to copy the core concept. No other company in recent history has taken the risks that apple has to bring new products to market. They've all been "me too!". Sure they may have different software with additional tweaks. But that was much, much lower risk to put out.

Plenty of people were saying the iPad was a niche, and pointless back in early 2010. Until apple was making billions of dollars a year selling them... then they rushed their own products out the door.

throAU said:

Are you forgetting, in the past 36 months

- reinventing the tablet market - before the iPad, tablets were a niche. and a very small niche at that.
- killing the netbook market with the worlds first ultrabook (the MBA) - that competitors are still struggling to match 2 1/2 years later.
- releasing retina class displays, first on mobile and then on laptops - still the only retina class laptop displays available
- releasing a music locker service (music in the cloud)

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I think before Steve Jobs died, Apple was fine. Once he died and Tim Cook took over, Apple took over. This is only the past 14 months or so. Previous to that, Apple was doing damn well.

AlphaDogg said:

I think before Steve Jobs died, Apple was fine. Once he died and Tim Cook took over, Apple took over. This is only the past 14 months or so. Previous to that, Apple was doing damn well.

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Apple is more than Steve Jobs.

Also, Cook was running the company many times for extended periods whilst Steve was sick.

Ive is of similar obsessive mindset, and Tim has put him in a position of more responsibility now.


I truly believe Tim will be good for apple long term.


No, he isn't Steve.

However, he has a business head.

The way I see it - he has let the company coast for a year to see who is doing what if left to their own devices, and a few months ago started acting on what he saw. Hence Scott being canned, Jony being promoted and the other staff movements.



Most of the stuff people are bitching about with regards to apple these days are all things that Steve would have fought tooth and nail for to push.

Steve hated expandability (slots, upgrade ports, etc).
Steve hated UI complexity / inconsistency - hence no massive UI change to any apple product, ever.
Steve hated having too many options to confuse the customer

throAU said:

Apple is more than Steve Jobs.

Also, Cook was running the company many times for extended periods whilst Steve was sick.

Ive is of similar obsessive mindset, and Tim has put him in a position of more responsibility now.


I truly believe Tim will be good for apple long term.


No, he isn't Steve.

However, he has a business head.

The way I see it - he has let the company coast for a year to see who is doing what if left to their own devices, and a few months ago started acting on what he saw. Hence Scott being canned, Jony being promoted and the other staff movements.

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I disagree. Apple has not innovated since Jobs died. They've simply done what the market dictates and if they want to have a future as a successful company, they need to do what they do best; Apple needs to innovate. I think the lightning connector is a step in the right direction, but it's not enough.

AlphaDogg said:

I disagree. Apple has not innovated since Jobs died. They've simply done what the market dictates and if they want to have a future as a successful company, they need to do what they do best; Apple needs to innovate. I think the lightning connector is a step in the right direction, but it's not enough.

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lolwut


lightning being something even on the radar as far as innovation or direction goes?

how is lightning significant?

I mean it is nice being reversible, but it is hardly a game changer.

I'm one that was actually excited about the innovation of the lightning connector. something so simple is now made even more convenient. I plug my phone in every day and now its easier and i don't have to worry about breaking anything.

Apple's Innovation Has Always Come In Spurts

1998 iMac Bondi Blue

2001 OS X
2002 iPod, iMac G4 Flat Panel

2006 Intel iMac, MacBook Pro
2007 iPhone, Apple TV
2008 MacBook Air

2010 iPad

2013/14 ??????

I obviously haven't captured all of Apple's great products on a timeline, just a few of their big hitters, ones that really shook up the markets.

Expecting something completely new and innovative out of any company every 6 months or a year is just a dream. The amount of R&D dollars, and production readiness investment is huge. And to get the right new thing into the market when there really will be a market takes a lot of things to line up in time, like the piece part technology of what's inside the new gizmo, and a market infrastructure that can actually support the innovation (i.e. who would use near field). Whatever the new device is, it has to be secure. Software has to be developed along with the hardware. It all takes a lot of time, and a lot of money.

Apple has the money. I'd say we're approaching (later this year or early next) another significant step in technology, another thing we didn't know we needed.

Everyone is just too impatient. Apple keeps building new products as extensions of the technologies that they came up with in 2007-2010. And why wouldn't they? I'm quite sure they are spending large sums of money on R&D, have many working prototypes, and are formulating their business plans for whatever the new thing(s) are.

I wish I had a few thousand bucks to buy their stock right now, it's cheap.

pgoodwin1 said:

Expecting something completely new and innovative out of any company every 6 months or a year is just a dream. The amount of R&D dollars, and production readiness investment is huge. And to get the right new thing into the market when there really will be a market takes a lot of things to line up in time, like the piece part technology of what's inside the new gizmo, and a market infrastructure that can actually support the innovation (i.e. who would use near field). Whatever the new device is, it has to be secure. Software has to be developed along with the hardware. It all takes a lot of time, and a lot of money.

