4 ms·

The iPod was not revolutionary. Arcos did a superior product before apple. They failed to market it. The iPad and mac air are not revolutionary. They are evolu

The iPod was not revolutionary. Arcos did a superior product before apple. They failed to market it. The iPad and mac air are not revolutionary. They are evolutions of iphone and mac book. A good idea don't make something revolutionary. Making something bigger or thiner is not a revolution unless you talk about 2 orders magnitude. iTune and the app store concepts are not revolutionary. They are just paid version of existing concepts. Linux had official software repo for decades. We used pirated music download services online for years. Apple products are never revolutionary. This word is just, literally, the one used in all their PR and people repeat it again and again. They take good existing idea (touch screens finger control, phone PDA, mp3 players), use them, make them better, integrate them better. They build great hardware, add solid software on top of it and design friendly beautiful UI to use them. The only apple revolution is their ability to always improve the user experience. Not their products. The apple watch has a poor user experience, and hence nobody uses it. This is not to diminish apple's merit. What they do is hard. It's just not revolutionary. Inventing the paper print is. Inventing the vaccine is. Inventing Internet is. Creating a better phone you manipulate by touching the screen years after Palm existed is not revolutionary. It's innovation.

scarface74 10y ago
"They take good existing idea (touch screens finger control, phone PDA, mp3 players), use them, make them better, integrate them better. They build great hardware, add solid software on top of it and design friendly beautiful UI to use them. The only apple revolution is their ability to always improve the user experience. Not their products." If all of that is so easy, why didn't anyone else do it?
- sametmax 10y ago
  You are trying to make me say something I didn't. I specifically said: > This is not to diminish apple's merit. What they do is hard. It's just not revolutionary. You don't need revolutionary to be great. People confuse "apple has a great impact in their industry and society" and "apple products are revolutionary". "revolutionary" is marketing. And reading your comment, good marketing. It works.
- petra 10y ago
  First, it's not that easy. But also, historically Apple was really much better at design for a long period. But i think some competitors have learned that skill, sometime after the iPhone and the app revolution. And furthermore, Apple had unique wealthy user base, somewhat locked(songs,apps,messaging) and stronger marketing power than others and we're a strong status symbol, and that allowed them to things that others could not - like selling expensive phones,build great app ecosystems, getting content rights, and selling expensive watches.
  - scarface74 10y ago
    Again, why couldn't any other company build those same capabilities or get the same user base demographics? It's not like in 1997 an almost bankrupt Apple was operating from a position of strength.
berberous 10y ago
I had the Arcos product you mentioned. For those that are curious, this is what it looked like: https://www.amazon.com/Archos-Jukebox-6000-Player-Drive/dp/B000050NPX https://www.amazon.com/Archos-Jukebox-6000-Player-Drive/dp/B... It was not a superior product to the iPod. But I agree with your general point about there being a difference between "revolutionary" and excellent polish/UI/integration.
- s3r3nity 10y ago
  Great find! The fact that it's still selling as an $80 product is amazing to me...

scarface74 10y ago

"They take good existing idea (touch screens finger control, phone PDA, mp3 players), use them, make them better, integrate them better. They build great hardware, add solid software on top of it and design friendly beautiful UI to use them. The only apple revolution is their ability to always improve the user experience. Not their products." If all of that is so easy, why didn't anyone else do it?

sametmax 10y ago
You are trying to make me say something I didn't. I specifically said: > This is not to diminish apple's merit. What they do is hard. It's just not revolutionary. You don't need revolutionary to be great. People confuse "apple has a great impact in their industry and society" and "apple products are revolutionary". "revolutionary" is marketing. And reading your comment, good marketing. It works.
petra 10y ago
First, it's not that easy. But also, historically Apple was really much better at design for a long period. But i think some competitors have learned that skill, sometime after the iPhone and the app revolution. And furthermore, Apple had unique wealthy user base, somewhat locked(songs,apps,messaging) and stronger marketing power than others and we're a strong status symbol, and that allowed them to things that others could not - like selling expensive phones,build great app ecosystems, getting content rights, and selling expensive watches.
- scarface74 10y ago
  Again, why couldn't any other company build those same capabilities or get the same user base demographics? It's not like in 1997 an almost bankrupt Apple was operating from a position of strength.

berberous 10y ago

I had the Arcos product you mentioned. For those that are curious, this is what it looked like: https://www.amazon.com/Archos-Jukebox-6000-Player-Drive/dp/B000050NPX https://www.amazon.com/Archos-Jukebox-6000-Player-Drive/dp/B... It was not a superior product to the iPod. But I agree with your general point about there being a difference between "revolutionary" and excellent polish/UI/integration.

s3r3nity 10y ago
Great find! The fact that it's still selling as an $80 product is amazing to me...