Jobs Biographer Walter Isaacson: Apple 'No Longer the Most Innovative Company'

[maflynn]

Haven't we got them? Pencil on iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods etc. I like and use them and they've been released recently.

Apple pencil 🙄 Tablets have had styli for years and now that apple has one its innovation. The same with the apple watch, yes its nice but but its a smart watch that doesn't run apps that well (though Apple was hoping to see an influx of apps that just hasn't happened).

TouchID

You mean a thumbprint reader - its not like we've never seen any of those.

- Apple Pay

You mean NFC

- Stepped batteries in the MacBook

Others have had stepped batteries before apple.

- The A series of SoCs

You mean the ARM processors? Yes its fast

- ResearchKit
- Swift

What's is innovative about these, please detail it?

- AFPS

Nothing really hugely amazing about that, A new file system was long overdue and it has features that have been in other FS for many many years.

So while Apple has had some nice products, I wouldn't qualify all of them as true innovation

 

[gnipgnop]

All of the different chip series that Apple is rolling out with it's products is one of the biggest innovations they've done. One of the ways you can tell how innovative it really is: none of Apple's competitors are even attempting it.

 

[profets]

Cause the current 3rd year on the same design is more innovative?

The macrumors buyers guide kinda summs up why they have lost the innovative tag, this includes new and existing products , very little is changing. Just a thought
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Question: Do you think the smart watch is a success ? Not Apple Watch but all smart watches ? I think it's a niche product

I think wearables in general will slowly grow into a big market. The watch is still early, and I feel like you could say the same thing about personal computers early on as well as smartphones.

I mean, while we're talking about personal assistants that you speak to hands free, as well as the watch, I have Siri on my wrist "everywhere", not just in my kitchen or in the rooms where I place echos. I use Siri on the watch maybe 100 times per day, all over the place. I really, really cannot imagine replacing that with Echos. I don't think I could. Couple examples from yesterday - was washing the car, both hands soaked but I felt a tap which was a message, I could reply using just my voice. Later on I was BBQing and set a timer using Siri on the watch (I use timers pretty frequently which also seems popular with Echo in the kitchen). I would have needed an Echo out there too for all those times.

 

[Rogifan]

Since when is Walter Isaacson the judge of what's innovative or not?

 

[fokmik]

Apple are rarely first. Stop re-writing the past.



Yep, removing a headphone jack from their most important product was not taking a chance at all. /s



Haven't we got them? Pencil on iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods etc. I like and use them and they've been released recently.



- TouchID
- Apple Pay
- Stepped batteries in the MacBook
- The A series of SoCs
- ResearchKit
- Swift
- AFPS
- AirPods (in particular the magic of the W1 chip)

Yeah all they do is emojis and balloons. /s

yep, totally agree. I think people forget the definition of innovation.

 

[djcerla]

Question: Do you think the smart watch is a success ? Not Apple Watch but all smart watches ? I think it's a niche product

Something like the Surface Studio is a niche product (which may be a very kind way to say it's a complete flop).

At about 27-30 millions pieces sold so far, and accelerating, the Watch is a big hit. Just stop comparing it to the world's most successful product ever, the iPhone.

If the Watch was from Microsoft, or Samsung, pundits would be declaring Apple in deep trouble because of that.

 

[profets]

Innovation is a funny word, everybody fills it in differently. To me, and I suspect to Apple, innovation just means "making a product better", whether that is through iterations on an existing product or entering a market with a "revolutionary" breakthrough product. It's hard to name an Apple product that is worse than its predecessor or, if it's in a new product category, worse than whatever competing products existed before Apple's entry.

Every iPhone and iPad is better than the previous generation. iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch were at launch better than their competitors in fundamental ways. Sure, Apple makes some missteps, Siri is not perfect, and llook at the Mac Pro. But nobody is perfect and those are the exception, not the rule. It's hard to deny that Apple knows how to improve their products and knows how to get a new product category right when everybody else gets it wrong.

I think that's how Apple looks at innovation, but unfortunately what innovation means to a lot of people is flashy, different, futuristic, out there. iPhone 7 is not considered innovative because it looks similar to 6 and 6s, even when the 7 is better in subtle but important ways and people love their iPhones. Like Jony Ive said, it's very easy to be different, but very difficult to be better.

Bingo.

To me, I feel there's only been a handful of truly innovative things/devices.
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Apple pencil 🙄 Tablets have had styli for years and now that apple has one its innovation. The same with the apple watch, yes its nice but but its a smart watch that doesn't run apps that well (though Apple was hoping to see an influx of apps that just hasn't happened).

Do you really think the Apple Pencil is just like every stylus that came before it? It's akin to saying the first iPhone's multitouch capacitive screen was no different than the resistive touch screens we were using prior to it.

