Almost everything Apple has done since the unfortunate passing of Steve Jobs has been met with comments about what the company would or wouldn’t have done had Steve still been here – even though his marching orders for Tim Cook were to never ask what he would have done.
But things certainly would have been different. The flattened user-interface of iOS 7 versus the skeuomorphic approach of the Jobs era. Would have it have happened at all? Would he have stopped it going quite so far? Would Apple have gone in a different direction?
What about an Apple Television? Steve said years ago that he “finally cracked it,” suggesting that he had a design and user-interface he was happy with. If the hold-up now is the content, would Steve have been able to bulldoze through the necessary deals to have launched it by now … ?
Would the man who declared that smartphone screens had to be small enough to reach everything with your thumb have finally given in to the inevitable and allowed not just the 4.7-inch screen of the iPhone 6 but also the 5.5-inch one of the 6 Plus? If not, how would iPhones today be competing with their larger-screened competition?
Would Apple be launching the Apple Watch, or would a new product category from Steve have taken the company in a very different direction? And what of the Apple Car? We know Steve dreamed of making one–would work have started on that much earlier? Had Steve’s illness not robbed him of energy, could Apple have beaten Tesla to the punch?
What of Apple’s corporate culture? Would we still see the strong environmental lead, matching of employee charitable donations and participation in Pride events?
[tweet https://twitter.com/tim_cook/status/570169805413552128/]
We’d love to hear your thoughts! Dive into the comments and let us know how you think Apple would be different today were Steve still alive.
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It was fun to have the stark, secretive apple for a decade staying in 2000. But to me, Tim cook brings many great things to the table. His views and actions on the environment are inspiring, and give me just a shred of hope that all corporations aren’t “profit at all cost” monsters. There’s still work to be done (the labor in China, diversifying higher up employees and executives, product quality control, among other things) but although Tim’s Apple may not be as ‘cool’, I think his is much more important.
SJ was what we define as a genius, a word we should use much more seldom than today´s media. But – in his biography it also reads about his dark sides intimidating people, family, co-workers. This could well escalate with the success and he would lose many of his best talent. Just to mention, before he is becoming a saint.
i’d say apple now is more of a Louis Vuitton in the tech industry , their product is good , nicely built , have a whole set of line up that charged at a premium price. But they are no longer as innovative as they once were, coz this is how u grow a business , on one hand being innovative can revive a company from nearly death , on the other hand it is also pretty risky that it may bring the company down again. So even tho steve is alive now , some direction maybe different but the company ’s ultimate goal will likely be the same : Be a tech giant with not so innovative and easy sales generating product . Tho i remember that day when my friend told me HE is dead , i though my friend was telling me a bad joke coz me being a fan boy of apple.
What was innovative about Apple between 2001 and 2007?
iTunes store for purchasing music from all 5 record labels, and later buying TV shows day after they air.
Transition to Intel processors. Smooth and completed ahead of schedule. Compare to 68K to PPC transition of the previous decade to see see how smooth this one went.
Safari Web Browser
iPhoto
Airtunes (Airplay today)
List goes on…
The iPhone, perhaps…
Back then there were not as many rumor-and tech sites as today. Back then we were more surprised when they launched a new product, because we did not already know every single part or design of the product. Today we get hints from factories and everywhere, so the surprise for new products is gone. If they could, and I wish for that, keep their products and new developments secret, we would be back to where Apple was exciting.
They have kept the watch under wraps pretty much. All we knew was that it was a watch and we saw some blueprints the day before on the Reddit.
*the day before the event on reddit
I remember Tim being told not to worry what Steve would have done or thought. But I have to imagine Steve would be happy about how a company he started in his garage became the worlds most profitable company in history, $740 billion market cap is quite impressive.
If you think financial success makes Steve Jobs happy, then you don’t know Steve Jobs.
You must have been lucky to have known him, what’s he like in person?
The gift Steve had was being able to ask the right questions. Right now the Apple Watch seems to have too many hands in the pot for a typical Apple blockbuster product. It seems that Tim hasn’t asked the right questions during the development phase. The biggest question being, “how is this better” and “what does it do better than anything else on the market.” I honestly do not see a path or vision for the Watch other than lets make it because we can.
And this may be a cynical comment but I find it a little bit interesting that Tim announced his sexuality preference after Steve’s passing.
I am sure these questions has been asked. I think originally, Apple Watch was imagined as more health oriented device with sensors capable to be your personal doctor. So from that stand point it was clearly better than smartphone. This site reported multiple key hires in health space. It appears that for the first gen Apple Watch we may not get all those sensors as tech simply is not there to make them work properly. But there is no reason to doubt Apple Watch because it lacks few sensors. It is a new product category for Apple and, lets be honest, it is most thoughtfully done than anything on the market.
It was for biosensors, as Odys says. How people can’t envision that, I’ll never know. The purpose of a device worn all day everyday which makes it 100% different than a smartphone, is biosensors. The iPhone cannot nor will not ever be capable of that, because the iPhone isnt worn. It’s clear that Apple couldn’t fully realize their ambitious ideas for it, but I think they’ll continue to work on it to give it purpose. Biosensors give the device a reason for being. Notifications on the wrist do not. They’re a convenient feature which does not spur the creation of a device. That’s just obvious.
