3 ms·

Here's mine: 1. The original Macintosh, 1984 (desktop metaphor GUI for the masses) 2. Newton, 1993 (the original PDA, but not commercially successful--so "red

Here's mine: 1. The original Macintosh, 1984 (desktop metaphor GUI for the masses) 2. Newton, 1993 (the original PDA, but not commercially successful--so "redefined the industry" is arguable) 3. The iMac, 1997 (industrial design matters for computers. You could argue SGI got there first, but PCs didn't notice until the iMac) 4. iPod/iTunes, 2001/2003 (capacitive-touch interfaces, buying music online) 5. iPhone, 2007 (too many things to list) 6. Apple Watch, 2015 (the Right Stuff to make smart watches popular) 7. FaceID, 2017 (depth-sensitive facial recognition that is actually secure)

stouset 6y ago
AirPods, 2016. iPad, 2010. Note that they’re virtually unassailable in the tablet market, the watch market, and the mobile CPU market. Apple has almost never made products that were completely unprecedented, which is the bar people always seem to hold them to for some reason. They do, however, excel at finding a way to build a complete product that has dramatically more appeal than its earlier or contemporary competitors. The Mac had prior art, the iPhone had prior art, AirPods had prior art, but all of their breakout products were so because they figured out how push the right areas of technology to overcome the things holding that product category back. And then they iterate hard. Whereas other companies seem to use vertical integration to cut costs and retain more profits, Apple appears to be better at using vertical integration to achieve things that competitors can’t, the most recent example of which is acquiring PA Semi to push forward on performance and power consumption, but also to make specialized coprocessors that improve their other features and products (TouchID, FaceID, AirPods, as some examples).
- labcomputer 6y ago
  Can't believe I forgot AirPods! Agree with all your points--but my interpretation of the phrase "redefined the industry" means something more than just being the dominant seller. I don't know exactly how to define it, but I think it should include things like creating a new product category, or changing how other participants act. So, for that reason, I almost didn't include Apple Watch, and I feel like iPad is iffy. iPad certainly got the Right Stuff for tablets... but it doesn't feel that different than what came before. Tablets already existed and the iPhone already existed, and Apple "just" put iPhoneOS on a tablet. Part of what probably drove iPad sales over other tablets was the existing ecosystem of iPhone apps that would run in scaled mode.
  - stouset 6y ago
    In both the Apple Watch case and the iPad case, it's interesting because Apple is the industry. Nobody else has figured out how to compete here for the time being, and Apple is taking almost the entire profit margin from the product market.

stouset 6y ago

AirPods, 2016. iPad, 2010. Note that they’re virtually unassailable in the tablet market, the watch market, and the mobile CPU market. Apple has almost never made products that were completely unprecedented, which is the bar people always seem to hold them to for some reason. They do, however, excel at finding a way to build a complete product that has dramatically more appeal than its earlier or contemporary competitors. The Mac had prior art, the iPhone had prior art, AirPods had prior art, but all of their breakout products were so because they figured out how push the right areas of technology to overcome the things holding that product category back. And then they iterate hard. Whereas other companies seem to use vertical integration to cut costs and retain more profits, Apple appears to be better at using vertical integration to achieve things that competitors can’t, the most recent example of which is acquiring PA Semi to push forward on performance and power consumption, but also to make specialized coprocessors that improve their other features and products (TouchID, FaceID, AirPods, as some examples).

labcomputer 6y ago
Can't believe I forgot AirPods! Agree with all your points--but my interpretation of the phrase "redefined the industry" means something more than just being the dominant seller. I don't know exactly how to define it, but I think it should include things like creating a new product category, or changing how other participants act. So, for that reason, I almost didn't include Apple Watch, and I feel like iPad is iffy. iPad certainly got the Right Stuff for tablets... but it doesn't feel that different than what came before. Tablets already existed and the iPhone already existed, and Apple "just" put iPhoneOS on a tablet. Part of what probably drove iPad sales over other tablets was the existing ecosystem of iPhone apps that would run in scaled mode.
- stouset 6y ago
  In both the Apple Watch case and the iPad case, it's interesting because Apple is the industry. Nobody else has figured out how to compete here for the time being, and Apple is taking almost the entire profit margin from the product market.