Tim Cook Discusses Steve Jobs, Apple's Rivals, and Calls Apple Watch 'The First Modern Smartwatch'

[freediverx]

Cook is simply rewriting history. There was a big demand for MP3 players at the time apple released its ipod, it only took apple several generations to get it right and sell any significant amount(mainly due to bad design decisions).

Where did Cook say there was no demand for MP3 players? He said people didn't think they needed an iPod, which for many was true.

Before the first iPod, music players were awful contraptions made of cheap plastic with infuriatingly bad software and controls and ridiculous designs mimicking portable CD players.

When the iPod was first announced, Apple haters (and those whose business was threatened by the iPod) ridiculed it with the usual dimwitted complaints about high price, lack of user replaceable batteries, lack of support for every obscure audio format, and the requirement that its music be managed with Apple software rather than via third party software or "simple" drag and drop file management.

Those complaints proved to be wrong, as they did when they were hurled against the iPhone a few years later. They sound very familiar today.

Although the iPod didn't achieve instant sales success (this was a different time for Apple and few people knew much about the company outside of computer circles) it was readily adopted by those who realized what it offered - a beautifully designed pocket sized device with huge storage, an easy to manage library, and a radical new easy to use interface.

In the years that followed, the iPod's design and capabilities improved while more affordable price points emerged. Not only did the iPod prove hugely successful, but it acted as a gateway for people to experience Apple's quality and design philosophy, prodding many to buy their first Mac (yours truly included.)

If that isn't a success story, I don't know what is.

 

[Stella]

I didn't claim that Apple was the first to integrate a HR monitor on a watch. I said they were the first to allow you to send a real time heartbeat to someone.

What do you mean by that? "Send a realtime heart beat to someone".

Your heart beat ends up being displayed on some one else device, in real time? Suppose its ok for some monitoring application ( i.e., during a training session )... as long as its not too long duration.

 

[AppleScruff1]

What do you mean by that? "Send a realtime heart beat to someone".

Your heart beat ends up being displayed on some one else device, in real time? Suppose its ok for some monitoring application... as long as its not too long duration in one session.

The Apple watch allows you to send a real time heartbeat to another Apple watch.

 

[k995]

Iphone was not a huge success the first year (Apple sells more Iphones in one day than they sold I think in one year!). But, during year 2, with the arrival of the app store and the more complete 3GS at the end of the year, it had picked up a huge amount of steam. I'm still using the 3GS to this day and it works quite well. I don't think I could say the same if I was using the 3G or the original phone.

Profitable with a 5-6% marketshare is very good for a first introduction.

And don't forget the market as a whole grew as well.

The main reason people are not wearing other smart watches is not tech, but their look, it has to first a fashion item, and then a tech item. Something that's always out has to emphasize this. That's particularly true because the main buyers of Iphones are not tech geeks.

That's what Samsung and the like seemingly haven't caught on with. Their watches are fist of all, too big : 40% bigger than the smallest Apple Watch on average.

40%? Some are smaller watch urbane from LG or same size like huawei and thats just the once I know.

I actually don't like the apple watch design. To me its quite ugly and I like others better and I do think people will be reluctant to buy one (or any smartwatch)as there is little to nu usability for most. They already spent on a smartphone its like having an MP3 player that has slightly better sound or easier acces to songs.

 

[freediverx]

It's not that Apple doesn't have the first smart watch but wether it help make the market mainstream. Smartphones existed before iPhone, but we're limited and stuck in a niche market.

There's a good reason why smartphones were stuck in a niche market before the iPhone - they sucked. I recall desperately wanting a smartphone but every product on the market was a complete piece of junk.

 

[Even Longer]

Doesn't change the fact that Microsoft's lack of focus on their customers' needs historically lead them to make all the wrong choices from the user's point of view. It's great they <finally> got rid of Ballmer and are exploring the integrated approach but I think it's too little and too late. Also their strategy of trying to shoehorn the same user interface across different devices is dumb.

Well, times are changing, and MS seem to have learned from its Win 8.1 lesson: there will be no single interface for all devices with a Windows 10, but a single operating system underneath.

I find their hardware approach with SP3 intriguing, to say the least.
For combined business, note taking and creative use cases it is by far better option, than enything Mac has to offer today. IMHO.

Apple seems to drift from being professional to pro-fashionable company with every new product iteration. It is ok, but that is the point, where out ways may part.

I really loved Apple as they still were underdogs, but its magic begins to wear off like the display coating on my rMBP..

