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Ask HN: Will Apple continue to be a major disruptor?

• b34r 11y ago
  The only thing I can say for certain is the obsession toward quality has faltered. All their software has been to show atrophy in the past year or two. There are still hardware innovations, but no "wow"s for some time.
  • Gustomaximus 11y ago
    This quality drop is a key weakness IMO. Jobs was the master of doing a few things really well. You could see he was so personally vested in products. And people loved apple products as they always worked well. It was a safe choice in the tech world. That approach seems gone. I sometimes wonder if this stems from the cult of Jony Ive after the vacuum Jobs left, where design seems to trump all else for Apple these days. On top of which I hear Apples got an increasing ratio of career men whose passion is advancement not technology. On the flip side the innovation cycle under Jobs was roughly 4 years per 'wow'. Many people expect something every year which isn't realistic. The watch did not fire this cycle but maybe the next product will. If it does they only really missed one product release cycle since 1998. Not bad, though the first not under Jobs watchful gaze may say something.
• milkey_mouse 11y ago
  no
• Detrus 11y ago
  iPad Pro and iPhone 6S advertise 4K video editing capability that's only possible with custom chips, re-architected motherboards, etc. They could again be first in the industry to do something noticeably different. Here they're giving cheaper, low power, mobile devices capabilities that are otherwise only possible on desktops. Preferably $3000+ machines. That's what their vertical integration allows. Although currently this 4K video editing on iPads is not working well.
  • AndrewUnmuted 11y ago
    > video editing capability that's only possible with custom chips, re-architected motherboards, etc. > first in the industry to do something noticeably different. Apple had better hope that not just competitors in the mobile space, but also in the cloud technologies, playback, and other such spaces, follow suit. As somebody who worked extensively with AVFoundation-based video editing apps for iOS, I can say with certainty that such ambitions have a long way to go until they're enterprise or even startup-ready. The engineering challenges associated with taking the malformed bullshit Apple calls a "QuickTime media file" into something actually usable at scale is insurmountable for even a very media-knowledgeable dev team.
• mark_l_watson 11y ago
  I think so. I love my iPad Pro - I can't believe how many hours a week I use it, with a lot of that time spent on creative/work projects like working on my new book, better learning Haskell (I keep one of the Haskell books I bought open and the Haskell App based on hugs - as I am reading I can flip back to the Haskell App to experiment with code snippets), and general research activities. The iPad Pro has disrupted my work and entertainment flows. Apple's weak point is web/cloud services but with their deep pockets, I expect that to get better.
• floppydisk 11y ago
  Apple has never been disruptive in the "we invented a new product category" sort of way. They've been disrupted in the "we take a raw idea, simplify it, refine it, make it KISS simple to use and polish the presentation" sort of way. That requires fanatical dedication to detail and getting it right and reading the market tea leaves to understand what's truly revolutionary and how to deliver. With Jobs' passing, Apple's fanatical devotion to quality and polish looks like it's starting to wear off in some areas. Jobs did a great job staffing with people who could implement his visions superbly but didn't bring in an heir apparent who looks at the world differently and drives the same slavish attention to detail and polish.
  • hellofunk 11y ago
    I agree, though I would argue that the iphone was genuinely a new product category (and perhaps also the iPad). Some re-imaginings of existing tools are so dramatic, they create new categories.
    • wvenable 11y ago
      I had a smartphone that was conceptually similar to the iPhone in almost every way years before it was released. But the iPhone had a capacitive screen, longer batter life, a desktop quality browser, and it was a much better size. It didn't create a new product category but it created the best example of that category.
    • floppydisk 11y ago
      Nokia had a clunky version of a smartphone on the market for years before Apple launched the iPhone. Apple iterated on the idea, but they didn't create it. Similarly, Blackberry was already there. Didn't have touch screens but they had most of the major functions of a "smartphone" like email, messaging, etc. The category already existed in many ways, Apple fantastically riffed on it.
• rajacombinator 11y ago
  Without Jobs around to oversee the car or the TV it seems hard to imagine them revolutionizing any fields again.
  • joefarish 11y ago
    I really can't see how anyone can revolutionize TV though. 99% of the time you are watching the TV there is zero interaction between the user and the TV. I'm sure apple would make money if they started selling Apple branded TVs (basically a TV with a built in Apple TV box) but it would hardly be a game changer.
• Mimu 11y ago
  Attributing modern life to Apple, nice one OP. No Apple won't change "mankind", are you kidding me mate? Mankind, why not the whole universe? Maybe they'll discover God or create a new one. In 2000 years people will eat an apple every Sunday in memory of Apple our Lord and Savior. You could be in the book too, you are already talking like an archangel.
• seren 11y ago
  > All of modern life seems to have started at the moment the iPhone was introduced. In 30 years the iPhone will look as clunky as the first black and white television set. I honestly don't know when "modern life" started, but I would rather put it around the first light bulb than the first iPhone.
• DanBC 11y ago
  >All of modern life seems to have started at the moment the iPhone was introduced. Why do you say that? Why don't any of the many (admittedly clunky) PDAs that came before Apple count?