Thinking Not So Differently

Every time an Apple product is launched or showcased, far too much attention is drawn in terms of press coverage, sometimes both good and bad. However trivial the upgrade or insane an idea, the Jobs era somehow had that drama and sense of occasion at the keynotes. While I have not been to any of them in person, it's easy to see what a single person can do to influence an organization no matter what it's workforce strength is or believes in. Enough has been said about him by some of the best writers; his concept of reality distortion field, inability to accept mediocrity, relentless pursuit of perfection etc., Imagine, the guy wanted perfectly printed circuit boards inside a machine that would never be opened.

 

With such an approach, Jobs always ensured that Apple was a company that followed it's own norms. A company that was famous for secrecy and known for great leaps in design and engineering.

 

While it's not fair to expect great leaders very often in history, Apple's take of being different seems to be fading away somehow. I get a sense that they are becoming much more mainstream by the day and somehow Mr. Cook seems to be completely fine with the fact that he can leverage the Apple brand and build something pretty common and still label it different. Granted, I have not seen the new iPhones nor the Apple watch, but they already seem to be following the heard. There is absolutely no feature that is unique to either and nor is the design. Apple has always been about design. The iPhone 4 and 5 were designs to die for. They felt like pieces of art, something that could have been designed after years of perfection. The 6 just seems too much of a run of the mill product. I get a sense that Apple is doing all this because they no longer command the authority like in the Jobs era. By following industry standards like NFC for payments, the only saving grace I can see for Apple is the loyalty that they have built over the years. Don't even get me started on the iPhone 6 Plus! Come on Apple, did you really have to address that market? What's wrong in being a little unique? I understand market pressure, market share, being answerable to the board and all the other jargon, but has Apple really lost the guts to be different and turn into just another company that follows the herd?

 

When I saw concepts of the rumoured iWatch, I thought Apple would something ground breaking since it was a category they could capitalise with an amazing design. Smartwatches will probably be a futile exercise by companies to put giant screens in our pockets and smaller screens on our wrists, but Apple has time and again proved such notions wrong, so let's not judge them so soon. My only gripe is the design. Instead of the classic Apple approach of making something of a one size fits all design that is so irresistible that people would just rush into the stores to get one, the Apple Watch seems to have too many variants, too many options, too much noise overall. Giving customers choice is good, but isn't that a little too mainstream? Isn't that left to companies like LG or Samsung to fill the gap? Wasn't Apple meant to always cater to a market that made it so great that customers would overlook the quirks and accept them? Where is that Apple now? Where has this new found love for customers come from and why? Have they really stopped thinking differently? Really, a digital crown interface is nothing ground breaking and neither is the design. Over the years, Mr. Ive has redefined what could be done in a category. Though not created categories themselves, historically, Apple has entered the market when the time was just right. But, doing a rectangular faced watch everyone else seems to doing something similar is somehow not the Apple I knew and loved.

 

It's way too early for me to say anything on the products and services unveiled recently since I have only used iOS 8 on my iPad mini and there does not seem to be any more value since I do not use a Mac and my iPhone is stuck with iOS 7. While I will reserve my judgement until I play around with the phones and the watch in the store, my emotions towards Apple seem to fade away. They are just being another manufacturer who think they are being different, but need something truly new to prove us wrong now.