 

[k995]

no he isnt. MP3 players existed, but they sucked. hardly mainstream, limited to techies. i know, i had the Diamond Rio PMP300, one of the first. when the ipod came along it smoked the socks off of anything else on the market, from gen 1. all of sudden they took off.

hint: theres a reason audio shows are called "podcasts" -- the ipod made them super easy to access and mainstream.

BS
Sales were low, mainly because you needed a mac and firewire. It was stupid design decisions.

In 2003 (3 years after the first gen) it had something like 8-10%

http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories/2004-05-26/ipod-leader-but-not-ruler


And you are surprised you're 98 MP3 player wasn't better then something released years later? LMAO

I had an iRiver in 2002 just as good as any ipod at the time.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Let's be honest. The critics were sort of right. iPad sales have stagnated/decreased. Incredible device, but it's getting cannibalized by phablets.

Or maybe people bought one already and it will last them for 3 years. Everyone doesn't need the incremental upgrade on optional technology every year like those who like being at the forefront of tech.

 

[usarioclave]

Iphone was not a huge success the first year .

Well, that's complete and utter ********. The iPhone 1 sold 6.1 million at full retail pricing. At that time, that was a huge number of devices to sell. According to statista, the iPhone 1 had 3.4% and 5.2% of the shipping smartphone market in the first two quarters.

 

[SirCheese]

These boards really need to stop trolling like this.

'He knows Apple is falling further behind' - false. Even if Apple WAS falling further behind, which is false, the CEO of the company wouldn't acknowledge it anyways.

'so he has to keep talking the company up' - he's the CEO. That's his job. It's not a criticism.

'mentioning Jobs because he knows the faithful will simply swoon' - meant to incite people who like Jobs equating them to a religious flock, instead of people who truly admired what he did.

You want to silence someones opinion? How nice of you.

 

[linkgx1]

Aye... Almost everyone I know of who hates computers use Windows. They just don't know what they're missing. Yes Macs cost more, but you do get what you pay for. For all of the issues that have been brought up with OS X lately, Windows is full of tiny issues that most Windows users have simply become accustomed to. That isn't to say they're enjoying themselves, but they don't know any other way for an OS to run, so they just get used to it. I'm reminded of that fact each and every time I am forced to use a Windows-based machine... If Apple can keep the OS at the quality it currently is (or perhaps improve upon it), I'm certain that the Mac will keep gaining market share as it has been for a decade.

If you use a Mac for any extended period of time, you almost have no choice but to become addicted. An expensive addiction, but a productive and stress-free one.

Hold on. Yo're meaning to tell me you buy less than $500 Windows machines but spend $1200+ on an apple device....??!

Btw, Mac users become accustomed to several issues on Macs too. I've been enjoying my Signature Edition PC for a while and my custom built computer. Not really sure what you mean by issues.

 

[k995]

I remember the iPad being panned....it was not a device people thought would be needed and here we are 5 years later and everyone has a tablet.

It wasn't, every review it got was great. And it sold like crazy capturing 90% market share in its first year.

Yeah really "panned" .

People may have been in on MP3 players, but the iPod itself wasn't accepted right off the bat. Cook is right in that there were many critics of each of these products at the onset and look at them now.

BS, the ipod was quite flawed and thats why it didn't sell. Once they solved those issues it sold like crazy.

There are plenty of people who are greatly anticipating the Apple Watch. There are also those who think it'll be DOA. History tells us that, when it comes to Apple, go with the former rather than the latter.

I don't know, I immediately wanted ipod, iphone, ipad,... But I feel nothing for apple watch.

 

[daddyofthemac]

what I don't think most recognize...

is that the Watch will be a hit for one reason; status symbol.

The iPad sales have lulled because they are well built, maintain their value and functionality, but also because they are mainly used at home (or work). Do people really need to update their phones every time a new one is out? I could still be using my 4S, really. Fact is, others see your phone, and maybe even subconsciously we like to show off our hardware, many of us. That doesn't apply to the iPad as much, but it certainly will with the Watch like it does a phone.

Despite the fact that many will disagree or do not fall into this group, most do, especially the younger demo, I see the Apple Watch being the next "must have" item for that demo. The bonus is they end up getting a really great watch, and I agree w/ Tim, similar to other phones, tablets, portable mp3 players, this will follow that mold.

 

[doelcm82]

Of course you are. They don't offer anything else.

Not true. With every new, thinner iPhone, they continue to offer the previous, thicker version at a reduced price. The MacBook Air is still available. The non-retina MBP remained available for quite some time.

