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Before Touch ID came out, the idea that touch sensors could be miniaturized to fit the little home button was laughable. Apple delivered.

Where are the car integration platforms from Google and Microsoft? Apple delivered.

snip


Overall, I give Cook a B+. After 2014, he'll have earned his A+.

Good and unbiased analysis, thanks!
 
Since jobs died what has apple introduced?


A small iPad?


No new innovating products

completely redesigned Mac Pro

What new innovative products did Apple bring in the last 10 years before his death?

iPod, various smaller iPods, iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad...

They're all nearly the same product or the evolution of the same product... It's only been 3 years-ish since Steve died what big leaps in innovation are you looking for? They have some sort of wearable in the pipes and they've got a thing or two up their sleeve... not sure if you actually ever followed Apple or are you actually deluded enough to think that there actually WAS a new magical Apple invention every single year prior to Jobs' death.
 
this should be a good read. They need a new cutting edge gadget or they will decline simply as they havent had a breakthrough product since the ipad and that was years ago
 
I'll make up my mind once there are more green bullets (and also a new Aperture, an upgraded iWork, iLife and a leaner iTunes):
 

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led by Scott Forstall"

True. It made them look so little. Talking bad about a former co-worker is disgraceful, especially if he didn't do anything wrong.

exactly. their talk of ios in the forstall era is beneath well a 5 year old and sadly many of posters who left their individuality when they stepped into an apple store just go along with it.

if they cant say anything positive dont say anything at all because the guy had/has huge role in apples success.
 
Apple is fine. They even help unknown people like this author make money because Apple is written on the cover. :D
 
Apple just feels like another company now.


That's all they have ever been.

You missed the point. Apple had a fan base that other companies don't have and they also did a financial comeback that companies don't see either. Google "rumor" on a freshly installed Windows PC and it comes back within the first few links with this site full of rumors and news about this "ordinary" company.
 
All of this happened under Cook.
Touch ID = winner
iOS in the car = loser
802.11ac = just a spec bump from a supplier
new Mac Pro = incredible innovation and progress
iOS 7 = Steve jobs would have hated it
OS X = incremental improvements and refinements
free software = should have happened a long time ago

You forgot:

64-bit A7 = true leadership
PCIe SSD = removing an age old bottle neck
Retina MBP = biggest jump in resolution ever
new iMac = more all-in-one than ever before
colored iPhones = well now they exist
circles = why do they need to be everywhere?

What's missing is the fun! The last time Apple did something just to give users a smile, was the shredder animation in Passbook. Since then they've sucked the joy out of iOS completely and startet with making the first OS X apps look boring. iOS 7 is not apple-like software. It's not playful enough.
 
Since Jobs died Apple has lost it's spark. I use to get so excited when they released a new product, but these days the feelings aren't there. Apple just feels like another company now.

Say that again in December. Apple hasn't released "new" products since Steve announced the iPad years ago. Tim has stated multiple new products this year. Let's see what the post Steve Jobs Apple can produce. So far I have been extremely impressed in how Apple has kept its spark and held true to its values for the most part. There have been hiccups (cough genius commercials, super buggy software that was not ready for launch when released) but overall the core values at apple seem the same. Sure when Tim & Co. Take stage this year to announce whatever new stuff they have it won't be as magical a show as Steve gave but the products will be amazing none the less.

I feel like most of the people complaining about the lack of new innovative products have only followed apple since the iPhone was introduced, maybe since the iPod era. There were many long periods of stagnation in between great breakthroughs even with Steve at the helm. Truly useful innovation like the iPhone takes time. Apple was working on improving and innovating and improving and refining and spent decades mastering the phone before accepting the design that was the iPhone.

Be patient, technology is easy, good technology that is useful and practical takes time and experience. Both are things Apple has plenty of.
 
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circles = why do they need to be everywhere?

What's missing is the fun! The last time Apple did something just to give users a smile, was the shredder animation in Passbook. Since then they've sucked the joy out of iOS completely and startet with making the first OS X apps look boring. iOS 7 is not apple-like software. It's not playful enough.

Yes, why they made call buttons smaller is beyond me... One thing is design clarity and other thing is UX. In Forstall's era the two were combined for good, now with iOS 7 not only there is not joy for users, there is also lot's of UX fails... and this makes me a little sad. To see that they have no clue how to make great UX anymore...

I used to look forward for any new ios point update before, now it's like I'm affraid of how many UX issues will be made this time...
 
On the one hand, I'm inclined to agree, the lack of broad-stroke innovation is deeply unsettling, as is Apples inability to complete any of the products it begins.

On the other, though, I hate this kind of melodramatic navel-gazing about such trivial matters in the world.

With any luck, Apple declines its way out of consumer toys and trinkets, back to focusing on making decent computers that appeal to a select fringe of lunatics. Maybe then they'll finally "Fix the <*%ing Finder", and we won't be so crazy for using it.
 
Not sure I agree that Apple is in decline; with Steve Jobs gone some of the magic surrounding product announcements is gone, as Keynotes had something to them that the ones without him simply lack.

But product-wise I very much doubt that Apple will decline; slow down a little maybe, but the products released recently have been perfectly good, and it's hard to imagine what Steve Jobs could have caused to be done differently. I mean we now have even lighter iPhones and iPads, and the new Mac Pro is one of the most exciting desktop releases in a long, long time; polarising perhaps, but it's a stylish, and very modern machine which is in true Apple style.