Apple has the money. I'd say we're approaching (later this year or early next) another significant step in technology, another thing we didn't know we needed.

Everyone is just too impatient. Apple keeps building new products as extensions of the technologies that they came up with in 2007-2010. And why wouldn't they? I'm quite sure they are spending large sums of money on R&D, have many working prototypes, and are formulating their business plans for whatever the new thing(s) are.

I wish I had a few thousand bucks to buy their stock right now, it's cheap.

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Exactly.

And don't they have the money.... apple has so much money in the bank they don't know what to do with it.

I suspect we'll see more integration of all the sensors on the device from siri.

More pro-active behaviour from the device, rather than just responding to voice commands.

Don't forget, siri is still in beta...



Also... the mobile smartphone market is saturated/commoditized. Apple can't ride on the iPhone forever and I'm sure they know this.

Expect more focus on cloud services, software integration and other new devices we don't know about, and don't even know we need yet.

Apple is uniquely positioned in the techology space in that they own the entire "stack" from hardware (both PCs and mobile devices) and software to cloud services (including iTunes and iCloud). This enables them to integrate in the way that Samsung, Google, Microsoft and others (who only own pieces of the equivalent stack) simply can not.

People who are calling apple "Done" simply have no idea what the company is capable of, given their extremely strong strategic position.

I think the Teen thing is way over rated -
For one - they are not the deep pocket money group -

What I've seen in large groups at the clubs of the mid 30's/20's is maybe 30% iPhone - and tons of S11 - SIII devices all the time.
If it's not an iPhone - I jump right in and ask what it is they are using.
I can't keep up with all the models out there.

If in fact this is true that Steve hated this:Then it's a major mistake.
Steve hated expandability (slots, upgrade ports, etc).
Steve hated having too many options to confuse the customer.

The fact the start button was hit - Eliminating 2 things? to do w/o card ports vs opened up a million things already going on to do?

Eliminating the option to not be able load a camera card is a shame and backwards technology.

Like I'm going to carry a pocket of adaptors that sit here in a kit.
Not once have they been used in the wild - vs just slip the card into device.

Go ahead, take my 4wheel Hi/Lo drive option away and see what happens.
Chrysler eliminated it - in their trucks. Good luck with that.

Philscbx said:

I think the Teen thing is way over rated -
For one - they are not the deep pocket money group

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Mom, dad, I want an iPad for xmas

Philscbx said:

If in fact this is true that Steve hated this:Then it's a major mistake.
Steve hated expandability (slots, upgrade ports, etc).
Steve hated having too many options to confuse the customer.

Click to expand...

See Woz's biography, iWoz. Jobs didn't want any slots in the Apple II. The only reason it had slots was because Woz threatened to quit the project over it (if i recall).

He told the mac team "no slots!" (as per the "diagnostic port" shennanigans on folklore.org - one of the engineers was trying to sneak in a slot).

First thing he did when coming back to apple was eliminate most of their product line, and cut it down to a few choices.


In Steve's world, you pick your form factor, pick good, better, best and get on with it.

This is why Macs are not infinitely customizable, and to get the better GPU you typically need to also get the better CPU. To keep the number of builds to a minimum. It's also why there is only one new model of iphone every release and the only option is more flash. Unlike say, samsung or HTC who offer a myriad of different models that the customer needs a telecommunications degree, a nerd friend, or hours of research on the internet to choose between.

Both to streamline production and give the customer less decisions to make.



In Steve's world, it is Apple's job (not the customer's) to pick the hardware combinations that work, or provide best bang for buck.

If you, as a customer have to spend more than say, 1/2 hour deciding what machine to buy, the company (and by extension, Steve) has failed.


It's a totally different way of looking at computing to every other company, and is a core factor that makes apple what it is.

You know what's not innovative is most of the comments here these days, i.e 'Apple isn't innovating anymore', 'Steve would/wouldn't have' etc. Facts: iMac came out in 1998, iPod in 2001, iPhone in 2007 and iPad in 2010. Apple was NOT releasing revolutionary products every year when Steve was running the show. And not everything that happened on Steve's watch was great either - hockey puck mouse, Cube, fat Nano anyone?

This is a silly teen survey from some marketing agency no one has ever heard of. The fact that it's even news is pathetic.

throAU said:

See Woz's biography, iWoz. Jobs didn't want any slots in the Apple II.

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Thank God someone came to the light with a SD slot in my MBP.

You do not innovate every year. Innovations take time and the last two innovations on a global scale were the iPhone and the iPad. Everything else were just small incremental improvements. Google don't innovate, Samsung certainly don't innovate. noone innovates but Apple does, sometimes.

You can't expect them to innovate every next year.