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I love Apple but Apple was so last decade... this is the decade of Microsoft in terms of desktop. My MSFT shares have been up $20 since 2015.

Though I love my Apple Watch Series 2!

I recently reviewed the line up of MacBooks to suggest one for a friend. Sheesh! I hope the MacBook gets an upgrade as predicted in April and a lower price. Looks like that Air will be discontinued. Glad my 2012 Pro Retina is good for another 4 years. I suggested getting the Previous Pro.

Sent from my Surface Pro 4
 
>It's not the fault of Tim Cook, but it's not an area where there will be any more innovation.


You'll never need more than 640 kB of RAM.
Now we do have far more than 740kb of ram but it still is nothing else but ram.
Same with smartphones. They already do all the important stuff most people wish for. We will mostly see speed bumps, better cameras and some ad ons like maybe a built in mini projector or a curved screen ;) or whatever but it will more or less be a smartphone like we know it since 2007.
5 days battery life in a thin phone would be great but even then it's the same thing in the end.
Maybe one day it really will be speech recognition and AI on a perfect level that revolutionizes the way we interact with the device, but today Siri is light years away from being that.
 
To be fair, yes, it suggests bad judgement. Or at least a willingess to self deceive. In this case, his comments are absurd, as it is obvious that the "smartphone" will replace the PC/laptop in the end. And that's far from done yet.
That wouldn't be innovative. That's exchanging one form factor for another (effectively). And even then it won't happen as there are many applications of technology that aren't suitable for a smartphone no matter how powerful. Try running something like PixInsight on it...
 
Then who's fault is it?
You're funny!
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Wow, so much hate towards him. Reason being, he's right. Smartphones as we know them have become commoditized. It's happened at a way quicker pace than I think anyone had thought it would. I mean look at it. Year after year, the biggest things that get hashed out is who has the better screen and camera. That's not innovation, that's evolution. A full screen no button iPhone isn't really innovative either. It's the most practical next step, so with any additional biometric sensors. Set your apple bias aside, and look at what they've shown off the last two to three years and it reminds of keynotes before the iPhone, you know when they talked about macs. Things are slowing down in the innovation.

If you don't believe me, ask yourself why Tim has gone full steam services. Smartphone market isn't fully saturated but it's getting close, at least in the large growth rate. For the most part it's going to be people leave android to iOS, and vise versa. Back and forth.

Truth is, Apple currently doesn't have a next that we can clearly see. iPad is hardly a next, it's a niche. Same goes with the apple watch. Wearables in general haven't taken off as much as people thought they would.

I'm not saying Apple's doomed but let's face it, the iPhone is nearing it's peak of "innovation". If you count faster speeds, better camera, or better display as innovative, then our definitions of innovation are then very very different.

Apple hasn't done it with the watch, yet...and may not have the will to do it. I feel like if they had some *innovations* in terms of sensors for health they might come up with something that grows into being a market disrupter. The fashion accessory/extension of a phone isn't a game changer. On the other hand, something that can sense me having a heart attack or stroke, phone 911, and send my vitals to the EMTs/ICU could be a big deal.
 
Jobs said it when he said that you are fortunate to work on one ground breaking product in your lifetime. The issue becomes what is the next revolution for Apple. It likely isn't going to be a revolution...they can try.

But WHY do they have to change an industry with a new product every year?
Can't they just make great products that tech blogs can gripe about (but secretly love) so that they can get clicks?

Apple makes all the profits in the smartphone industry (who cares if you sell phones if you don't make money at it). They dominate in customer satisfaction and the quality is second to none. Let them make products with incremental improvements that work and enjoy life...have fun creating and using these products and stop demanding a ground breaking revolution every year.
And I wonder what percentage of the PC market profits goes to Apple as well?
They may not sell as many but I bet they're near the top in profits?
 
There is still robotics. Maybe that is 10 years from now but after AI software is more mature, devices like Echo will sprout legs and walk and do stuff.