I have to say, I feel like putting the focus on apps for the watch wasn't the right move. Watch faces and extensions/glances would be optimal and most useful (in my opinion of course).

You mean a thumbprint reader - its not like we've never seen any of those.

Really? Not even close to the way Apple implemented it with Touch ID.

You mean NFC

Others have had stepped batteries before apple.


You mean the ARM processors? Yes its fast

Let's be honest. You can criticize Apple all you want, but the A series SoCs are far ahead of any mobile chips from other platforms. Not to mention the S series and W series. Their hardware division is really firing on all cylinders. Are there any other companies that have been building chips like the S1 and W1 for small wearable devices and scaling production into the millions of units?

What's is innovative about these, please detail it?


Nothing really hugely amazing about that, A new file system was long overdue and it has features that have been in other FS for many many years.

So while Apple has had some nice products, I wouldn't qualify all of them as true innovation

Ugh, I hate this word innovation. Gets thrown around way too much.

 

[keysofanxiety]

I mean Apple used to be the one that created products that people didn't know they needed, now Google, Amazon and the reviled and hated Samsung are doing that.

What on Earth are these releases that people didn't know they needed until Google/Amazon/Samsung released them? 😕

Some voice controlled personal assistant? Well it's nothing new as an idea and let me tell you, still decades away from anything close to a conversation with the Enterprise computer. Voice technology is still in its infancy and whilst some may be further along than others, it's still pretty naff no matter whose ecosystem you choose to be in.

A phone with no bezels and the fingerprint scanner on the back as a result -- pure form over function so they could say "look, we did it first!" Are these really the products you're holding to a higher standard?

 

[Exile714]

Did anyone say the same thing when Apple didn't make an XBox/PlayStation?

People here keep talking like Apple made anything and everything good in the world when Steve Jobs was alive. They didn't. In my view, as someone late to the Apple party, Apple really only innovated once: with the iPhone. Everything else has been late to the party, but with an interface and user experience second to none.

The reason I switched over to Apple lately is because innovation everywhere is slowing down. Processor improvements, memory, battery, resolution... everything is coming much more slowly and "innovation" is much less valuable.

I'm sure Apple will create a smart speaker that works better than Alexa, and doesn't compromise your personal security in the process. That's how Apple works. I'm sure they'll make virtual reality products when the technology is ready in about five (maybe ten) years, and it will be good, too.

I didn't come to Apple for the next iPhone. Such a thing does not exist.

 

[maflynn]

but the A series SoCs are far ahead of any mobile chips from other platforms

Yes, I concede that the Ax series is better then other ARM processors.

Do you really think the Apple Pencil is just like every stylus

Yes, I am. Apple saw the popularity of the Surface Pro products and they copied MS in this instance. Sorry but if looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, its a duck. Apple finally embraced the idea of using a stylus in its tablets - that's not innovation.

 

[nwcs]

No company can maintain the mantle "most innovative" for an extended time. To even think that is foolishness. Apple certainly wasn't seen as "most innovative" before the iPod. And even when the iPod came out it was panned for not being innovative -- same as the iPad. It's more of a buzzword now to get some kind of marketing/emotional edge for people to self-justify their purchases. What matters is whether Apple is "innovative enough" to maintain sufficient profitability. Eventually the fads change. Just the way it goes.

 

[cdmoore74]

I have zero interest in these virtual assistants but he is completely right. There is nothing of interest coming out of Apple that is original. Even the iPhone 8 appears to be catching up in design to the Samsung S8 and we can't even be 100% sure that it's releasing this year. And just look at the last iPad.
I don't expect anything original out of Apple anytime soon. Just rehashes of the same old idea or taking someone else's idea and polishing it up with a Apple logo.

 

[macfacts]

Apple 'No Longer the Most Innovative Company'

That will be true if they placed fingerprint sensor on the back of upcoming iPhone

Synaptics already has the tech to put a FP sensor under a glass screen. If the Iphone X doesn't have this feature, it isn't due to lack of innovation. It is cause Apple is too cheap to pay the licensing fees to use it.

Also, while Apple is working on smartwatch bands, MS has a smart watch that can help peopke with Parkinson's disease ...

 

[Sunny1990]

Also, while Apple is working on smartwatch bands,

True! What more can be excepted when Tim Cook in office, New watch bands and new emojis 😡 that's what apple is innovating these days

 

[MartialEagle]

I see a lack of excitement, a lack of coolness and lack of strategy coming from Apple. We get thinner products and emojis, but Amazon created Alexis. I mean Apple used to be the one that created products that people didn't know they needed, now Google, Amazon and the reviled and hated Samsung are doing that.

I see at times, Apple protecting its lead more then taking chances. To use Steve Job's quote they're not staying hungry staying foolish.

