A new standard -
Tim said one line today that stuck out to me -
"When you look at each of these, they are incredibly industry-leading innovations by themselves. But what sets them apart and what places Apple way ahead of the competition is how they work so well together."
What I saw from today's announcement is that Apple created a new dock connector standard for it's product line. And based on some of the responses in the forum today, it was a good strategy to release that "new" connector as part of another product launch - the iPhone 5.
Why is it a new standard? Because the iPod Nano and the iPod Touch were updated with the new connector. Apple is basically telling everyone that this is the new connector for the iOS devices...maybe more.
Tim also said we now have Thunderbolt and Lightning. This suggests to me that these 2 "new" connectors were planned together at least in marketing, if not, in engineering. And since Thunderbolt is a desktop device only connector, this implies Apple has a "big picture" plan of how they envision "all" their devices interacting together.
And, yes, I'm suggesting that the new iPads will have the new "Lightning" connector, not just the rumored iPad mini.
A new standard, too -
What I think that most of us have been "trained" to believe is that computer based products compete solely on hardware and/or software features.
Apple is trying re-educate the masses to realize that product interactivity and integration is another key area for competition in the computer world. But it's harder for the media to hype that up because interactivity and integration between multiple devices is harder to put a "measure" to.
It's so much easier to say the iPhone is 2x faster than it's predecessor or that it's screen increased from 3.5" to 4".
Another way to look at it is to ask - "What can a computer do for me?"
And how do you quantify "I can share my music even easier than before across my phone, my music player, my computer, my laptop and my tablet"?
We were trained to believe that computers sit on or beside our desks and we type on a keyboard and interact with what's on that screen - word processor, spreadsheet, email, web browser, etc. We were trained that these boxes could be connected via a network and could interact that way - share our files.
But, remember when Apple launched the iPod? They weren't first to market. They were certainly not the cheapest and the competing products had so many other bells and whistles that the masses apparently wanted and demanded. An existing standard for "sharing" music was entrenched in this market.
But as it turns out, Apple "discovered" what the masses really wanted was a simple and easy way to access and play their music.
Apple created a "better" MP3 player and a way for it to interact with the desktop both in hardware and software. It wasn't a new piece of software that changed that market. It wasn't a new music player that changed that market. It was a new way to do what previously existed...which turned out to be a better way for many people.
How do you measure that between Apple and it's competitors?
I think many of the "disappointed" responses posted today are a reflection of the consumer desire to see more of this broader scale innovation.
I think the real "revolution" in Apple's design is that they are innovating at this scale.
They did it with the MP3 player/music market.
They did it with the smartphone market.
They created the tablet market.
They're obviously going after the online video/movie market.
But I think we as the consumers are going to have to learn what the new development cycle is for this kind innovation.
And back again -
So, when we look at these 3 and hopefully soon-to-be 4 distinct markets, let's remember what Tim said today -
"When you look at each of these, they are incredibly industry-leading innovations by themselves. But what sets them apart and what places Apple way ahead of the competition is how they work so well together."
I'm not against Samsung or any other competition. Actually, I'm waiting for them to step up to the plate and start competing in this playing field where all their competing products "work so well together". I don't simply need a faster phone or another connector. I'm looking for easier and simpler ways to access my "data" across all my digital devices and not have to worry about it.
The first one who achieves that has got vote and more significantly, my money.
My next step -
I'll be happy when I get my new iPhone because my 3G is seriously showing it's age.
but i switched to a Galaxy S2X and i must say that i much prefer it to my iphone's. Apple drooped the ball on this update.
