Eddy Cue Says He 'Disagrees Vehemently' With Those Who Believe Apple's Pace of Innovation Has Slowed

[Quu]

It’s YOUR interpretation of “not being first” = “not innovative”.

If Tim Cook actually said they’re not innovative, then you’d have an argument that his statement is in conflict with Eddie Cue. You’re taking quite the leap with your interpretation.

I disagree that I'm taking a leap. Just look at the definition of the word Innovation for goodness sake.

new ideas or products, etc.
plural noun: innovations

They don't come up with new ideas or product categories. They are a company built on iterative improvements of other peoples ideas. Often just buying companies that have already developed a technology they need like with TouchID and FaceID.

Cameras on the iPhone? Developed by Sony. Processor? ARM design iterated by Apple, manufactured for them by TSMC and Samsung. iPhone X display? Samsung. NAND flash? Sandisk, Toshiba and Samsung. you can look to practically anything they make and it's a combination of other companies technologies.

Is this a bad thing? hell no. Apple still makes great stuff, but it is not in any way innovation, Tim Cook understands that by saying they're not first, second, third or even forth to implement someone else's idea.

 

[Bacillus]

Yep I agree. People say Face ID and Touch Bar are not innovation and they are gimmicks, but curved edges on Samsung phones are? Just because you think something is a gimmick does not mean everyone else on the planet does. I find touch screens to be a gimmick, yet people want that on the Mac. I prefer the touch bar, some people don't.

Let's just all stop using that term innovation. Pretty much everything these days is a mature product. How much innovation can a phone really be? I do not find a curved edge innovation. How much innovation can a desktop/laptop be these days? These are all mature products now.
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And the iPod was the first MP3 or similar player right? Oh wait.
And the iPad was the first tablet ever? Oh wait.
And MacBooks/Powerbooks were the first ever laptops right? Oh wait
The iPhone was the first ever smartphone ever right? Oh wait

Apple has never been the first with a product line. NEVER. They concern themselves with ease of use. I am sure at the time the iPhone was released, people did not think software-only keyboard with your fingers was not innovative because they preferred those phones with physical keys.

As of lately, I'm sweatting at night - being surrounded by more and more notched devices, battery and camera bulbs, lost ports, upside down charging morons around me. How can so much 1st world design sorrow on the planet be attributed to a single individual ?

 

[MrX8503]

Apple still makes great stuff, but it is not in any way innovation, Tim Cook understands that by saying they're not first, second, third or even forth to implement someone else's idea.

Lol, that’s not what Tim Cook meant. He’s referencing how Apple products (Mac, iPhone, iPod, etc.) weren’t industry firsts.

You may be the only person that interpreted his comment as a submission to Apple not being innovative.

 

[dv8r]

It’s YOUR interpretation of “not being first” = “not innovative”.

Him, me and the dictionary - Innovative: using or showing new methods, ideas, etc.

 

[MrX8503]

Him, me and the dictionary - Innovative: using or showing new methods, ideas, etc.

Was the first iPhone innovative? How is that definition relevant to Tim Cook’s comment about not being first?

 

[convergent]

Was the first iPhone innovative? How is that definition relevant to Tim Cook’s comment about not being first?

Not really. It did nothing that other devices hadn't done for years. It was a refinement on something already there, with a great marketer pushing it.

 

[Michael Scrip]

Not really. It did nothing that other devices hadn't done for years. It was a refinement on something already there, with a great marketer pushing it.

But refinement is an example of innovation: making improvements or taking something in a new direction.

We know Apple did not "invent" the smartphone... but they surely "improved" on the idea of the smartphone.

Hell... just two days before Apple introduced the first iPhone... Palm released yet another Treo. It looked almost exactly like the last Treo with its crappy plastic resistive screen and fixed keyboard layout.

But two days later... Apple set the stage for what the smartphone would look like for the next decade and beyond.

You can say Apple only "refined" the smartphone in 2007... but they seemed to do a pretty good job.

 

[otternonsense]

Yes, "Planet of the Apps" is true innovation right there -_-

 

[convergent]

But refinement is an example of innovation: making improvements or taking something in a new direction.

We know Apple did not "invent" the smartphone... but they surely "improved" on the idea of the smartphone.

Hell... just two days before Apple introduced the first iPhone... Palm released yet another Treo. It looked almost exactly like the last Treo with its crappy plastic resistive screen and fixed keyboard layout.

But two days later... Apple set the stage for what the smartphone would look like for the next decade and beyond.

You can say Apple only "refined" the smartphone in 2007... but they seemed to do a pretty good job.

Say what you want about that plastic Treo, but it looked great and I could drop it on the ground and it didn't shatter. The Treo wasn't one of them, but there were touch based smartphones (Windows Mobile, etc. ) when the iPhone was released that looked very similar.

Apple had an impact, but you are forgetting that Android hit at about the same time. It was sad to me to see the world shape shift to where everything looked the same. Prior to the iPhone, there was some great variety in what you could get for a smartphone. In that sense, Apple killed innovation because everything became an iPhone clone. That is very sad.