Another thing I find sad is that people actually think smartwatches will replace smartphones. That will absolutely never happen. It’s sad I have to explain why. The smartwatch has a tiny display and it’s great for the augmenting features for your smartphone, and it’s purpose is to track biometrics (in the future), where a smartphone can never do, do to not being worn. And no anyone that thinks a smartphone app that checks your heartrate is good, knows nothing, as that is checking literally one time, you need constant tracking to be useful (I.e. Something worn). On the other hand a smartphone has a large display which will always trump a smartwatch for absolutely any entertainment or web viewing. If people don’t know that, there’s no hope for them. Also, 99% of people would not want to be seen in public talking to their watch, or wearing a BT headset talking to someone.
In closing, there is a distinct purpose for each device, although the smartwatch hasn’t been fully realized yet, due to technology for biosensors not being here yet. It will come.
If Apple wants to be successful, Tim Cook has to get that he is not the only human on earth. Biometrics sensors aren’t very important to a lot of people including me and the majority of all humans on earth. Notifications though are very important to us today. They have a very important purpose: our phones are a primary secondary (yes this is not a mistake I am really meaning primary secondary) communication devices replacing our voices and our gestures over a long distance. A watch solves this purpose much more intimate and (and this is the important part) much faster and logical (raising your are is much more logical than taking out your phone to us humans) than any other product. It’s superior to our phones (for notifications, you are right though, it will never replace our phones, at least not short-term).
I want to add that I think Tim Cook, a brilliant man, get’s that, just some other people (like you) don’t.
@lagax sorry you aren’t smart enough to know that the overwhelming majority of people do care, and will care, and will use biosensors in the near future. I get it, you’re overweight and don’t want it, go die by not using the latest technology, it’s cool. The rest of the world will live longer due to diseases being seen before they kill you. You’re clueless. Unimaginative.
I imagine Steve was involved with the early stages of the Apple Watch and there is huge potential with this device.
To be honest, I think everyone is placing too much emphasis on the biosensors as being the key USP. The biosensors are one (very useful) function in a much larger USP in my opinion. This is a passive augmented reality device that is less about the ‘digital world’ and is more about integrating in to the real world in a more natural way.
Phones are now complex computational devices in their own right so they will stick around for telecommunications, photography, entertainment, emails and meatier app orientated tasks. The watch will deal with the phone’s outputs (‘glanceable’ information) and passive interaction.
The killer functions:
APPLE PAY:
I use a wristband here in the UK to pay for my groceries, travel tickets & small things like coffee and it’s a life changer. One tap of the wrist and you’re out of there.
KEYS / PASSES:
That same experience applied to other areas of your life is equally compelling. You will be able to board planes, check in to hotels, open hotel doors, unlock & lock computers & access/start your car. This is another example of passive functionality that will have 5 other potential customers standing behind you scratching their head as to how you’re gliding through the matrix with a simple wave of your hand.
NOTIFICATIONS:
This seems like an obvious ‘non feature’ to most people but the user experience is compelling. A lot of people deal with hundreds of nagging emails, messages & other notifications every day. This device allows you to prioritise in order to get on with your life! No more pulling out your phone, unlocking & launching just to see why it’s pinging at you.
HEALTH & FITNESS:
This feature isn’t a key selling point for all people but it’s existence will make more people conscious of their personal health which is about as important as life gets! :) I am certain with the number of acquisitions etc that the health & fitness sensors are going to see radical development across the generations of this device and it will start become increasingly useful for people of different ages and stages of health.
The not so killer but still great functions:
MAPS:
I think the experience of using maps on a phone (or tablet) whilst on foot is clumsy. You either ignore it for too long and miss instructions or focus too much and miss what’s going on around you. The watch again solves this by tapping you to let you know where to turn backed up with a quick glance for distance information.
SIRI:
The watch is the perfect input for Siri. Siri can be used for split second queries in a very natural way. Ask Siri where you parked your car and the watch ‘taps’ you home.
HOME AUTOMATION:
The watch again makes a lot of sense as the control interface for the home when grouped with Siri & the NFC functionality. Tap your wrist to enter the house and ask Siri to put the lights/kettle on. You can take that one step further and imagine a link to a next generation Apple TV where you have a bevy of sensors and inputs strapped to your wrist!
MUSIC:
The phone again is actually quite a poor device for music because it’s either in your pocket or in your hand distracting you from the world around you. The headphone controls solve some of the problem but not all headphones come with controls and you don’t get visual cues/artwork. Wireless headphones + Apple Watch is the killer combo. See what’s playing naturally… flick through the artwork to skip. Easy.
That’s about it for now because I can’t be bothered to type anymore! ;D
Nope. It’s biosensors. Every single thing besides biosensors is second. Hence why they struggled to find purpose after they realized they couldn’t put all the biosensors they wanted, into it. It has a bunch of great features, but they’re largely redundant because all it saves you is pulling out your phone, which is a million times more capable. The purpose is biosensors. It’s the only thing that makes the device something that should be made. Notifications are an absolute joke, that’s like a calculator on your phone, it’s great to have, it’s just not why the device was made.
