1. roderickwill's Avatar
    While I don�t normally agree with some of Zdnet articles, this one I am on the same page with. I am constantly battling with a coworker as he states BB will not be around in 10 years and by that time Apple and Google will cover every niche in the cell phone market. My rebuttal is there is always a new startup that will grasp people eyes and developing a following. People like to root for the underdog I just hope BB is that underdog that can deliver to niches of the everyday man. For example my cable guy was using a Samsung to install my internet service. I was thinking why hasn�t BB tap in the labors of the world. Anyway enough with my ramble thoughts please.

    Apple: Same dog food, reheated
    Summary: Cupertino is resting on its iLaurels while fierce competition from the valley is eating its lunch. 2014 will be a seminal year for Apple and all eyes are on what Tim cooks up at WWDC this June.

    By Jason D. O'Grady for The Apple Core | January 18, 2014 -- 04:45 GMT (20:45 PST)

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    Photo: O'Grady

    Larger iPhones?

    Larger iPads?

    Meh.

    Where are the moonshots? Where is the innovation? Where is the leadership? Apple, I'm afraid, has lost its way and is on a collision course with mediocrity while hungry, eager and cunning competitors lap it in the race to win the hearts and minds of increasingly savvy consumers.

    A couple of recent headlines got me thinking this way and Cupertino's lethargic pace of development and innovation is starting to worry me, an Apple customer and enthusiast since the original Mac in 1984 and the Lisa before it.

    The two recent news events that prompted me to write this piece involve Google.

    First came the news that Google had acquired the hotest home automation startup in the valley � Nest Labs, creator of an innovative thermostat and smoke detector. Nest is the brainchild of Apple iPod prodigy Tony Fadell and is stocked with over 100 Apple refugees that followed Fadell to Nest. Nest gives Google access to smart, Internet connected appliances in millions of homes and a boat load of innovation and talented engineers. But the icing on the cake was that "Apple was not in the mix" and didn't express any interest in Nest. What? Nest is stocked with most of the Apple engineers that developed the iPod and Apple didn't even bid?

    Second came the news that Google is developing a glucose monitoring contact lens to help those suffering with diabetes, which affects one in 19 people. That's right, forget about connected eyewear (Google Glass), Google's going to put a sensor directly on your eyeball. Can a neural implant be far behind?

    Punctuating all this comes the news that Tim Cook begrudgingly settled with the FTC over predatory In App Purchases (IAPs) that target young kids in its App Store. Rather than taking the high road and pledging reforms (many of which as quite simple) Mr. Cook chose to belittle the settlement and side with morally bankrupt developers that target sneaky IAPs at three and six year old kids. Reprehensible!

    I personally have to refute several App Store charges per month that my kids accidentally make because shady developers of well-known "princess," "fairy," and "pet" apps trick my kids on touching the wrong button. The real subterfuge here is that Cupertino made $10 billion from its App Store in 2013 so its not going to doing anything that would jeopardize that income.

    Apple's labs are chock full of iPhone and iPad prototypes that have already be released by Samsung, HTC and Motorola. Meanwhile Google is barging into the American home (and body) in substantial ways while Apple's sad, black hockey puck sits idle in millions of entertainment centers.

    Say what you will about Google, but one thing you can't say that it's "stagnant" or "stuck in a rut" like Apple is. And Nest and the connected contacts are just part of the story, look at Google Glass, autonomous vehicles, bandwidth by hot air balloons. Hot air ballons! I'm not advocating that Apple do everything that Google's doing, but for heaven's sake Cupertino, stop being a cheapskate and spend a nickel of your $150+ billion cash horde and do something new!

    The rumored iWatch is nothing but vapor at this point, AppleTV is a laughing stock and Apple hasn't innovated since the iPad came out in 2010. Regardless of Phil Schiller's shallow sound bites, Apple hasn't innovated much in at least four years.

    And it's not just Google that's eating Apple's lunch.

