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Apple has a few years of profit from its present product categories. There's no doubt they can crank out the same rate of technical improvements and great desi
by 6ren 14y ago
Apple has a few years of profit from its present product categories. There's no doubt they can crank out the same rate of technical improvements and great design.
But can they create new product categories? Most companies can't - they make one, and ride it til it dies. Apple and Steve Jobs were extraordinary in creating several. One other company that did this was Sony - until its founder retired.
It's not a knock against Tim Cook, it's just that hardly anyone in the world has ever done this more than once (or even once!). And he's not a wild/crazy guy like Steve Jobs, but the opposite, someone who can make operations really work.
That said: Apple is perfectly positioned for a Google Glass product. I believe this is the next form-factor for computers after phones (because you can't make phones much smaller, and still read the screen, get your fingers on it). It also needs eyetracking for input.
But Google Glass looks terrible - an Apple version would indeed look like a fashion accessory (e.g. Ray-Bans). Plus, Apple has manufacturing/technology/design experience in smaller form-factors (e.g. shuffle/nano).
tl;dr If Apple can make smartphones fashionable, sunglasses should be easy.
- hcarvalhoalves 14y agoGlass is a product that could only have happend at Google: it's geeky, and they have money to toss on unproven devices. Apple would never release anything so experimental.
- btown 14y agoWhich is why they're not releasing such a product until the market has its way with Glass... every mistake Glass makes, every bug and failure, is something Apple can avoid doing when and if it finally releases their iEye ;)
- hcarvalhoalves 14y agoYou're assuming glass, as a product, makes sense in the first place, and that others will follow. Nobody knows yet, what Google has is a prototype, not a product. Remember the Segway? It was the future too.
- czhiddy 14y agoSo geeky, it may actually hinder adoption. The general disdain for bluetooth headsets was quite widespread - voice-operated Google Glass would face the same backlash.
- Groxx 14y agoYou mean like a phone? Into an extremely-entrenched marketplace which (in their primary market) has about a year left on their contract on average? As a relatively small player with a more-expensive-than-anyone-else product? The UI was certainly experimental, and that was a hell of a risky shot.
- pxlpshr 14y agoI wouldn't discount Ive's ability to take existing products in market, such as the TV, mobile wallet, or even things like Google Glass, and maintain Apple's attention to industrial design and user experience. Macbook Pro Retina is beautiful, no other computer company can touch it. Still seems to be a big land-grab in the PC world, and halo effect could ripple on. Windows 8 sucks and my iPad collects dust when it comes to professional uses. They do have an adjustment period to go through after showing a few missteps last year. Maybe they'll around $400-500 for the year until something shiny comes out like TV or iWallet. Nobody said the market was rational. If you want to have fun, trade weekly options.