We’ll have to agree to disagree on that one ;) (even though I have clearly listed the biosensors as one of the killer features). If it was health alone then I think Apple would have stepped outside of the boundaries of the watch format much like their competitors fitbit and even that old dog Microsoft. Health will be extremely important in the long run but equal to other key passive interaction features. Health IMO will be a much broader industry which will be tackled by a range of accessories & eventually internal ‘devices’ operating in the bloodstream.
Your argument for the phone vs watch doesn’t stand because it’s the same argument that was applied to mobile phones and tablets. They all have their own very valid use cases.
I have used a range of devices for the above functions (& still do) and I know the power of these features first hand so I tried to qualify the reasons in detail the best I can. Your preference on notifications does not dictate the experience for everybody else. When you’re rushing around London/New York in between meetings there’s clearly a benefit to seeing the notifications on your wrist at a glance vs digging your phone out whilst the crowd crushes you.
Only time will tell #nopunintended :)
No my argument for the watch vs phone does stand. Read my first post which you quoted for reference as to my view on that. As a quick summary though: the watch has little purpose now, it needs biosensors to separate it from the phone, to make it have a good reason for being. The iPad vs phone has that, it’s entertainment consumption and productivity. The watch vs phone has next to nothing without biosensors. You’re right, they can’t all be done from the wrist, but I think a lot can, and will. The most important thing is accuracy, the second, is putting it on a spot on your body where you can get the most information.
Last year Cook said they started developing Apple Watch 3 years ago. Thats 2014 – 3 years = 2011. That sounds familiar, like the year someone went to the iCloud. cough… died… cough.
What if’s are just that. Tim Cook has done an absolute great job and has continued Apple’s growth. Put Apple as one of the greenest companies on the planet. Helped workers in China, brought back manufacturing to the U.S. and so much more. Things worked out the way they did for a reason and lets just leave it that way.
I see the absence of Steve Jobs in the little things. Apple is missing the details lately and wavering off course a lot.
Like, he would have let iOS 7 flatten the OS but he wouldn’t have let it go “too far,” (Let’s face it, Ive *did* let it go too far). He would have allowed the big iPhones, but he would have insisted that a smaller version was also produced to match, instead of what we have now which is a year long wait until we will see a “small” iPhone 6.
AppleTVs main problem is and always has been the assholes in charge of the media, but again, I feel that Steve Jobs would not have let the system languish for as long as it has. He was adept at seeing how others saw Apple, which the current management seems to be completely BLIND to. (Sorry Tim, but you seem to be clued out on what people actually like and barely in control to me a lot of the time).
So, from my point of view, Apple is slowly, gradually, irretrievably “failing” over time without Steve Jobs. I expect it to take years for anyone to notice and a further decade or two before any financial problems, but that’s kind of the point.
Steve Jobs wouldn’t have cared as much about the money and popularity thing as current execs do, and would have been more concerned over these things, even as they make money hand over fist. I think the money and the popularity Apple is currently enjoying is blinding the executive as to possible problems. They think that as long as they are raking in money, they are doing fine. Steve Jobs would disagree.
Has there been consideration as to Apple purchasing up Tesla and placing Eldon Musk on the board? That’s how they got Steve Jobs back by buying up Pixar Animation Studios. From there he added his genius simplification skills. Coming: Act II.
Ive didn’t let it go too far. In my opinion ios 7 looks so much better than 6, it’s unbelivable. Every time I see a device running iOS 6 I amso incredibly relieved for the new UI. It’s groundbreakingly better in every way to me.
Steve is always in charge. Even when Tim does what he feels best, its what Steve charged him to do.
If Steve were in still in charge we’d all still be running around with 4″ iPhones. You can decide for yourselves whether or not that’s a good thing.
Nice supposition. You have nothing to back it up with. People can change their minds, that’s the number one reason anyone that says this is spewing BS. Secondly, who’s to say Steve wasn’t lying about the things he said publicly, for marketing purposes? I mean you do realize everyone does that right? Finally, at the time, it arguably was the best screen size at 3.5″. This is due to a number of things, namely, device thickness. If you had the original iPhone thickbess at 4.7″ or 5.5″, trust me, you’d be wanting a smaller device. It would be highly unwieldy, much more so than it is now. Not to mention it would have weighed a ridiculous amount. The display quality would have been a problem as well, and associated battery problems due to the pushing of more pixels at that time. So, at that time, I’m with Steve, it was the best size. As for his iPad claims, I disagree and he could’ve easily been lying anyway.
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Tim-Cook-says-Steve-Jobs-taught-him-about-flip-flopping_id30702
honored to share my birthday with this legend!
I share my birthday with Adolf Hitler :(
They wouldn’t have killed Aperture and they would have some quality on their iPhone screens instead of the garbage they’re using. Of that I’m certain.
go home, you’re drunk
If Steve was alive, he would not have let Apple Watch launch until it had ~7 days of battery life. I own several smart watches, and keep going back to my good old automatic.
Reading this article, I’d say Tim Cook has made the right decisions so far.