Is Google the New Microsoft?

[Bosco]

History has a tendency to repeat itself.

I recently had a few discussions with people who have iPhones (and are Apple advocates) who are considering 'upgrading' to an Android phone. Their decision is based on price and the perception of Apple being too stringent on what they can or can not do with their devices.

Unfortunately, the writing is on the wall... iOS will eventually loose the battle with Android. You can not compete with free. Especially, if it's as good or better than your product.

However, Apple is an innovator. I'm confident they will invent new markets that will sustain them indefinitely. I believe Apple will revolutionize the TV market similar to way they did with the ipod (music industry) and iphone. Eventually, companies (like Google, Amazon, and Samsung) will rip it off and sell a cheaper version of it... and history will repeat itself once again.

If Apple can keep moving forward with innovation, then they will stay ahead of the pack. But, not forever. The copy cats will still be nipping at their heels along the way.

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[mrlynn]

Bosco wrote:
However, Apple is Steve Jobs was an innovator. . .

FIFY. I'll believe it of Apple, when Apple sans Steve actually innovates.

/Mr Lynn

[Sam3]

mrlynn wrote:
[quote=Bosco]
However, Apple is Steve Jobs was an innovator. . .

FIFY. I'll believe it of Apple, when Apple sans Steve actually innovates.

/Mr Lynn
:agree: I haven't seen anything really innovative since the iPad, and that was a Steve Jobs project. All I've seen are refinements of existing products.

I do see Open Source finally breaking into the mainstream as now there will be two Linux-based mobile OS's with Samsung outfitting some of their phones with Tizen.

[Bosco]

Good point, Mr Lynn... That is yet to be determined.

However, there are still a few projects from SJ that are brewing. Hopefully, we will see them sooner than later.

[Article Accelerator]

mrlynn wrote:
And will Google do to Apple what Microsoft did in the '90s?

Android is gaining market share—at Apple's expense:

Not hardly, mrlynn. Apple takes about 70% of the entire cell phone industry's profits. Google/Android has won nothing.

[Article Accelerator]

mrlynn wrote:
[quote=Bosco]
However, Apple is Steve Jobs was an innovator. . .

FIFY. I'll believe it of Apple, when Apple sans Steve actually innovates.
Good point, mrlynn. Since Steve left, Apple introduced in-house designed A6 mobile CPUs, Retina-display laptops, the Fusion drive, new display technology for both desktops and iOS devices, and more.

I guess you can believe again--unless you're awaiting disruptive innovation. The last example of that was in 2010 with the release of the iPad and prior to that, in 2007 with the release of the iPhone. Maybe this will be your year...

[mrlynn]

AA, I guess you could call the Mac, or the iPod, or the iPhone, or the iPad "disruptive" innovations. They were "game-changers," for sure, not because they were new products, but because they introduced new ways for users to interact with the devices. Indeed, arguably most of Apple's innovations were interfaces. None of the latest improvements offer such quantum leaps in usability.

There are rumors about an Apple 'Dick Tracy' watch that will serve as a controller for i-devices, but there are limits to how small normal fingers can manipulate things. Does anyone want a giant iPad cum TV? What would Steve be imagining if he were still here? Maybe the Star Trek computer?

/Mr Lynn

[Article Accelerator]

mrlynn wrote:
AA, I guess you could call the Mac, or the iPod, or the iPhone, or the iPad "disruptive" innovations.

Good list. Those products came out in 1984, 2001, 2007, and 2010 respectively. So why so much noise about Apple being "no longer innovative"? It's silly. No, it's much worse--it's FUD, plain and simple. Let's not add to the noise and nonsense.

[Bosco]

Article Accelerator wrote:
[quote=mrlynn]
AA, I guess you could call the Mac, or the iPod, or the iPhone, or the iPad "disruptive" innovations.

Good list. Those products came out in 1984, 2001, 2007, and 2010 respectively. So why so much noise about Apple being "no longer innovative"? It's silly. No, it's much worse--it's FUD, plain and simple. Let's not add to the noise and nonsense.
MrLynn's point is that those products were released under Steve Jobs. Can Apple still innovate without him...? That's the question. The answer is still yet to be seen.

However, we won't really know until we see products released after the impending SJ projects. I believe 2013 will be a great year for Apple. What happens in 2014 / 2015 will surely give us a better scope on weather Apple still can innovate.

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[sekker]

The first laserprinter, the first modern laptop and the Newton were all innovative devices released by Apple without SJ.

I'm cautiously optimistic that Apple has a few more such devices in its future.