Granted it's hard to tell how long some of these have really been in development for, so we don't know if Steve Jobs was involved or not, however early in the process. Tim Cook may not have the same presence, and he may have a more by-the-numbers outlook, but I don't think that means Apple is going to suddenly start making worse products, not at all. The main risk is that there would be a repeat of Apple's historical failures once Steve Jobs left, but that was largely a result of suddenly branching out all over the place into lots of quaint, but ultimately unsuccessful, products like the Newton, Pipin etc. etc. which broke the focused product lines that Apple had built itself upon and does well with today. I don't see Tim Cook as someone who will uncontrollably branch out into all new product lines; the rumours of wearables kind of stays within the mobile category of iPhones and iPods, and could easily replace one or more iPod models that arguably aren't necessary anymore. Apple TV development seems only logical due to its growth, but neither is exactly all-new territory for Apple; for example adding games/apps to Apple TV is actually quite a small step after the iOS ecosystem, a smart watch is just another form of mobile device which is something Apple are now pretty good at.
 
Haunted Empire Review, Great Title, Shame About the Contents. http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/mar/10/haunted-empire-book-review
 
Touch ID = winner
iOS in the car = loser
802.11ac = just a spec bump from a supplier
new Mac Pro = incredible innovation and progress
iOS 7 = Steve jobs would have hated it
OS X = incremental improvements and refinements
free software = should have happened a long time ago

You forgot:

64-bit A7 = true leadership
PCIe SSD = removing an age old bottle neck
Retina MBP = biggest jump in resolution ever
new iMac = more all-in-one than ever before
colored iPhones = well now they exist
circles = why do they need to be everywhere?

What's missing is the fun! The last time Apple did something just to give users a smile, was the shredder animation in Passbook. Since then they've sucked the joy out of iOS completely and startet with making the first OS X apps look boring. iOS 7 is not apple-like software. It's not playful enough.
Good grief this is iOS in the car 1.0 and from the looks of it is a better implementation then Google and Microsoft has ever had in the car. The jury is still out, it's too soon to make that determination. I'm sure there will be plenty of software updates for iOS in the car
 
completely redesigned Mac Pro

What new innovative products did Apple bring in the last 10 years before his death?

iPod, various smaller iPods, iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad...

They're all nearly the same product or the evolution of the same product... It's only been 3 years-ish since Steve died what big leaps in innovation are you looking for? They have some sort of wearable in the pipes and they've got a thing or two up their sleeve... not sure if you actually ever followed Apple or are you actually deluded enough to think that there actually WAS a new magical Apple invention every single year prior to Jobs' death.


New Mac Pro? HAHAHAHA


Making a new version of a product that only .0001% of consumers care about isn't innovation. And you forget the Mac Pro isn't a new product


No iWatch, no new Apple TV display, nothing, just obvious upgrades of existing products that are expected


Like the iPad Air, a thinner lighter iPad was EXPECTED
 
The issue is, their products haven't really changed in a few years but theres still nothing better.

iOS7 is already boring, and if the screenshots of iOS8 are legit....wow it looks identical. They need to overhaul the whole UI on both OSX and iOS, or at least add options for customization by users.
 
So... they redesigned iOS mainly to put Forstall in his place (after he left) and to get back at Jobs. Yeah right. This writer clearly doesn't understand design, and she doesn't understand Apple. This book is nothing more than hard copy linkbait.
 
Since Jobs died Apple has lost it's spark. I use to get so excited when they released a new product, but these days the feelings aren't there. Apple just feels like another company now.


Maybe it is because they haven't actually released anything actually new in the past 3 years? I mean I guess there is the Mac Pro, but that is still not a new market category.

When looking at Steve Jobs history you have iPhone, iPod, iPad, iMac, Apple II, etc. Those were all great announcements - but you have to remember they span over a period of nearly 30 years. Even if you start from his return with the iMac you are still talking 17 years.

If we don't see Apple entering a new market this year I would start to be concerned. At this point it is still business as usual.
 
I've been saying this since somewhere around 2009, that Apple had lost its 'mojo'. I didn't realize that's when Cook took over.

Apple has enough cash in the bank to weather any storm, but they're definitely not trending 'up' right now.

I see people switching from iOS to WP and if you compare OS X to OS X, you'll see where Snow Leopard boots faster than Mavericks. If Apple is trying to have a good foundation OS, these are not good things, not at all.
 
I honestly have no idea what the hell people are expecting from Apple these days. Tons of crap has happened since jobs died: Macbook Pro Retina, Mac Pro, slim iMacs, iPad Air and **** ton of new crap on the iPhone.

I guess jobs was more of a god or something to some people, like only if Jobs tells you that product X is good then it is, if not then it just feels like a regular product. Well allow me wake you all the f### up, and by all I mean you, Yukari Iwatani. Apple products have always been regular products and Jobs was a regular guy not a god. Today's Apple is not much different from yesterday's Apple except for your infatuation over Steve Jobs. We loved him too, but nothing close to your level, time to move on.
 
New Mac Pro? HAHAHAHA


Making a new version of a product that only .0001% of consumers care about isn't innovation. And you forget the Mac Pro isn't a new product


No iWatch, no new Apple TV display, nothing, just obvious upgrades of existing products that are expected


Like the iPad Air, a thinner lighter iPad was EXPECTED

I'm sorry when did Apple ever say they were making a iwatch? When did Apple ever say they were making a TV? At some point we have to stop listening to these idiotic analyst
 
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