Five myths about Apple
2. Apple’s innovation days are numbered.
This is related to the first myth, but with a slight difference: It deals with the perception that Apple will have trouble creating anything truly surprising. At first glance, there seems to be some validity to this misconception. But declaring that Apple has reached its innovation peak ignores the larger picture of what it’s trying to accomplish with its desktop and mobile product lines.
Apple’s latest operating system for mobile devices (iOS6) includes Passbook, a wallet application that’s incredibly useful (it is now my default payment method at Starbucks, for instance), and plants the seeds for Apple to become a massive mobile-payment provider. Not as sexy as the iPad, but from a business standpoint, it might represent a huge leap forward. And the much-criticized maps app, while not necessarily a move for the better in its first incarnation, nonetheless could lead to significant innovation down the road.
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Steve Jobs built his own little tyranny. This is the main reason I have never been an Apple fan. I don’t expect companies to reveal their proprietary information or give their products away, but the way Apple operates I have always found just a tad bit creepy. I think we can see evidence of the Apple dictatorial nature by the fact that Jobs refused for a long time to meet with Obama because he expected Obama to ask for an audience with him. That man wanted to rule everything and everyone.
NotCoach on December 1, 2012 at 10:12 AM
The biggest myth is that Apple innovates. It is more like the Microsoft of the late 1980′s and early 1990′s where every aspect of it was really just the intellectual property buying and theft. What exactly has Apple ever really invented? The Rectangle with Rounded corners! The text scroll that bounces at the end!
Yeah, those things were never around before Apple started using them. How they ever got a patent on it seems suspect.
astonerii on December 1, 2012 at 10:23 AM
Totally agree with you on the tyranny angle. Although a long time Mac user, I have never bought into Apple’s closed system vis-a-vis IOS and the App Store. The idea of being forced to apply for an Apple ID, even to download free Apps, is beyond the pale.
OldEnglish on December 1, 2012 at 10:29 AM
For things of that nature, blame the stupid, outdated patents and copyright systems.
OldEnglish on December 1, 2012 at 10:31 AM
Really enjoy my iPad and iPhone5.
albill on December 1, 2012 at 10:33 AM
Apple tried to not only patent but copyright the entire concept of a graphical user interface. As crazy as that sounds, they almost did it. Try to imagine a world where Apple owned every operating system that wasn’t text-based for a hundred years.
That was actually Bill Gate’s biggest accomplishment. The big players were afraid they’d face a ruinous lawsuit if they tried to create their own graphical interfaces. But Gates had less to lose so he thumbed his nose at Apple’s crazy claims.
logis on December 1, 2012 at 10:38 AM
The myth is that people actually think Apple invented anything in the first place. They’re a one trick pony.
Apple is the biggest “emperor has no clothes” company I’ve ever seen. They were not the first to invent a touchscreen smartphone (in fact, they were LAST to the game), and they certainly weren’t the first to invent the tablet.
Have a look at the 2003 Compaq TC1000 released a full 7 YEARS before the iPad and you’ll see a similar bezel width, same screen resolution, same corner radii, and the same aspect ratio and resolution:
http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/4941/p1000270b.jpg
Apple has one product they just releasing over and over, just in different sizes. Taking an iPod Touch and making it 4x bigger is NOT “innovation”.
Eschelon on December 1, 2012 at 10:42 AM
I had a Samsung Galaxy S3 before I switched to the iPhone 5. I like the iPhone much, much better. Easier to use, easier to hold, and a beautiful interface. Now I can’t imagine not having this phone. Oh, and I am commenting right now using it.
bluegill on December 1, 2012 at 10:42 AM
I hear astonerii’s point and it makes sense in a purely technological analysis, but as a consumer electronic business they innovated hugely.
As the article says, they really did take supply chain logistics to the next level. They also fused design with sales and marketing to create a brand so potent that they could extract very large margins out of everything they sell.
All my Apple stuff broke soon out of (the extra cost extended) warranties. My remaining MBP had a logic board failure (read total write-off) just before its 3 year warranty ended. The logic board basically is the MBP and they did replace that. But that notebook was something like $2500 retail 3 short years before.
Being a shareholder rocks though. Apple zombies provide a constantly growing revenue stream. Wait for their LED LCD TV…
CorporatePiggy on December 1, 2012 at 10:52 AM
Apple’s control over the app content for iOS devices is creating a ceiling for device sales.
Apple censors content at a PG level. Any adult leaning content, whether it’s sophisticated, erotic, or semi erotic will never see the light of day.
We’re publishing young adult stories to iPad, so the PG thing is OK, but our future works, kind of an adult tales from the crypt will go exclusively to kindle fire. Amazon is very open on freedom of expression. Something Apple could learn from, otherwise device buyers are going to go for the bigger market.
What Apple is living on is the demographic difference between iPad vs Fire owners ($100,000 vs $75,000 average household income) but saturation of their market puts another ceiling on sales.