There are always people who buy the older models, because they don't like the new changes (they probably have attics full of hoarded incandescent bulbs, too). If there were enough of them, Apple would reconsider the changes, but they don't have the numbers.

Apple has been known to reverse course, but generally, they don't need to.

 

[k995]

"We weren’t first on the MP3 player"

No sure what he's supposed to have been rewriting

"the first modern smartphone" -> BS

"People didn't realize they had to have an iPod, and they really didn't realize they had to have the iPhone. And the iPad was totally panned. "-> total BS

...

What is it with comprehension levels these days? "it only took apple several generations to get it right...Same for iphone & ipad but those were instant successes"

So how's that the same?

Perhaps ready beyond the first words he said?

People did want an MP3 player, just not an apple one. Hence the low market share. Nothing to do with "People didn't realize they had to have an iPod"

----------

Oh really? What were the sales numbers like for the top iPod competitor-- the Nomad.

Apple had after 3 years an 8% market share. I gave the source here above.

Sales succes? People didn't care, it took a price reduction and a better ipod that worked with windows before people noticed it. Bad design decisions.

 

[Yebubbleman]

It's nice to see him acknowledge that there were customers wanting optical drives at the time of the mass culling of optical drives from their products.

 

[k995]

Where did Cook say there was no demand for MP3 players? He said people didn't think they needed an iPod, which for many was true.

Before the first iPod, music players were awful contraptions made of cheap plastic with infuriatingly bad software and controls and ridiculous designs mimicking portable CD players.

BS barely any different from ipod. Why do people always have to pretend it was the stoneage before apple arrived on a market?

When the iPod was first announced, Apple haters (and those whose business was threatened by the iPod) ridiculed it with the usual dimwitted complaints about high price, lack of user replaceable batteries, lack of support for every obscure audio format, and the requirement that its music be managed with Apple software rather than via third party software or "simple" drag and drop file management.

They changed most of that in the first couple of years and it became a sales succes. To me that simply means that criticism was spot on.

Those complaints proved to be wrong, as they did when they were hurled against the iPhone a few years later. They sound very familiar today.

Iphone was well received and sold great.

Again every product in the world get criticism. Yet a lot of them do well , nothing to do with apple just that people like to whine.

 

[Smith288]

Not true. With every new, thinner iPhone, they continue to offer the previous, thicker version at a reduced price. The MacBook Air is still available. The non-retina MBP remained available for quite some time.

There are always people who buy the older models, because they don't like the new changes (they probably have attics full of hoarded incandescent bulbs, too). If there were enough of them, Apple would reconsider the changes, but they don't have the numbers.

Apple has been known to reverse course, but generally, they don't need to.

You seem to be ignoring the fact I want increased specs. Not old dusty specs.

I will gladly take the SAME Macbook Pro early 2011 that I have now, except bring more battery, space and memory and ill be a happy camper. I'm not able to afford new MBP every iteration so when a few years pass and they don't offer substantial increases in specs, it's disappointing.

I know they are trying to innovate to keep that fresh, new desirable effect (cmon, a gold macbook?) but I would want, as a customer of the MBP line, a serious, affordable option that gives me power, battery and flexibility as a developer (both iOS and dotnet, meaning, VMWare) each iteration they put out.

Seems like as time goes, they make the MB smaller, more energy efficient and I lose in what could be more powerful, more spacious and more memory to support me in my role.

I guess I could buy a spec'd out PC laptop but I REALLY love my OSX.

 

[bbeagle]

You want to silence someones opinion? How nice of you.

YES. If the person is trolling. Most definitely.

If the person has an anti-Apple or pro-Apple opinion, fine. Let them talk and give a reasoned discussion. But if the person just comes on and says 'Apple Sucks!' then it's trolling.

 

[jrswizzle]

BS barely any different from ipod. Why do people always have to pretend it was the stoneage before apple arrived on a market?







They changed most of that in the first couple of years and it became a sales succes. To me that simply means that criticism was spot on.









Iphone was well received and sold great.



Again every product in the world get criticism. Yet a lot of them do well , nothing to do with apple just that people like to whine.

The whole iPhone thing is nonsense. When it first released it was an AT&T exclusive and unsubsidized....it didn't sell like crazy.

And you've blocked out what you want to block out re the iPad. It may have been well received AFTER being released, but the idea was panned BFORE release.

Like where we are with the Apple Watch right now.

