Apple is still way ahead of the rest of the industry. Particularly in how it introduces new products.
I’m pretty disappointed that Tim Cook doesn’t talk about the role of mobile in bringing us the future. He has the tools sitting right in front of him to do that, with the new motion sensor in the iPhone 5S and the new iBeacon technology, which wasn’t even featured in the iPhone presentation.
That all said, Apple does the best job out there at presenting new product and it isn’t even close. Watch this video and you’ll see that only one company picked up on the presentation lessons of Steve Jobs.
Samsung? Don’t be silly. They always look lame on stage. Google/Moto X? They are trying, but even at the Moto X launch they simply didn’t have the complete product and also didn’t have the ‘finish’ on the presentations that Apple has.
Microsoft? Um, no.
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Who else? Most of the presentations I sit through at the Consumer Electronics Show are just not even close.
Some other thoughts:
1. When my wife gets a new phone it will be an iPhone. Sorry, Google Glass isn’t even close to good enough to get her off of Apple. Moto X? Nope, not Moto X either. She’s used to Apple devices now and I love them because I don’t need to do much tech support. Android and other devices, including my Nokia 1020, just don’t come close to the overall quality of iOS and Apple devices.
2. It’s clear, when talking with my friends, that Apple and Google are the two that are “safe” to choose. Blackberry and Microsoft? No way. I don’t know how Microsoft will change that.
3. Most people didn’t see what Apple did by giving away the five iWork apps: keep Microsoft and Google from having leverage to take away Apple customers.
4. Apple is not worried about pissing off San Francisco geeks. At least not in the short term. They know that switching ecosystems is VERY painful. It took me two months to really be happy about being on Android and even then I see all the apps that are missing and new ones keep coming out on iOS first. Android might be safe, but it doesn’t have leverage to get most iOS users over to it.
5. Only Apple seems to be working to keep my data safe (and remove theft rewards). The fingerprint scanner is really key at keeping people out of your “personal cloud.” Most of my friends don’t use passwords. Why? It’s a real pain in the behind keeping your life secure (I use all two-factor authentication, most people in my life don’t).
6. While Apple might not be the geeky leader it leads in one much more important area: the bottom of the experience. Apple’s devices and OS’s just have no rough spots in usage. Android and other OS’s? There’s ugly stuff here and there. Apple keeps removing anything that’s ugly (like the worst of its skeuomorphic design). Google still has a LOT of potholes in its OS. Shall I pull out the contact manager in Android and show you how bad it is when compared to iOS? Or, let’s look at the average app: iOS apps generally are nicer, faster, have more features, etc.
“So, Scoble, why aren’t you getting the new iPhone then?”
Easy: for me Google Glass is the future. It works best on Android. Until I stop believing Google Glass is the future I won’t switch off of Android (or, until Apple has a decent competitor).
I think this is why Apple didn’t announce its iWatch. Or a new Apple TV. It also explains why iBeacon was underplayed. Apple is holding the coolest “personal cloud” tech for when it’s needed: next February when Google will announce Google Glass and a few other things.
Apple needs those to take away the oxygen supply from Google Glass. If it fails to take away the oxygen supply then it has opened up a new way for Google to lever users off of Apple’s ecosystem.
Oh, and Xbox? Watch what Apple shows off at about 42 minutes into this video. Tell me, why would a family buy an Xbox when all the teenagers are gonna want a new phone anyway this Christmas and this one plays games pretty damn well!
Translation: Apple still is gonna be highly profitable for a long time to come, even though it is definitely a lot more boring than it was.
The thing is, everyone else is even MORE boring than Apple is. It’s amazing how this industry just hasn’t learned the lessons Steve Jobs brought us.
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