In the meantime, Apple should update their Macs or reduces prices if the components are obsolete.
The processors for the iMacs are the newest chip that intel makes for that design. The Kaby lake version were just released. Mac Pro is another conversation.
 
I got an Apple Watch 2 last year and I love it. It helps me exercise, which i need. There is a ton of room for innovation, I'm holding my breath waiting for them to do skin testing with the sensors in the back to detect glucose reading for my diabetes. We have a 30% diabetics in the US and its going towards 50% in a few years. Can you imagine if each of them bought a Watch from Apple? It would be so much better than constantly poking myself with needs to test my blood.
There are other medical options as well... to test all sorts of medical issues. It's silly to imagine innovation is over.
 
Now we do have far more than 740kb of ram but it still is nothing else but ram.
Same with smartphones. They already do all the important stuff most people wish for. We will mostly see speed bumps, better cameras and some ad ons like maybe a built in mini projector or a curved screen ;) or whatever but it will more or less be a smartphone like we know it since 2007.
5 days battery life in a thin phone would be great but even then it's the same thing in the end.
Maybe one day it really will be speech recognition and AI on a perfect level that revolutionizes the way we interact with the device, but today Siri is light years away from being that.
You're not thinking creatively enough.

How about a 'smartphone' (or whatever we call them) that does everything we currently expect (calls, messages, contacts), but acts as our one and only "PC" as well, wirelessly connecting to any display device and keyboard/input device we need it to. Work, home, away at a hotel... you always have your stuff in a small, portable, secure package that's as powerful or more so than today's desktops, connecting by multi-gigabit per second wireless networks. Need a laptop to do some work on a plane? Sure... the keyboard and screen can communicate wirelessly with the CPU in your pocket.

How about where it stores your profile for navigation points when you sit down in to any semi-automatous or automatous car? Wouldn't matter - rental car or borrowing a friends - you hop in and say "take me home" and it knows who you are and where you're going. All stored on your 'smartphone' and connecting wirelessly to the car's systems.

It could act as your wallet, storing your passport, licenses, credit cards, etc. And it will securely lock should it leave your person.

I'm just coming up with things I've read about... so I don't even pretend for a second to be a visionary. One can only imagine some of the really creative stuff people are thinking of.

Yes, many of these things partly exist now and also are in their infancy. But don't think for a second that phone, text messages, Facebook and camera are all a 'smartphone' will ever do.
 
You don't need innovation to be a useful or successful product. Most of the industries we have today are established with very little real innovation and change but thrive. Cars, washing machines, stereo's whatever..
You don't have to be new or flashy or even a disruptor to do well and be valuable.

I suppose when your an investor like Theil all that matters is "new". How else do you make money? But we must remember that there are period of history without this level of hyper innovation. It's normal and to be honest is pretty good. Constant change isn't always a good thing either.
 
Doesn't all of this REALLY depend on how you define innovation?

I was just talking to a software developer the other day who thought Apple was essentially irrelevant, as far as software coders looking for work is concerned. His point was that Apple has zero chance of making any big inroads in corporate I.T. in the future, and that, plus their closed environment, virtually guarantees that very few people will make any real money writing software for the Mac.

I pointed out that the iPhone is still pretty much the #1 selling smartphone in the world so at least he could surely see value in coding for iOS? He said no, because the iPhone is stagnant and hasn't really innovated much at all since its initial release -- rendering it very uninteresting for developers.

Now, I beg to differ with that -- considering changes to the iPhone included going from only allowing web-based apps to run on it to having a whole App Store with fully functional self-contained apps and continuous improvement in the camera technology on them, not to mention changes in screen size and resolution and much more. But at the end of the day, all of that is just "inevitable, incremental upgrades" by some people's standards.

I have a feeling this is where Peter Thiel is coming from too? As a venture capitalist, he's really looking for fresh game-changing ideas. He's not going to get excited at all by another smartphone that so much as resembles an existing model. If it runs yet another revision of iOS? That's "boring" to guys like him.
 
