Over 5 Years Since Steve Jobs Died, and Since then We've Seen...

[Anderton]

 

• An Apple watch whose sales figures Apple won't release
  
• The R2D2 computer that's slick and powerful, but not very practical for audio types
  
• A MacBook Pro with a (wait for it!) Touchbar
  
• An iPhone with a curved screen
  
• Declining phone and tablet sales
  
• Wireless ear buds
  
• Yet another streaming music service
  
• On-again, off-again rumors about a car
  
• The ongoing dividing line between iOS and MacOS
  

 

I may be missing something, but that doesn't seem like an impressive list of accomplishments. As Steve Jobs said, "Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful, that's what matters to me." Are any of those wonderful?

 

To those who think I'm Apple-bashing, nothing could be further from the truth. It's more like seeing a friend who used to be 24/7 awesome, but is struggling with a drinking problem. You want them to get back to being 24/7 awesome.

[Geoff Grace]

How do you replace a driven visionary who has an uncanny knack for understanding what the public will like? The few people who have those qualities are probably starting their own companies.

 

Nonetheless, I think this incarnation of Apple without Jobs is faring far better than the last one—probably because this one values Jobs's approach far more than the last one did. I don't expect the same high level of innovation from Apple in the years that lie ahead, but I do expect some level of excellence and for them to remain relevant for at least another decade or two.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[bookumdano4]

 

I may be missing something, but that doesn't seem like an impressive list of accomplishments. As Steve Jobs said, "Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful, that's what matters to me." Are any of those wonderful?

 

To those who think I'm Apple-bashing, nothing could be further from the truth. It's more like seeing a friend who used to be 24/7 awesome, but is struggling with a drinking problem. You want them to get back to being 24/7 awesome.

 

Ha....being at the mercy and whim and demands of fans AND delivering a number one album four times a year.

 

 

Maybe Steve meant before going to bed at HIS house every night after seeing some little advancement today in HIS lab behind that steel door in the old Cupertino building. And who knows what HE was seeing because the stuff he saw every day may still not yet have resulted in a releasable product. But was cool progress nonetheless in his mind.

 

As to what Steve was so hyped up over at the end.... the tv. Re-imagining the tv set. He says that in the bio. wtf vision is that? (imo of course)

 

Some of the best Apple advancements came when Steve was purposely kept in the dark. Others, not. So, I don't personally see a valid A+ scorecard for him over the course of his pro life.

 

Apple will probably come out with a few wow products over time that take some catching up from others. But on the other hand, we're no longer in the world dependent on either an 80286 or a Motorola chip with only six guys on the planet knowing how to wire up to make something.

 

Give me a few google sites with schematics, a youtube tutorial, and even I can probably figure out how to modify my toaster to get it to Mars and back, powered by my cellphone.

 

As to cars, has anyone really realized what a bazillion self-driving cars really are once they get out there onto the invisible monorail beam? Mass-transit. That's what. A really expensive (albeit nice) seat in the snakebus. Apple may be thinking, "wtf do we gain by making self-driving cars?" Maybe if they each have a really cool tv inside.

[daddymack]

I have to agree tha tabsent someone who thinks beyond teh realm of what is, and with their other in-house big-brain, the Woz, marginalized, there is no single creative entity at Apple that can get a concept off the design computer and into production the way Jobs could. They are now stuck reinventing their wheel [iPhone/iPad] with little new viable product...anyone have an iWatch? Wearables has so far been a real ho-hum thing. If it were me, I'd be figuring out how to make a foldable screen, that could be scaled as needed...want to watch a movie? Open the panels out to a 9x6 screen, or 18x12. It would kill the iPad, but it would have the portability of a smartphone melded with the advantage of larger viewing area of a tablet...and then some.

I would also be figuring out how to make sure there was never a signal failure...but that not device driven, per se, so it is gonna be trickier.

[Geoff Grace]

Worth a look...

 

 

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[daddymack]

and then I just noticed this...: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — As Apple's stash of cash grows, so does the possibility that the world's most valuable company will use some of the money for a huge acquisition that would expand its empire beyond iPhones and other gadgets.

The company currently holds more than a quarter-trillion dollars it could use to go shopping. So far, the guessing game has primarily focused on possible targets such as Netflix and Tesla Motors. Either deal could make sense, given Apple's long-running interest in providing a TV service to consumers and its more recent work on self-driving cars .But in recent months the takeover talk has swirled around whether Apple might do something even more dramatic by making a bid for Walt Disney Co.

 

[bookumdano4]

Well sooner or later, they're gonna have to get a rocket. They're probably already road-mapping that. You can't use Disney to rope off a moon somewhere in 2130.

[Anderton]

and then I just noticed this...: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — As Apple's stash of cash grows, so does the possibility that the world's most valuable company will use some of the money for a huge acquisition that would expand its empire beyond iPhones and other gadgets.

 

The elephant in the room is indeed Apple's huge amount of money that they can invest in pretty much anything they want. I think they also have the largest market cap of any US company. So the company itself is not on the ropes or anything, but the rep as an innovative company is taking a hit. Granted Jobs gets more credit that he probably deserves - it's said Jon Ivey was the person behind the iPod - but I'm not seeing others "stepping up to the plate." Then again, who knows what's going on behind the scenes...

[Dendy Jarrett]

Some of what Steve envisioned for the TV has actually happened but stays under the radar. In my house hold of 4 we have two iPad minis for the kids and my wife and I have iPad Pros (12"). Those four devices have all but replaced our 60 inch TV unless we are all viewing a movie together. We have comcast and as long as we have an internet connection, we can log on and watch any comcast channel anywhere, anytime. So, we find that we are all watching different things on different devices all at the same time.

I do miss the experiences I had growing up all sitting around the TV together, but it's a different world and different times.

 

To that end, I read an article this week that this year, Apple's R&D budget soared to 60Billion dollars (a far cry from the 16Billion spent last year), so that that tells me that they indeed have something in the works and it MUST be big.

 

D

[daddymack]

Well sooner or later, they're gonna have to get a rocket. They're probably already road-mapping that. You can't use Disney to rope off a moon somewhere in 2130.

 

a rocket? maybe...but I'm more inclined to think they'll put up their own satellites.

[Geoff Grace]

Granted Jobs gets more credit that he probably deserves - it's said Jon Ivey was the person behind the iPod

I think it may be a matter of Jobs getting credit for the wrong things. He prided himself on his recruiting abilities—finding people to work with who were at his level or higher—and there's plenty of evidence that his pride is well deserved, beginning with his partnership with Steve Wozniak. He also had a knack for knowing where technology was going to go and jumping aboard at just the right time.

 

He was a visionary much more than an inventor, but he knew what was going to happen and he acted on it. That alone is a rare quality.

 

Best,

 

Geoff

[Phil O'Keefe]

Innovations are relatively rare, and separated by periods of incremental increases in capabilities. I think Apple will be a major player for some time to come - they have too much money to invest - they'll eventually find more innovative things to sell.

 

The question is, will we see them return to the level and frequency of innovation that they enjoyed under Steve's leadership?