    Amazon kicked the iPad's *** in display technology. The display in the Kindle Fire HDX shames the iPad and the mini's inspiration was clearly the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7. How about the iPhone 5's begrudging adoption of widescreen ("tallscreen?") aspect ratio? If millions weren't locked into the Apple "ecosystem" (code for the walled garden of iTunes Apps, movies and music) most would have defected for the better screens and price points of competing devices from Amazon and Google. And one word: drones.

    Facebook. Love it or hate it, it's a fact of life and most everyone uses it. Apple had the chance of a lifetime to turn iTunes into the biggest music-site-***-social-network in the world, but it let it rot to the point of becoming a joke. I challenge you to find one user that thinks iTunes is "good."

    Twitter has hatched a ton of innovation (in the form of startups), including Square, Medium and Jelly.

    Microsoft has made a credible attempt to merge the mobile and desktop markets, their message being that tablets are PCs and PCs that don�t have things like keyboards and backward compatibility are deficient. Maybe Windows 8 isn�t a complete home run, but in the long term the approach could be a threat. How about the iPhone 5c looking like a Lumia? iOS 7 taking cues from Metro, including the app switching gesture from Windows Phone and the app shutdown gesture from Windows 8? The split on-screen keyboard idea came from Windows 8 as well.

    I put the blame for the rudderless Apple squarely at Tim Cook's feet. He's an operations genius, but not the genius that Steve Jobs was. But to be fair, almost no one could fill Jobs' shoes, it's just that Jobs picked Cook, who's more of an MBA, number cruncher that a technology genius. So Mr. Cook is responsible for righting the ship. Mr. Cook is also the one that released the iPad mini with a putrid (non-Retina) display, based on three year old technology, virtually ceding the market to Android.

    All is not lost however. Apple has shown glimmers of innovation with Touch ID, iBeacons, the new MacPro and 64-bit iOS 7 on the software front, but those are mere blips on the technology radar. Apple failed to extend Touch ID to the latest crop of iPads (or the Mac) and the MacPro only has a tiny market because Apple waited too long and lost many of its loyal pro users to the dark side.

    [Update: iOS in the Car has the potential to be huge, but has yet to be delivered]

    Cupertino needs to reassure its developers and customers that it's still relevant in 2014, or they'll simply jump back in their self-driving cars, read news updates on heads up displays, and start dinner, laundry and feeding their pets remotely as they commute back to their climate controlled homes.

    All eyes will be Apple this June at WWDC 2014. Will Apple return to a culture of innovation, or will it be the same dog food, reheated?
    02-07-14 12:00 PM
  2. robsteve's Avatar
    Can you elaborate? I don't see BlackBerry mentioned in the article.
    Q10Bold, Acidwire and sk8er_tor like this.
    02-07-14 12:17 PM
  3. aha's Avatar
    Me neither

    Posted via CB10 with Z30 on 10.2.1.1925+1926 radio
    02-07-14 01:07 PM
  4. roderickwill's Avatar
    People are getting tired of Apple putting out the same thing with no innovation. During this lack of innovation from Apple BB should take a page out of Google and exploit the niches and deliver the innovations that Apple has yet to produce.
    02-07-14 01:15 PM
  5. MartyMcfly's Avatar
    People are getting tired of Apple putting out the same thing with no innovation. During this lack of innovation from Apple BB should take a page out of Google and exploit the niches and deliver the innovations that Apple has yet to produce.
    Who's getting tired? Apple sold over 50 million iPhones last quarter...


    Sent from my  using Tapatalk
    Tre Lawrence likes this.
    02-07-14 01:28 PM
  6. tinochiko's Avatar
    Who's getting tired? Apple sold over 50 million iPhones last quarter...


    Sent from my  using Tapatalk
    But growth is slow, I see his point..

