You can be emotional about how Apple used to be, but the waiting is over. Every year Tim Cook says, "We have great products in the pipeline." That's executive talk.
Under Steve Jobs, there were 4 revolutionary products in 10 years. Under Tim Cook, there have been none.
Laugh all you want, though have you looked around? This isn't the usual "Apple is Doomed!" hyperbole we've heard about for decades.
Apple has a serious problem brewing, even amongst die hard fans and Mac-dominant industries like design and film. People are fed up with Apple, their arrogance, and their stagnant product lineup.
Should we care? I normally wouldn't, but their complete disregard for their pro user base and Mac lineup actually directly bites into my work and career - and I see the tide shifting in the industry. Mac is not the go to weapon of choice anymore. Far from it actually. In fact I'd say their products, pro or not, are riddled with an "oh... is it any good?" stigma these days.
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Side note:
One could argue all their innovations have been behind the scenes, in the silicone, in their code, in products that are around the corner. Though it has felt like that has been the excuse for years now. "2016 will be the year". It wasn't. TouchBar? I have one, and breaking decades of muscle reflex of touchtyping feels extremely clumsy. It IS clumsy. It may be useful if certain devs jump onboard, but at the moment, feels like a HUGE misfire. And really, this was it, Apple, for 2016, released a laptop with an OLED fn strip. Wow.
it's psychos like Thiel that should fuel Apple's board's rage into action and blow out the hybrid/electric car industry and whatever else they see worth pursuing. He knows Tim is passive. He definitely wouldn't of had the balls to say that if Steve were alive and well.
And what does Facebook have to offer other than a way for the FBI to know everything about (almost) everyone in the US? It's just an app, nothing more, so when people get tired of Facebook and the new greatest thing on earth comes along, I guess Thiel will simply look for another sugar-daddy to pad his wallet.
Apple is and always will be more than a single product and Thiel should know that.
Apple could disrupt Social Media by making a platform where we own our own data and choose how we share (News+Personal).
it's psychos like Thiel that should fuel Apple's board's rage into action and blow out the hybrid/electric car industry and whatever else they see worth pursuing. He knows Tim is passive. He definitely wouldn't of had the balls to say that if Steve were alive and well.
"Detractors say the most recent iPhone 7, while a marvel of technology, offers few differentiating features and sports a three-year-old design. "
I'll take technological marvels over cool design any day of the week..
When I take my iPhone out of my pocket, I want it to do marvelous things for me, not flash it to others to say "look what a cool-looking phone I have!"..
You can be emotional about how Apple used to be, but the waiting is over. Every year Tim Cook says, "We have great products in the pipeline." That's executive talk.
Under Steve Jobs, there were 4 revolutionary products in 10 years. Under Tim Cook, there have been none.
Well, that depends on whether or not you're in Apple's customer demographic or not. In ten years, Apple's core customer base has switched to more active, more mobile professionals and consumers. You may have been a core customer ten years ago; now you're not.
Funny how people don't seem to get a clue about well, anything.
Apple just introduced two ecosystem elements in 2 years that within 3-4 years will be beefed up to a cooperating, totally integrated cluster of personalized services and will cover much of the slack from any stagnating Iphone sales.
Both the Apple Watch and Airpods are selling really really well, if they sell 40M watches and 40M Airpods (not impossible) in 2017 that's around 25B in revenues
And it is just the start, nobody can integrate their products as tightly together, not even Samsung (since they don't control their OS).
When smart watches + Airpods + AR glasses (that are certainly coming) hit $100 B in revenues in 3 years will the Apple is doomed crowd eat crow... No, not at all I gather.
it's psychos like Thiel that should fuel Apple's board's rage into action and blow out the hybrid/electric car industry and whatever else they see worth pursuing. He knows Tim is passive. He definitely wouldn't of had the balls to say that if Steve were alive and well.
You met Steve Jobs.
Seriously, we get it.
Just put it in your signature or something.
No, he worked for him. So I suppose he knows a lot more about Apple than you. Have you worked for Apple or have any inside information? Please share or XXXX.
You can be emotional about how Apple used to be, but the waiting is over. Every year Tim Cook says, "We have great products in the pipeline." That's executive talk.
Under Steve Jobs, there were 4 revolutionary products in 10 years. Under Tim Cook, there have been none.
Assuming you mean the iMac, the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad, that's 1998, 2001, 2007, and 2010 -- 12 years. So you're already exaggerating ...
Tim took over running the day-to-day at Apple a couple of years before Steve died, so credit for the iPad actually goes mostly to Tim (though it was born of ideas developed during the iPhone development period, so we'll give Steve half-credit). And Tim was COO in 2007, so he should also get a lot of credit for the iPhone (along with more people than just Jobs) -- the vision was not his, but his contribution of actually getting the thing to market and manufactured to the scale of demand should not be underestimated as you have done. He saved Apple literally billions of dollars by predicting the rise of flash storage technology and investing heavily in it far ahead of when it became mainstream, and played a very large role in making them the most profitable company the world has ever seen.
So, since Tim has been in charge, we've had a revolution in smartphone cameras, lead by the iPhone, that has disabled all but the pro-end camera industry; a revolution in payment technology spearheaded by Apple; a revolution in book publishing (spearheaded by Amazon, but with strong contributions by Apple); a revolution in the video industry spearheaded by Apple; a revolution in software delivery spearheaded by Apple; a revolution in voice assistants spearheaded by Apple; and a revolution in fitness and medical technology spearheaded by Apple. And that's not a complete list, because some of Apple's most remarkable advances are much less "explosive" than the iPhone -- they are more like flowers blooming than bombs sometimes, but no less remarkable for the slower pace of maturation.
