Marco Angelo D'Souza
Like every year, Apple Inc's recent special event in Carlifornia saw the US tech giant unveiled a series of products – MacBook, ResearchKit and the company's first new product in five year – the Apple Watch.
However, the launch of the new Macbook and the Apple watch have raised plenty of questions on their new products, in the face of competition.
Can they continue to innovate, pushing the envelopes of product design and construction, while still pricing their products at irrational levels? Will the tradeoff of removing all ports on the new MacBook (save one new-gen USB-C port) drive adoption in the wider market?
Ever since Tim Cook took over the reins, it was but natural that comparisons were going to be made with Steve Jobs from their range of products, management style to their ability to inspire innovation and even his choice of wardrobe. Well, many seems to agree that Apple isn’t what it used to be, all sense of rationality seems to go out the window each time an Apple product is being announced, including the latest products.
Apple can announce that they’ve just taken away every port (save one) on their new MacBook, or that their new watch has day-long battery life, and the crowds will still swoon with a chorus of ‘aahs’ like it’s the most innovative news ever. And they did.
Apple has, in recent years, been playing catch up, even with many mass market products, introducing new abilities in their products that have been par for the course: 400+ ppi screens, fast processors, cameras with high-quality sensors and day-long battery life.
In the longest time, Apple hasn’t unveiled that single bang-up feature that sends shockwaves through the industry. Of late, each time they unveil their ‘next game-changing product’, they appear to be just trying too hard.
Gone are the days when Apple products seemed to exude that unmistakable confidence. A confidence not just associated with the fact it was a ‘Cupertino-designed’ product, but one that stemmed from really and truly revolutionizing a sector. From the original iPhone, to the iPad, to the MacBook Air, these devices defined the bar by which future products would strive to reach.
