Apple, Innovation, and Revolutions

There seems to be a growing number of people “disappointed” with Apple’s latest products because they are not revolutionary enough. There are increasing calls that Apple is just rotting without Steve Jobs. Is it really?

The latest iPhone has a graphics processor 56x faster than the original iPhone and uses LESS power for MORE battery life. And they are not innovating?

Apple is the driving force to push retina level displays with crystal clarity to laptops and mobile devices.

The new iPhone has an integrated fingerprint reader (that by all accounts works really well). Right now that may seem like more of a trick than a revolution, but what happens when they tie that into passbook and payment mechanisms. Credit cards, receipts, and wallets could be a thing of the past. Apple isn’t calling it the “most forward thinking phone” for no reason at all.

I know, I know, the question everyone has is “but what’s the next big thing?” I don’t know any more than you do, but to act like Apple isn’t working on that just because you don’t know about it is silly. No one knew anything about the iPhone before Steve Jobs introduced it — or the iPod or the iMac (all of which many people said would be failures out the gate).

Clearly the iPhone has been more of an evolution with each release, but if you look at the capabilities of the current iPhone (hardware & software) compared to the original, it’s staggering.

Would we prefer Apple push out products like Google Glass? Just because no one has done something like that before doesn’t make it revolutionary. Products that are a dud don’t start a revolution. No one is seriously going to walk around with those glasses on — it’s a beta prototype at best.

I continue to believe that Steve Jobs best invention was not the iMac or iPod or iPhone but Apple itself. To act like Apple can’t continue to innovate without him is a disservice to the incredible talent and leadership that works there. Apple continues to provide the very best design and technology products available anywhere in the world.

Revolutionary products don’t rotate through on a 6 month cycle, they take time, investment, and lots of creative juice. Those are three things Apple has a plethora of.

Will they be the ones that release the “next big thing” — I have no reason to believe otherwise. Who else will it be?

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