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Hmmm. This is an interesting one here. On the one hand, we simply can't dismiss Woz by stating nonsense such as "he hasn't designed UI", "hasn't been involved
by dakrisht 14y ago
Hmmm. This is an interesting one here.
On the one hand, we simply can't dismiss Woz by stating nonsense such as "he hasn't designed UI", "hasn't been involved with Apple since 1987", and "Jobs is the reason for Apple's success." Because that's all simply bullshit. UI, UX, Steve Jobs, him not being involved with Apple since the plane crash - has zero to do with this post and our discussion of it. So some of you need to cut out the Apple fanboy bullshit.
Now, to his thoughts. But first, let's define "creative" because reading some posts in here, I'm alerted to many of you not knowing what that even means.
"Creative" is defined as "Relating to or involving the imagination or original ideas, esp. in the production of an artistic work"
Does Apple have any more original ideas? Of course it does. Perhaps there are some still left in the pipeline from the Jobs era (these companies have long roadmaps). Jony Ive is still there and he's quite creative unless I'm mistaken. So creativity will flow. Albeit from different sources and no, Tim Cook is not creative. He's simply the supply chain guru. Are these "original ideas" good? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe they'll fail. They can still, however, be creative.
Has Apple released any "original ideas" in the past 3-4 years - I'd say no, they haven't. The iPad might have been the last really "original" concept (if you can even call it that, but hell with it, they can have it). The iPod, the iPhone - what else? The GUI, no. They didn't inven the laptop. See - not much originality here. I digress.
Microsoft. They might be considered more "creative" (by Woz) because of their departure from the desktop with Windows 8 - so in essence, they're being more "creative" because the ideas are more original than iOS4>5>6, iPhone 2>3>4>5>5S and iPad 1>2>3>4 (all refreshes). We also have the new voice recognition initiative which, if successful, will be a big game changer for Microsoft. WAY more "creative" than Siri or anything from Cupertino. Can Microsoft's "creative" ideas fail? Of course. And from what I've been reading and personally have experienced, Windows 8 RT is not that good, and confusing.
So, yeah, seems Woz is right so far, doesn't it?
It's a multi-dimensional issue here of creativity and innovation. Apple simply isn't innovating, whether you want to admit it or not. They appeal to the consumer, they're a solid company, huge margins, and that's fine. I've owned most every product they've ever made from XServes to Mac Pro's to Newtons to Powerbooks to the IIe and Peformas, list goes on. I love the company. I wrote my first program in BASIC on a IIe.
Will a flat-screen TV from Apple be considered "innovative" or "creative" maybe a little creative but it's certainly NOT what Woz is talking about.
Remember, Woz is an engineer, so he's not here to market consumer products and sell 5 million of them in a quarter. He's speaking purely on innovation and creativity in technology. He loves technology. You can tell. From the CL9 remote to devices and what not - he loves the craft. So he's right, Apple isn't being creative, they're just constantly refreshing products to stay competitive in an insanely competitive market. They sort of have to. The iPhone 5S is already slated for June! What in the hell will be different about than the current 5?! An A6X and... Unless that phone charges wirelessly, is 1mm thin, and has a new cutting-edge battery for 40 hours of talk time - there's NOTHING creative or innovative about it.
So, maybe Woz is right. Microsoft is taking bolder steps, they're breaking from the norm of Windows desktops, getting into a different space, taking risks, trying innovative concepts such as voice translation. To me and apparently Woz, that's more innovative than "the new iPad"
- tareqak 14y agoOnce I looked up the word "innovation" it made sense. I understood "invention" and "improvement", but "innovation" always sounded like marketing-speak to me, so I turned off my brain on that one. The page at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innovation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Innovation compares all three.
- pretoriusB 14y ago>Has Apple released any "original ideas" in the past 3-4 years - I'd say no, they haven't. The iPad might have been the last really "original" concept (if you can even call it that, but hell with it, they can have it). The iPad was LESS than 2 years ago. April 2010. See how fast the spoiled consumer takes things for granted? And you sure as hell can call it an original concept: No tablet had succeeded in the market before it, other companies started making copycat products immediately after, and it still commands the huge majority of the market, to the point that most of the competitors are statistical noise and the best ones are at 20% at most. >The iPod, the iPhone - what else? The GUI, no. They didn't inven the laptop. True, some guy in the seventies invented the laptop, I'm sure. It was like 80 pounds, with a 6 inch black and white display. Should I care about _that_ laptop? As for Apple they just made the best, or some of the best, laptops (at least according to most reviews, judging by most alpha geeks at programming conferences, and by a certain Linus Torvalds). Oh, and in the same 3-4 years, they have brought to the mass market: Hi-DPI displays, SSD drives, thunderbolt, unibody construction, ultraportables (the Air defined the category, and had Intel offer a bounty of millions to PC manufacturers to copy it). Oh, and Siri and a Cloud offering, integrating file storage and backup across a range of devices. Not bad for a stagnant company. >Microsoft. They might be considered more "creative" (by Woz) because of their departure from the desktop with Windows 8 Departure? They kept the whole desktop, and merely added a gimmicky (and poorly favored in reviews) tiled/touch interface on top. >- so in essence, they're being more "creative" because the ideas are more original than iOS4>5>6, iPhone 2>3>4>5>5S and iPad 1>2>3>4 (all refreshes) Windows 8 is Windows NT -> XP -> Vista -> 7, with a thin new facade that you venture off of every time you actually use an app. All refreshes here too. >We also have the new voice recognition initiative which, if successful, will be a big game changer for Microsoft. That's a big if.