    TechCraze C0008DDD1
    02-07-14 01:42 PM
  7. wincyUt's Avatar
    I believe the OP is trying to draw a parallel of BlackBerry's lack of proactive response to innovations, to where Apple seem to be heading under Tim's leadership.
    02-07-14 02:03 PM
  8. spikesolie's Avatar
    Who's getting tired? Apple sold over 50 million iPhones last quarter...


    Sent from my  using Tapatalk
    I believe a point was made about how people only stick around because yhry are locked in the ecosystem which is quite true

    Posted via CB10
    02-07-14 04:54 PM
  9. Nharzhool's Avatar
    I just came on here to point out that the Thread Title says "curiosity" but I think it should be "courtesy".

    Mmm...CB10! Just the tip though...
    02-07-14 05:08 PM
  10. MartyMcfly's Avatar
    I believe a point was made about how people only stick around because yhry are locked in the ecosystem which is quite true

    Posted via CB10
    Or people stick around for the overall package. You know things like build quality, ecosystem, customer service etc etc.


    Sent from my  using Tapatalk
    bbq10l likes this.
    02-07-14 05:13 PM
  11. Playbook007's Avatar
    Apple ios in the car is no good because it is a closed system, therefore you need to have an iphone. Car manufacturers are not going to do that. 80 percent of the market is android. QNX can run it all.

    Posted via CB10
    billsterjito likes this.
    02-07-14 05:26 PM
  12. Erik Lehman's Avatar
    This doesn't seem to mention blackberry. Although I agree apple is basically ripping people off..

    Z30 10.2.1.537
    02-07-14 05:56 PM
  13. spikesolie's Avatar
    Or people stick around for the overall package. You know things like build quality, ecosystem, customer service etc etc.


    Sent from my  using Tapatalk
    Build quality for most phone is at least top notch. Customer service is Meh. I don't possibly understand how customer service would keep . someone from upgrading from an inferior phone (functional wise).

    For example if you have an iPhone but tried an android and liked it, I don't think customer service or build quality would make you stay you know what I mean?

    Posted via CB10
    02-07-14 07:01 PM
  14. crackbrry fan's Avatar
    Steve Jobs was a salesman, he could have sold snow to the Eskimos, without his drive and salesmanship, Apple is slowly but surely becoming unhinged from its moorings, time will tell, they already had a few billion dollar buy back due to a comparative bad quarter,( stock had started a slide soon after that earnings report), this helped the stock to bump 11% year over last. Carl Icahn is promoting even more buy back than the 14 B. already made,the question remains ,how much can they buy back and for how long? Innovation and a mediocre product cannot continue to be the status quo ,without Steve Job at the helm I see things not looking very promising. The BB10 can capitalize on this as the platform is maturing beautifully, the next portfolio of devices should be strong and stable enough to jockey for the top. Its always easier climbing to the top than trying to hold onto the top especially given the nature of the beast, a continually evolving rapidly changing field of technology.

    Posted via CB10
    Last edited by crackbrry fan; 02-07-14 at 08:20 PM.
    02-07-14 07:35 PM
  15. MartyMcfly's Avatar
    Steve Jobs was a salesman, he could have sold snow to the Eskimos, without his drive and salesmanship, Apple is slowly but surely becoming unhinged from its moorings, time will tell, they already had a few billion dollar buy back due to a comparative bad quarter, this helped the stock to bump 11% year over last. Carl Icahn is promoting even more buy back than the 14 B. already made,the question remains ,how much can they buy back and for how long? Innovation and a mediocre product cannot continue to be the status quo ,without Steve Job at the helm I see things not looking very promising. The BB10 can capitalize on this as the platform is maturing beautifully, the next portfolio of devices should be strong and stable enough to jockey for the top. Its always easier climbing to the top than trying to hold onto the top especially given the nature of the beast, a continually evolving rapidly changing field of technology.

    Posted via CB10
    Apple will be fine.


