Where are the Blockbusters?

[WilliamDu]

As an original Mac enthusiast from the 1984 Little Mac at home and at work before I retired 22 years ago, through all the generations owned, including my present household collection of 21 and 27 inch iMacs, five iPods including two Classics, four iPads, and a Macbook for a while, I sense a significant lull in the Apple story. 32 great years with Apple seem to be fading.

Where are the Blockbusters? The current drastic slide in Apple shares is a glaring symptom of the loss of new ideas. Blah software updates everywhere, no matter the spin, won't fix this issue. Particularly when each one brings new hiccups, some of which don't get fixed. Degradation in iTunes user friendliness complaints are widespread. Jobs wouldn't have let the latest versions out of the house. I protect my 13,000 iTunes tracks with my Classics, two external HDs, and DVDs. I don't trust the Apple OS that destroyed 40% of my Photo library over several updates, to not destroy my music library as well.

The iPad appears to be the last real "new", slightly different in concept, Blockbuster item. Yes, there are the Watch and the Pencil, but the Watch is just a smaller, lessor Touch with a wristband so far and lacks independence. The Watch is the first "new" device that I have no urge to run out and buy. Even the iPad is a giant but much more powerful Touch. Labeling the iPad 3 a Pro doesn't make it something new. Labels don't matter-concepts matter. The "make it thinner" concept is dumb.

The Spaceship Campus will be great when complete, and the Cloud is nice with reservations, but not a unique Apple brainstorm. All the solar arrays are commendable but again, not unique.

The Little Mac was a real Blockbuster as were the early Notebooks, the iPhone, the iPods, iTunes,and the iMacs.

These were all outgrowths of the Jobs genius.

Since Cook, what do we have? Monthly management shuffles and hirings? iCars!? Dr. Dre? Music, if it survives? Software wiping out our own Music? Significant software glitches for we customers to troubleshoot for Apple? Beats earphones? My 1980s Sony MDRs are far better at a fraction of the price. Again, names don't matter. Missing quality control matters.

Cook is a business manager and apparently a good one. His next tier managers are just that, but where is the genius of the first thirty years? Jobs is sorely missed. Not because he was a nice guy (which apparently he wasn't), but because he saw and made things we needed before we knew we needed them. That factor is gone and shows no sign of coming back. Fortunately the core products remain magnificent, except for the deserted little Classic and the unreliable software updates.

The annual Apple dog and pony shows are getting jaded compared to years ago, and even the new underground auditorium can't fix that. The applause is no longer deafening. The yearly "One More Thing" is history.

The great ideas are missing.

 

[sigmadog]

This old curmudgeon can only agree.

 

[MacsRgr8]

As stated many times, history seems to repeat itself at Apple.

Apple is (was... ) doing very well because of the vision and products generated in Job's era.
Like before this post-Jobds momentum push can last about 10 years orso.

Like before, Apple do very well after Jobs absence, as the new CEO can use the existing product line to explore new markets and thrive off the good name Apple has made for itself the past 20 years.
The new CEO is a smart businessman, good at making shareholders happy and usually has a short-term vision. But they don't know anything about products and what generally makes their customers happy.

As before, the competition catch up and even seem to pass Apple.

 

[zmunkz]

Unfortunately I think you are quite right... I think Jobs was really truly more interested in building great things than short term profits and as a result he was willing to go back to the drawing board a hundred times if he had to, to get something right. Well never know the number of products that never saw the light, although rumors and patents have left hints.

I don't think Cook thinks the same way. The Apple watch and the new TV are examples of products that were on the right track, but really not there yet, really not game changers, but Cook wanted to be seen moving Apple forward so he ran with it. After a while that philosophy affects the whole business and products.

Hopefully they recalibrate themselves once they stop taking for granted the momentum carried by their brand name. They certainly have the team to do it, it is just a matter of focusing on the big picture.

 

[TheRainKing]

It's over man. The Apple you knew died with Steve Jobs. Now Apple is exactly the same as every other company out there. There won't be another hit like the iPod or iPhone, not from Apple, and probably not from any other company either. Steve Jobs was one of a kind and now he's gone. Get use to mediocrity.

 

[C DM]

It's over man. The Apple you knew died with Steve Jobs. Now Apple is exactly the same as every other company out there. There won't be another hit like the iPod or iPhone, not from Apple, and probably not from any other company either. Steve Jobs was one of a kind and now he's gone. Get use to mediocrity.

Similar words were likely said about Apple in the 90s.

 

[Pakaku]

The Pencil is a pretty big deal if you're an artist, among other uses it has. It doesn't have to be huge like the iPod to be a big deal in its own right.

The Watch still has a ways to go, but so did the iPod and iPad.

 

[maflynn]

Similar words were likely said about Apple in the 90s.

Yep, then Steve Jobs returned to Apple and saved the company

 

[C DM]

Yep, then Steve Jobs returned to Apple and saved the company

Basically showing that all kinds of unknown and unexpected things can essentially easily happen to affect things in unpredictable ways.

 

[maflynn]

Basically showing that all kinds of unknown and unexpected things can essentially easily happen to affect things in unpredictable ways.

Brought about by a visionary, which it seems Apple now lacks.

 

[C DM]

Brought about by a visionary, which it seems Apple now lacks.

As it likely similarly seemed was the case in the 90s.

 

[maflynn]

As it likely similarly seemed was the case in the 90s.

That's my point, Apple was sliding into bankruptcy in the 90s and it took a visionary to turn things around. Right now there does not seem to be any visionaries at apple. We're getting thinner products, so much so that cameras now protrude like some ugly cyclops out of the back of the iPhone.

iPad sales have cratered, and iPhone sales have stopped growing. Instead of seeing some real action we get pink phones and laptop.

I'm not saying they're doomed, but rather an observation that you cannot use what happened in the 90s as proof that Apple will turn things around, because back then they had Jobs, this time they don't. They may very well have some fabulous products in the pipeline but correct me if I'm wrong, but Cook has made similar promises about exciting innovative products in the pipeline for years, with little to show for it.

 

[C DM]

That's my point, Apple was sliding into bankruptcy in the 90s and it took a visionary to turn things around. Right now there does not seem to be any visionaries at apple. We're getting thinner products, so much so that cameras now protrude like some ugly cyclops out of the back of the iPhone.

iPad sales have cratered, and iPhone sales have stopped growing. Instead of seeing some real action we get pink phones and laptop.

I'm not saying they're doomed, but rather an observation that you cannot use what happened in the 90s as proof that Apple will turn things around, because back then they had Jobs, this time they don't. They may very well have some fabulous products in the pipeline but correct me if I'm wrong, but Cook has made similar promises about exciting innovative products in the pipeline for years, with little to show for it.

It's definitely not proof of anything, I was simply using it to say that Apple has gotten out out of a much worse hole when no one really suspectrd, let alone expected, it could happen. It certainly doesn't mean something like that can happen just like that again, but it shows that all kinds of unknown and unsuspected things can and do happen.