I think we can pretty much sum it up in this sentence: He is a nerd that never understood what it is to create a product that people love.
He's still an employee of the company to this day?
err... what is his job title?
"The Wonderful Wizard of Woz"
Seriously, I'm also confused by this. He is an employee, yet he has "only very limited contact with the company today". Huh?
In some ways, he's right. There are things on other phones that aren't on the iPhone. Apple makes great products that are, in some peoples' minds, missing features that other similar products have.
HOWEVER
1) I know Woz made the Apple II back in the day and that's his pride and joy, but what significant insight does he really have into the industry these days? What has he really done for me or Apple in the last 20 years? 30 years? I think he's looking at this situation like an extremely geeky user, not an every day joe. A lot of the reason geeks like Android over the iPhone is that you can mess with it. He might be looking at it from that perspective.
I think we can pretty much sum it up in this sentence: He is a nerd that never understood what it is to create a product that people love.
He's still an employee of the company to this day?
err... what is his job title?
For some reason, I can tell I wouldn't like this guy.
2) Apple will release features when they feel it's the right time--not any sooner or later than that. Just because the tinkerers feel that something is "missing" doesn't mean that it's something most people would use.
It's interesting. Woz aside, the trend he is talking about makes me think back to the mid-90's, when Apple had a similar dilemma with Windows. After 10 years, Windows had caught up to the Mac, and the Mac OS looked dated and behind the times. After a lot of searching, Apple finally acquired NeXT for their operating system (and Steve Jobs) and a few years later we had OS X, which was yet another revolution in its time. (Watch the keynote where Jobs unveils all the UI changes if you haven't already - it's fascinating).
It's interesting to think that a point might be coming where this could happen for iOS.
Of course, this is a different situation. Apple is more in Microsoft's position when it comes to being more embedded in enterprise, government, etc. SO many organizations use iPads now, and have just trained people within the last few years, that Apple doesn'tt have the freedom to radically change the OS.
As much as we techy consumers (Woz included) would love to see change and to be wowed by Apple again with something completely new, organizations need consistency. Radical change doesn't seem like the right decision at this point in time.
And if you just look at the current iPhone on its own merits and how it works in day-to-day use, without comparing it to the previous gen iPhone, it's an excellent phone. It's excellent because the original was excellent, and they don't have to change a lot between versions, other than bringing their hardware up to date.
Do you have personal connections with him that you know what he is and isnt working on? Woz has never been the one to get into the spotlight and talk about upcoming projects. He may certainly be designing or helping design products (circuitry etc. ). Who knows but dont make some blanket statement that he does nothing except speaking engagements. There are many of us who dont think his word is gospel but rather he's expressing a thought many of us harbour.
Man all you guys insisting Woz is wrong and that Apple is still the best at "user experience" or not behind in mobile, seriously have your head in the sand.
My Nexus 4 begs to differ with everything you said. Android 4.2 makes iOS look ridiculously bad. I have no desire to go back, which is why I sold my iPhone 5, and not a day goes by that I actually miss it. My GF also made the switch from the iPhone 5 to Galaxy S3 and after a few days she told me "iPhone seems like it's for idiots" and she is not even a tech person! She was afraid to try something else initially as well. Well after she had the "user experience" of Jelly Bean, it was all over for iOS.
So yeah, people still thinking that Apple is doing a good job in this space have to wake up and smell the coffee. They aren't.
Unless iOS7 is something super revolutionary, I think Apple will sell the same sort of number of phones, or at least the number they sell each new generation, won't increase like it has the last few times, if that makes sense?
I love iOS, but something new has to happen, just to distinguish itself
Oh yeah, they indeed have fallen behind. Software even more than the hardware, iOS is just lacking innovation for years now. Android on the other hand has made some real astonishing progress, especially with Jelly Bean. iOS simply has become so boring.
I'm right now on the edge of replacing my 3GS and I never hesitated for one second that my next phone is gonna be powered by Android.
This is exactly what i've been thinking. I think they will for sure gain new customers but i also think that they will lose people that have had iPhones for a long time and in recent years getting bored with iOS.
Not to say iOS should be entertaining, but there are some definite features that are missing that would be great to have and are currently on other OS's.
I for one am one of those people who will be leaving if iOS 7 doesn't blow me away with something great.