    Sent from my  using Tapatalk
    02-07-14 07:54 PM
  16. momark's Avatar
    Or people stick around for the overall package. You know things like build quality, ecosystem, customer service etc etc.


    Sent from my  using Tapatalk
    Actually they need to have great customer service BECAUSE of the build quality. My son is on his 4th 4s and thank god it was all under the year warranty. They get an A+ for hassle free exchange to a refurb

    Posted via CB10
    JesseBabe23 likes this.
    02-07-14 08:05 PM
  17. Tre Lawrence's Avatar
    People are getting tired of Apple putting out the same thing with no innovation. During this lack of innovation from Apple BB should take a page out of Google and exploit the niches and deliver the innovations that Apple has yet to produce.
    LOL... this gets said a lot. Most companies would kill for such "tired" people.
    bbq10l likes this.
    02-07-14 08:17 PM
  18. Tre Lawrence's Avatar
    I believe a point was made about how people only stick around because yhry are locked in the ecosystem which is quite true

    Posted via CB10
    Fair point. People being locked into the ecosystem means Apple has done its job.

    Google, MSFT and Apple are all shoring up heir ecosystems, IMHO, for this very reason.
    bbq10l and BigAl_BB9900 like this.
    02-07-14 08:18 PM
  19. RTK90's Avatar
    But growth is slow, I see his point..

    TechCraze C0008DDD1
    And BlackBerry's growth is so fast it's going backwards.

    Apple doesn't need to innovative, they just need the perception that they are. They don't need to be cutting edge, they just need to keep up with the competition.

    Posted via CB10
    garnok likes this.
    02-07-14 08:23 PM
  20. Tre Lawrence's Avatar
    And BlackBerry's growth is so fast it's going backwards.

    Apple doesn't need to innovative, they just need the perception that they are. They don't need to be cutting edge, they just need to keep up with the competition.
    I mostly agree.
    02-07-14 08:27 PM
  21. stlabrat's Avatar
    Op, just curious, did you posted it at appleinsider.com?if not, why not?

    Posted via CB10
    02-07-14 08:29 PM
  22. crackbrry fan's Avatar
    Apple will be fine.


    Sent from my  using Tapatalk
    BlackBerry thought the same just a few years ago!

    Posted via CB10
    garrett1972 likes this.
    02-07-14 08:30 PM
  23. Tre Lawrence's Avatar
    BlackBerry thought the same just a few years ago!

    Posted via CB10
    Well, that wasn't too smart of BBRY, since BBRY wasn't as diversified. Apple, Google, and MSFT all have other tiers of business that help weather uncertainties.

    I get the point you're trying to make, and I do believe that momentum is never continually maintained at a high rate, but I hink diversity of products is a key. A lot of these companies learned from BBRY's frailties.
    KemKev likes this.
    02-07-14 09:32 PM
  24. spikesolie's Avatar
    Well, that wasn't too smart of BBRY, since BBRY wasn't as diversified. Apple, Google, and MSFT all have other tiers of business that help weather uncertainties.

    I get the point you're trying to make, and I do believe that momentum is never continually maintained at a high rate, but I hink diversity of products is a key. A lot of these companies learned from BBRY's frailties.
    Exactly. The problem blackberry is having right now stems from this. People are just so invested in 1 platform...ipad iPhone apple tv iTunes.

    Samsung s4, note, goggle play. Windows8,wp8..

    Then blackberry...bb10 and a dead tablet. in all honesty bb10 just seems like a wonderful platform that unfortunately will only be people's additional platform.

    Posted via CB10
    02-07-14 11:31 PM
  25. MartyMcfly's Avatar
    BlackBerry thought the same just a few years ago!

    Posted via CB10
    That's true, however Apple is constantly exploring other areas of technology. You can't say the same for Blackberry. It took them 5-6 years to release a decent touchscreen device. As long as Apple remains a forward thinking company they'll be fine.


    Sent from my  using Tapatalk
    02-08-14 12:11 AM
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