 

[Mohamad-pro]

Lies.

 

[dv8r]

Was the first iPhone innovative? How is that definition relevant to Tim Cook’s comment about not being first?

Did the first iPhone show new methods and ideas? Yes it did.
Is "not being first" showing new methods and ideas? No, it is not.
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But refinement is an example of innovation: making improvements or taking something in a new direction.

No, refinement is improvement in small steps - it does not mean the same as innovation.

We know Apple did not "invent" the smartphone... but they surely "improved" on the idea of the smartphone.

Hell... just two days before Apple introduced the first iPhone... Palm released yet another Treo. It looked almost exactly like the last Treo with its crappy plastic resistive screen and fixed keyboard layout.

But two days later... Apple set the stage for what the smartphone would look like for the next decade and beyond.

You can say Apple only "refined" the smartphone in 2007... but they seemed to do a pretty good job.

It's fair to say that Apple did a little more than "refine" the smartphone - they did real innovation... In the design but also in the integration and functions of the device. But I'm curious, when did Apple fans start with the "Apple has never been about being first...", when I look for quotes from the Jobs era there is really nothing to support that statement but I see Cook saying it, so my question is: am I missing something?

 

[Michael Scrip]

But I'm curious, when did Apple fans start with the "Apple has never been about being first...", when I look for quotes from the Jobs era there is really nothing to support that statement but I see Cook saying it, so my question is: am I missing something?

I think you can trace it back to the iPod era.

There were certainly MP3 players before the iPod... but the iPod is the one that put portable music players on the map, per se.

Apple's colorful musical TV commercials and white-cabled earbuds were a phenomenon in the early-to-mid 2000s. I think Apple had 75% market share at one point in the portable media player market. Or three out of four MP3 players sold were from Apple. (and it drove the Apple-haters crazy)

So yeah... Apple wasn't "first" to make an MP3 player... but they certainly made an impact with theirs. And that's where that quote came from, I believe.

 

[MrX8503]

Did the first iPhone show new methods and ideas? Yes it did.
Is "not being first" showing new methods and ideas? No, it is not.

The previous poster said in order to be innovative, you have to be first. He interpreted Tim Cook's comment about not being first as an admission to not being innovative.

 

[LordVic]

Apple is just another corporate entity there to maximize profits for their shareholders. The competitive advantage Apple had with the stellar, singular focused Steve is sadly gone and now means that Apple is run by committee like every other box shifter OEM. The Apple brand is being diluted and being DELL-ified.

Even Michael Dell hated what became of his company because of exactly this. So much so he rebought back controlling interest, told wall street to eff off, and has at least tried to make some decent quality products people want (though I wouldn’t yet put the, at the top of innovation)
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It’s YOUR interpretation of “not being first” = “not innovative”.

If Tim Cook actually said they’re not innovative, then you’d have an argument that his statement is in conflict with Eddie Cue. You’re taking quite the leap with your interpretation.

But that is kind of what innovation means. To do some new, differently than before.

It’s a bit a kludgy concept. You can be iterative and innovative at the same time, or you can be purely iterative and not innovative.

I think either applies sometimes with Apple. They are innovative on some small things right now, but most of the big picture is purely iterative

 

[MrX8503]

But that is kind of what innovation means. To do some new, differently than before.

It’s a bit a kludgy concept. You can be iterative and innovative at the same time, or you can be purely iterative and not innovative.

I think either applies sometimes with Apple. They are innovative on some small things right now, but most of the big picture is purely iterative

Tim Cook said Apple isn’t first, which was a reference to their products not being launched first. He never admitted to not doing something new/different.

Being first to launch a product isn’t a requirement to innovation.

 

[Dameatball]

"did so! we made a watch"

 

[mi7chy]

Eddy Clueless thinks stealing Animoji from emonster inc is innovation. Sad...

 

[44267547]

The watch changes NOTHING.

Wrong. The Apple Watch doesn't need to revolutionize the world, its intent is to convenience the world around us. The reason its the worlds best selling smart watch and most successful, is because it acts as a median between the iPhone. It conveniences us when we need it most as a communication device, fitness tracker for health functions and now with LTE capabilities, it allows the freedom of not being tethered to our iPhones all the time.

Given the success of the Apple Watch, nothing else compares to it and it's only going to mature from this point forward, considering it's only been available on the market just over two years.

 

[Naimfan]

Wrong. The Apple Watch doesn't need to revolutionize the world, its intent is to convenience the world around us. The reason its the worlds best selling smart watch and most successful, is because it acts as a median between the iPhone. It conveniences us when we need it most as a communication device, fitness tracker for health functions and now with LTE capabilities, it allows the freedom of not being tethered to our iPhones all the time.

Given the success of the Apple Watch, nothing else compares to it and it's only going to mature from this point forward, considering it's only been available on the market just over two years.

I think you're exactly right. The Watch is something of a sneaky product - it may be limited in what it can do NOW, but over time it seems like it will do more and more and more. And it does things no other Apple product does.