 

[Trius]

I'm surprised he didn't include another big reason for changing connectors... Changing a connector is an easy way to take money from your pocket and put it in his.

I'm just waiting for the next generation MacBook Pro with the "new and improved" single connector. Don't worry they will offer a bunch of "magical dongles" starting at $79.95 to make it the "most versatile" computer ever.

Bitter much?

 

[bbeagle]

It wasn't, every review it got was great. And it sold like crazy capturing 90% market share in its first year.

Read these iPad reviews from 2010 when the iPad was released. Google them. Very easy. I couldn't find any that said it was great.

The general comments are:
Overall, I am underwhelmed, but I realize the iPad is for a different market. I have a MacBook and iPhone — both of which I am happy with and use constantly. There is no room in my lifestyle for an iPad

... and ....

My god, am I underwhelmed by it. It has some absolutely backbreaking failures that will make buying one the last thing I would want to do.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/03/apple-ipad-review/

http://blogs.gartner.com/ray_valdes/2010/01/28/apple-ipad-good-bad-ugly/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/29/apple-ipad-review-photos_n_441770.html

http://gizmodo.com/5458382/8-things-that-suck-about-the-ipad

I could literally list a hundred bad or so-so reviews if I had the time.

 

[Oletros]

How many smartphones had HTC sold before the iPhone? Samsung? LG? Motorola? Huawei? Lenovo?

HTC, Samsung, a lot. In fact the market grown was pronounced

I'm actually curious - Nokia was THE top dog (BB also). But I don't think it's a stretch to say that a very massive portion of mobile devices sold pre-iPhone were what we could consider "dumb phones" now.

No, in fact, according to the definition of smartphone the dumb phone would have been the iPhone, it didn't run any third party app

 

[k995]

The whole iPhone thing is nonsense. When it first released it was an AT&T exclusive and unsubsidized....it didn't sell like crazy.

It sold about a million in the same period it did for 3gs & 3g

It had 20% market share in a year. Thats bad?

And you've blocked out what you want to block out re the iPad. It may have been well received AFTER being released, but the idea was panned BFORE release.

Yeah if you take some comment on a forum about an unreleased product serieus, then EVRERY product gets "panned".

Like where we are with the Apple Watch right now.

I dont agree, I hink a lot of people could see them needing ipod/iphone/ipad, because it offered what they didn't have, yet you don't have that with apple watch.

Some niche like hart beat and sending taps will no doubt generate some intrest, but just how much we will see.

 

[wankey]

Cook is simply rewriting history. There was a big demand for MP3 players at the time apple released its ipod, it only took apple several generations to get it right and sell any significant amount(mainly due to bad design decisions)

Same for iphone & ipad but those were instant successes .

Apple watch is quite something different, apple seems to find the need to stress "you need it" but at the same time try and market it as a fashion item you got to have .

Untrue.

There was huge demand for music in general, not MP3 players. iTunes Music drove iPod sales and Mac sales. Nobody made a walkman with a comprehensive digital music service behind it. Apple did.

There was a niche market for smartphones whilst the masses used dumb phones. RIM grew 10x after they entered the consumer market with their complicated smartphones. Apple saw this and blew them away with a phone designed for consumers. Companies scrambled to copy and steal. The only surviving companies now are the ones who copied Apple's strategy completely to a tee.

Palm, Rim, HP, Microsoft. All dead in the smartphone game.

There was absolutely no demand for iPad, yet Apple has created an entire term in MBA lexicon (if you went to MBA school in the last 10 years) - blue ocean strategy.You create a leap in value in the company by jumping into uncontested waters.

For the Watch, there are many aspects at work:

Blue Ocean Strategy at 100% full throttle.
Apple is now a luxury brand name in China where they sold more iPhones than US
There is huge demand in luxury wearables in general, China's gold consumption has skyrocketed.
There is a massive demand in health (Watch will dominate this market) especially in an aging population such as China's
China has a big trend culture, Apple Watch will be on everyone's wrist by end of the year
China has a much bigger watch culture than the west, it's almost a status symbol.

Start seeing my gist?


My predictions:

Every watch maker is now seeing the end of their existence. In 10 years, rolex will be synonymous with volvo. Rich 40 year olds will be buying 120k teslas, and not volvos.

Apple dominates high end luxury market, digital watch market, health data market, gyms, sports...

Once the watch with its wireless capabilities (ie apple pay) become a serious contender for personal ID, watch can become apple pay, your house key, your car key, your garage key, your passport?

Wearables will become a big thing, Apple's just trying to jump the gun.