RINOs are people too on December 1, 2012 at 10:53 AM
You are the epitome of Kewl.
astonerii on December 1, 2012 at 10:55 AM
Fair enough, but Apple hasn’t updated the flow of iOS in 5 years now and people are becoming bored with it.
Since you mentioned it, let’s take the Samsung GS3 you referenced: It includes eye tracking that keeps the screen on as long as you look at it and uses your head to see if it should rotate or not when you lay down in bed. It has face and/or voice unlock and if you receive a call or text while away the phone will vibrate as soon as it senses you pick it up to let you know. It can stream over the air to any DLNA device. It has NFC so it can be used as a digital wallet and NFC tags can be used to change the phones profile and settings just by walking to a room. It has true multitasking and can have multiple windows open at the screen at once (e.g., watch a video or have a mini browser open while composing a text). Even the LED color can be changed to your liking (e.g. red for missed call, orange for new email, blue for text message, etc).
How did Apple compete with that? The iPhone 5 added… a 5th row of icons. Fascinating.
I’m glad you enjoy your device, but Apple is out of ideas and, in an effort to maintain top dog, has been reduced to litigation rather than innovation – and these days they are losing far more lawsuits than the silly, petty ones the win.
Eschelon on December 1, 2012 at 11:00 AM
LOL. The iPad mini … a revolution!
This article is a joke. Apple is a control-freak, hypocritical leftist sh#thole that has always taken full control of anything and everything it could get its hands on. Apple is lucky in that its customers love to be treated as chattel – just as the majority of the American voter in this pathetic population.
Fortunately, Jobs is gone and Apple will go the way of Sony (the company that first rocketed to imense size on the back of little gadgets like the Walkman and then went into a death spiral). I won’t be sad to see Apple go. I’ve hated the company since the introduction of the Apple II. But, Jobs knew how to manipulate the drones who worshipped him. Now he’s history. The Apple slaves will conintue on like Zombies for a while and then it will just die.
I hope Wozniak took his own advice and sunk all of his money into Farcebook stock at $40 …
ThePrimordialOrderedPair on December 1, 2012 at 11:02 AM
I have the gundisassembly2 app for the AR and 1911 platforms (superb app btw.)
Just checked, it’s available on iOS.
Now that’s erotic adult learning content.
CorporatePiggy on December 1, 2012 at 11:03 AM
Ooooooh.
Dell made its name totally revolutionizing supply chain logistics. What’s Dell up to now?
ThePrimordialOrderedPair on December 1, 2012 at 11:04 AM
Apple is the Obama of the technology world. Overrated and self-satisfied to a degree never before seen. Plus, it costs twice as much and delivers half the performance.
They both have brilliant marketing departments and they’ve successfully aggregated together a customer base willing to put up with serial failure and disappointment for the sake of aligning with what he media tells them is cool, but when someone dares to look at their results, there’s nothing much to get excited about.
Apple and Obama — making failure cool again.
btw, I have running within 10 feet of me right now 3 desktop PCs, 1 iMac, 1 Mac Mini, 1 iPhone, 3 Android phones, 3 Android tablets and an iPad. I run a technology consulting business so I make a point of using and being facile on all of them. And what I can say based on actual billed hours is that the Apple devices at various client locations spend significantly more time not working than do PC or Android devices.
SoRight on December 1, 2012 at 11:06 AM
Clawing its way back slowly, hopefully having learned something about where they went wrong with components sourcing.
CorporatePiggy on December 1, 2012 at 11:07 AM
So….they use that result to defend the “walled garden?”
Apple has more apps in its store because Apple makes its own hardware, ensuring that there are only a few possible hardware configurations that developers need to develop apps for, as opposed to Android, which suffers from hardware and OS fragmentation, which is a huge hassle for developers that are simply looking to put out a simple app and hope to make money off of it. As for making money, there are numerous theories as to why Apple users are willing to spend more on apps (heh) compared with Android users, although developers have noted that piracy rates are similar across both platforms, so that’s probably not it.
Even when posting about non-political things, WaPo is still clueless.
mintycrys on December 1, 2012 at 11:18 AM
The only Apple product I own is an iPod. I hate their store and dread it every time my daughter gets a gift card and needs me to download songs for her. It’s so slow and awkward and unimpressive I was never tempted to buy any of their other products.
Night Owl on December 1, 2012 at 11:22 AM
I’m like Rush and Allah, I always want the latest Apple stuff. And the stock has been very, very, VERY good to me. We’re a happy Apple family. Just wanted to provide another POV on this thread.
juliesa on December 1, 2012 at 11:25 AM
Here’s another myth….
Apple computers never crash.
I’ve had people tell me this with a straight face.
CurtZHP on December 1, 2012 at 11:27 AM
Apple’s profitable innovations are not really hardware or software, but revolve around content delivery. First was iTunes and the iPod, delivering music, the iPhone and later iPad delivered music and video, plus a huge assortment of trivial games, and apps. This brought a lot of data delivery.