I have yet to find a real need for other than a basic phone to make and receive phone calls. I see those in the middle of conversations just stop listening/talking and grab their phone. Absolutely no manners. I see drivers swerving here and there as they text. Many are involved in accidents.
I D I O T S !!!
 
Rich man makes a statement, being wealthy means he clearly is all knowing and therefore we should just parrot his statements in the media. More (of nothing) to come at 10 folks!
No one is telling you to be a parrot lol people and the media do that all on their own.
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I have yet to find a real need for other than a basic phone to make and receive phone calls. I see those in the middle of conversations just stop listening/talking and grab their phone. Absolutely no manners. I see drivers swerving here and there as they text. Many are involved in accidents.
I D I O T S !!!
What does any of that have to do with the topic at hand? Did you just want to publicly call a group of people idiots?
 
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In a "Confirm or Deny" feature by The New York Times this week, PayPal co-founder and venture capitalist Peter Thiel "confirmed" that "the age of Apple is over" based on his belief that smartphones will lack further innovation.While the iPhone has become a familiar product as it turns ten, which perhaps makes it less exciting to some, to say smartphones are not an area where there will be any more innovation will certainly fuel a debate. And, of course, while the iPhone is Apple's most profitable product, it's not its only.

Thiel's comment can be argued one way or the other, but it does raise the question of what Apple's next "one more thing" will be after annual iPhone sales declined for the first time amid an uncharacteristically down year for Apple--perhaps something in the augmented reality or electric vehicle spaces? Will this be the year Apple pushes deeper into artificial intelligence with Siri and an Echo-like device?

Apple chief executive Tim Cook has routinely teased about what's around the corner. Last year, he said Apple has "great innovation in the pipeline," including "things you can't live without that you just don't know you need today." Likewise, he told employees last month that Apple has "great desktops in our roadmap," and earlier this week he said "the best is yet to come" for iPhone.

Article Link: Peter Thiel 'Confirms' the 'Age of Apple is Over,' But Says It's Not Tim Cook's Fault
[doublepost=1484257440][/doublepost]Thought #1 - The age of Apple has been over so many times before
 
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Actually, it's everyone's fault
We basically used up all the "new" technology we invented, but not used by majority of customers since the Internet market crash
Now, we are just making a phone, trimming features, to put into different cases, because we want different outlooks, and high spec numbers, to consider growth and success
We should admit it's no longer sustainable, and we should just stop forcing those company pushing dead projects every three months to get a doping boost in stock price (remember Google's Titan? No, not the Apple car thing, the Google Internet plane that come up to fight against FaceBook Internet plane, and got shut down yesterday)
 
There is too much hate and personal attack directed to Peter. I only comment here because people I thought was respectful start to personally attacking him, like the post from today in Daring Firewall saying that because he does not used the seat belt 1 time a personal attack and insult is justified. Attack the issue, the problem, never the person or else you are just like them.

http://daringfireball.net/linked/2017/01/12/dowd-thiel
 
Maybe he's just holding a short position on AAPL and trying to talk it down. Follow the money.
 
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'PayPal co-founder' - didn't really need to carry on to know it was BS

The Paypal Mafia are some of the most intelligent people. Peter Thiel is a board member for Facebook, founded Paypal and is the CEO of Palantir, an incredibly prestigious company to work for as a software engineer.... he might know a thing or two.
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I'm sure this guy is long gone from PayPal, but if Apple Pay supported person-to-person payments and they also released an app for Android that allowed Android users to receive electronic Apple Pay payments, that could be a huge blow to PayPal's business.

Well yeah... eBay purchased them.
 
And I wonder what percentage of the PC market profits goes to Apple as well?
They may not sell as many but I bet they're near the top in profits?

I imagine it is staggering given the high cost and high demand of their products.

One thing that often gets missed (and it is why Tim Cook rose to prominence) is supply chain and warehousing. They have so little lost due to unsold products it drives profitabilty.
 
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