How many years have we heard Tim Cook say that they have some pretty exciting products in the pipeline, 4 years? 5 years?

Lately we see less true innovation and more following the crowd. I mean they're copying the popularity of snapchat with those emojis/balloons and other affects in Messages.

I remember Jonathon Ive talking about the iPhone- I can't remember If it was the first release or not. He was speaking about the beauty of the device is you are not preoccupied that you are holding it. The thought that time they put into the "feel". Maybe the esthetics have overridden technology. At the same time I think the things the phone can do is mind boggling though their mac lineup kinda sucks.

 

[mdridwan47]

Walter Isaacson, the biographer of Steve Jobs, went on record this week to express his belief that Google and Amazon have overtaken Apple to become the most innovative technology companies of the modern day.

Google, okay.. Amazon? What? What did they innovate?

 

[profets]

Yes, I concede that the Ax series is better then other ARM processors.


Yes, I am. Apple saw the popularity of the Surface Pro products and they copied MS in this instance. Sorry but if looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, its a duck. Apple finally embraced the idea of using a stylus in its tablets - that's not innovation.

I'm not claiming innovation - I mentioned earlier how I dislike how often that word is thrown around.

But that doesn't take away from the fact that Apple has done an excellent job with the Pencil (as well as other products), which was in response to 'lack of excitement' and 'Tim cook talking about products in the pipeline'.

Things like the Watch, the AirPods, the Pencil & iPad are about general computing moving forward and not always being restricted to a keyboard and mouse on a desk.

 

[Keane16]

I wouldn't qualify all of them as true innovation

Then by your standards nobody has innovation.

Just to remind you innovation "a new method, idea, product, etc".

So while you may have seen a thump print readers - they sucked in UX and reliability (I had one on my work issues Compaq laptop). The new method for Apple was bringing a sensor that uses capacitive touch to detect the user's fingerprint. That goes for a lot of your dismissive examples.

 

[profets]

Synaptics already has the tech to put a FP sensor under a glass screen. If the Iphone X doesn't have this feature, it isn't due to lack of innovation. It is cause Apple is too cheap to pay the licensing fees to use it.

Also, while Apple is working on smartwatch bands, MS has a smart watch that can help peopke with Parkinson's disease ...

That's some great logic there. Because Apple makes watch bands means they haven't been doing any work in terms of health, research, sensors and medicine in general via the watch (or other wearable products)?

 

[mr.steevo]

I dunno, I somewhat disagree. I mean we are talking about home personal assistants. Not really a big deal imo.

Apple still has the bet mobile platform and iOS. Still the best ecosystem. Still the best continuity between devices.

I don't really feel any major tech company is "innovating".

Elon Musk is the innovation king as we speak. Everyone else is playing with toys.

Send a payload into orbit and then have the rocket land itself on a moving platform in the ocean so it can be used again?

Reignite the electric car movement through encouraging tasteful design, solar charging stations and improving battery design?

Use these technologies to send humanity to other worlds and moons where oil does not exist?

...

Nah. Amazon Echo. Now THAT's innovation!

 

[Fender2112]

I feel the whole tech industry has been stagnate the past few years.

 

[NT1440]

Nothing really hugely amazing about that, A new file system was long overdue and it has features that have been in other FS for many many years.

....what? Seriously?

What other company has put out a stable, completely new, modern filesystem for mass consumption in the last 15+ years? Let alone deployed it on tens of millions of devices in a single day? That's shocking from a technical standpoint. The fact that some of the features of APFS exist is simply because....file systems exist.

Frankly this segment read like someone who doesn't appreciate just how big a feat Apple pulled off on this one....but to be fair the entirety of tech "journalism" (read: people who review shiny new **** without any technical appreciation, beyond spec sheets, for pay) missed it too, probably because it isn't shiny.

 

[maflynn]

What other company has put out a stable, completely new, modern filesystem for mass consumption in the last 15+

The following are modern file systems that have as much or more features and have been out for years. Ext3, ext4, zfs

Apple was going to go to zfs several years ago, but then inexplicably changed their minds.

 

[cfedu]

After using android for 2 years I recently went back to iPhone, at first it was a great experience but the more I use iOS the more limited it feels. Sure the hardware worked flawlessly and was super fast, but on the software side it was a step back for me. First chance I can scoop a great deal on a nice android, I'm going back.

 

[Apple blogger]

- TouchID
- Apple Pay
- Stepped batteries in the MacBook
- The A series of SoCs
- ResearchKit
- Swift
- AFPS
- AirPods (in particular the magic of the W1 chip)

Yeah all they do is emojis and balloons. /s

Dual camera with dslr like blur
Thinner devices
Apple Watch
Touch bar on mac
Force/ 3D Touch with Haptic engine
True tone display
Apple TV App Store