These might not be revolutionary to you because they are not your interests, but they have still affected huge change in our society over a relatively short period of time -- just the five years that Tim has been running the place. Did I mention that Apple went from being a niche company to being the most influential and valuable company in the entire world? Is that alone not revolutionary enough for you?
From where I'm sitting, Tim Cook and his team at Apple make Steve Jobs and his team look slothful. The current administration has put a larger number of "dents in the universe" in just five years than Jobs did in 12. You can argue they might be (slightly) smaller dents, if you want, that's up for discussion (and some of them are still maturing, like Apple Pay), but to say Apple has done nothing revolutionary since Steve died is at best cherry-picking, and really rather disingenuous.
Your specious arguments remind me of a saying about Fred Astaire: he was brilliant and deserved the praise he got, but Ginger Rogers did everything he did, and backwards, and in heels, and never got anywhere near as much credit.
a revolution in payment technology spearheaded by Apple
I think this one might be severely underestimated. Not just on the high street either, I used ApplePay for the first time for an internet purchase a few days ago and it was a revelation; I actually exclaimed "That's it?" when I was done, because I was sure there must be something else to do, it was that easy.
I don't use it so much on the high street because my preferred credit card doesn't yet support it, but I've used it a few times with another card that does and it's pretty amazing.
I wonder how much Apple is turning over from it, do they break it out in their financials at all? Even if it's not making a significant profit, it's a fantastic implementation,
"... we know what a smartphone looks like and does ... it's not an area where there will be any more innovation." Really? Apple is a bit more than just smartphones. One would assume a board member of facebook would appreciate this. Besides ... proposing that smartphones (or whatever shape personal communication devices will take) won't be an area with anymore innovation is an ... hmm ... remarkable statement.
a revolution in payment technology spearheaded by Apple
I think this one might be severely underestimated. Not just on the high street either, I used ApplePay for the first time for an internet purchase a few days ago and it was a revelation; I actually exclaimed "That's it?" when I was done, because I was sure there must be something else to do, it was that easy.
I don't use it so much on the high street because my preferred credit card doesn't yet support it, but I've used it a few times with another card that does and it's pretty amazing.
I wonder how much Apple is turning over from it, do they break it out in their financials at all? Even if it's not making a significant profit, it's a fantastic implementation,
In my neck of the woods, Apple Pay is responsible for more than half of my purchases. Yeah it is as great as you say it is.
The AirPod (audio) and iPhone (video) combination offers a gateway to portable AI and augmented reality that will continue to grow over the next 10 years. These are the products that will dominate our future.
Comments
Peter Thiel has reached the zenith of stupidity. Confirm.
Apple has a serious problem brewing, even amongst die hard fans and Mac-dominant industries like design and film. People are fed up with Apple, their arrogance, and their stagnant product lineup.
Should we care? I normally wouldn't, but their complete disregard for their pro user base and Mac lineup actually directly bites into my work and career - and I see the tide shifting in the industry. Mac is not the go to weapon of choice anymore. Far from it actually. In fact I'd say their products, pro or not, are riddled with an "oh... is it any good?" stigma these days.
--
Side note:
One could argue all their innovations have been behind the scenes, in the silicone, in their code, in products that are around the corner. Though it has felt like that has been the excuse for years now. "2016 will be the year". It wasn't. TouchBar? I have one, and breaking decades of muscle reflex of touchtyping feels extremely clumsy. It IS clumsy. It may be useful if certain devs jump onboard, but at the moment, feels like a HUGE misfire. And really, this was it, Apple, for 2016, released a laptop with an OLED fn strip. Wow.
Seriously, we get it.
Just put it in your signature or something.
I'll take technological marvels over cool design any day of the week..
When I take my iPhone out of my pocket, I want it to do marvelous things for me, not flash it to others to say "look what a cool-looking phone I have!"..
As if.. lol..
Well, that depends on whether or not you're in Apple's customer demographic or not. In ten years, Apple's core customer base has switched to more active, more mobile professionals and consumers. You may have been a core customer ten years ago; now you're not.
Apple just introduced two ecosystem elements in 2 years that within 3-4 years will be beefed up to a cooperating, totally integrated cluster of personalized services and will cover much of the slack from any stagnating Iphone sales.
Both the Apple Watch and Airpods are selling really really well, if they sell 40M watches and 40M Airpods (not impossible) in 2017 that's around 25B in revenues
And it is just the start, nobody can integrate their products as tightly together, not even Samsung (since they don't control their OS).
When smart watches + Airpods + AR glasses (that are certainly coming) hit $100 B in revenues in 3 years will the Apple is doomed crowd eat crow... No, not at all I gather.
.
These might not be revolutionary to you because they are not your interests, but they have still affected huge change in our society over a relatively short period of time -- just the five years that Tim has been running the place. Did I mention that Apple went from being a niche company to being the most influential and valuable company in the entire world? Is that alone not revolutionary enough for you?
I don't use it so much on the high street because my preferred credit card doesn't yet support it, but I've used it a few times with another card that does and it's pretty amazing.
I wonder how much Apple is turning over from it, do they break it out in their financials at all? Even if it's not making a significant profit, it's a fantastic implementation,