Amazon beat Apple to book delivery with kindle, and apple has been losing that fight.
Apple’s future lies with next generation content delivery, which might be live tv, but google has YouTube and and will probably be the first to deliver through Android. They’ve just completed a new studio in Los Angeles.
Tablet saturation is not far away and sales will plummet.
Unless apple is working on an all new delivery platform, with something we’re not already getting, where can they go?
I have two laptops, a Lenovo i7 2.6ghz w/8 g ram and an Apple retina i7 2.6ghz w/8 g ram. Nwanna guess which one cost 3 times more?
RINOs are people too on December 1, 2012 at 11:34 AM
I’m going to put my disclaimer “up top”. I don’t own a single share of APPL (and never have) but it seems to me that some folks are anti-APPL because they didn’t “get in” at $200, or even $400 a share. It’s a company that knows what people want and how to deliver it to them while making a profit. The opposite of the kind of companies being subsidized by the current occupant of the WH. Maybe Solyndra will be resurrected as a solar powered laptop computer provider. It would only take a few trillion:)
Clink on December 1, 2012 at 11:39 AM
Most people are evaluating Apple through the lens of the last decade, when the ipod repositioned them in a new market and they suddenly they exploded onto a scene where most people had previously ignored them. I’ve used Macs since the late 80s, when all they did was desktop computing. But in a world of left-brained PC computing without regard for style or human factors design, Apple was the quiet revolution. Most of us explained it as “I actually have fun using my computer.” So crab all you want about your perception of their innovation. If they pioneered anything, it was user experience – especially for professional applications. Macs and the Mac OS were a natural extension of the way we think and interact. And they did it with style.
Today it’s a different story. For all the praise and support this article makes, the same transition toward an iphone/app market has been pushing Apple into a new business philosophy. They are routinely ignoring (if not in some cases giving the finger to) the professional user base that built them. Once innovators of giving you the freedom to use the technology in a self-transcendent way, they are now more or less saying “no, you have to do it this way from now on, piss off.” This is happening more and more.
So while I love Apple, and would come to their defense in many cases, they are for the first time in two decades making me believe they’re turning more into the old, bloated, domineering Microsoft of yore.
somewhatconcerned on December 1, 2012 at 11:46 AM
I personally like Android. I recognize some of the problems with it but that’s where the real innovation is. I have no doubt that Apple will continue with its success but I’ll stick with the cheaper and better product.
joekenha on December 1, 2012 at 11:51 AM
Well, one of the big ones is that one a day keeps the doctor away. Sure they’re good for you, but everyone still needs medical attention sooner or later.
What?
Oh, sorry. Never mind.
hawkdriver on December 1, 2012 at 11:54 AM
See, that’s why I couldn’t own a MAC, I don’t even know what that means.
Night Owl on December 1, 2012 at 11:57 AM
You folks that keep resisting Apple are truly stiff-necked fools. The iPad is the future of computing. The entire design of buying content through iTunes to the execution of multiple apps running at all times is brilliant. It’s like refusing to eat ice cream because you don’t believe in refrigeration. You really sound that stupid.
John the Libertarian on December 1, 2012 at 12:00 PM
I don’t mind Apple and i love the technology John. I just went with a different brand. I have a Xoom. Some of the folks I work with have IPADs other have some off brands. They all seem to be about the same to me.
(Full disclosure, Mrs Hawkdriver and the daughter unit both wanted IPADs.)
hawkdriver on December 1, 2012 at 12:04 PM
Another commenter here my family is friends with actually went with a Xoom after comparing the devices my family uses too. He used wife’s IPAD and my Xoom and then went out and bought one.
But you’re right, who wouldn’t benefit from using whatever brand tablet. They’re great.
hawkdriver on December 1, 2012 at 12:07 PM
That was pretty stupid. “Execution of multiple apps running at all times” … friggin brilliant. A revolution!!
And iTunes have always been a major rip-off … which is how Apple customers like to be treated.
ThePrimordialOrderedPair on December 1, 2012 at 12:09 PM
So…online storefront and multitasking?
Sounds like a game changer to me!
mintycrys on December 1, 2012 at 12:14 PM
Apple’s brand is strong enough to carry them through the release of a product called iSh*t.
A large management consultancy working for a large firm was recently asked to scope out changing their global technology infrastructure to run on Apple.
It’s never going to work but consultancies never turn down that kind of easy money.
CorporatePiggy on December 1, 2012 at 12:32 PM
Don’t worry about Apple’s innovation. They have enough BS patents to live off the innovation of others for decades, if anyone else uses a rectangle or scrolling interface in their apps.
bernverdnardo1 on December 1, 2012 at 1:16 PM
Apple sucks.. My latest computer from them is a piece of junk. I got a droid phone and it is so much better than the Iphone that I had.
Illinidiva on December 1, 2012 at 1:59 PM
Nice to know there’s still a few companies that are at least attempting to hold the line on sleaze.
MelonCollie on December 1, 2012 at 2:07 PM