Why Is Apple So Innovative?
 

Another amazing laptop

http://www.apple.com/macbookair/

With the Imac, Ipod, Iphone, OSX ect... why can't anyone else seem to touch them?

It's missing one key feature...

Internet Access via Sprint/Verizon or AT&T

I don't know why they didn't build that in.

Mitch... I was at the Apple store today and I was very impressed after I was done talking to one of the sales guys... this thing is just amazing, can't wait to buy it.

I think Apple has some of the sleekest designs of their gadgets. The music player wasn't that innovative, but they made an incredible design behind it. Same with the phone, and now their notebooks. Its the wow factor that's selling them like hotcakes.
WG

wonder if I can do the new gestures on my macbook pro. that's cool

The head of design is a Brit

You are right an even the stuff that is not "innovative" such as the Ipod, has evolved into amazing gadgets. It must be the blest of functionality, ease of use, great design and durability...

It's Steven Job's simply said.

Great point. I think a lot of electronics companies overlook the design. Some people like having the shiny new toy to show off.

because they eat an apple a day

1 day into my macbook pro .. glad i switched back :) took 2 hours to move outlook to mail, but oh well :)

Because they think like the Porn Mogul.

Apple came back to life by targeting what ignorant consumers can understand, product design.

But if you look at the technical details of competing products of the same price, it's not such an easy choice for the informed buyer.


And this ultra lightweight laptop isn't anything new either. Sony has been doing this for the past 10 years. In fact I had picked up an old Sony Vaio UltraSlim at a garage sale a couple summers ago for $40. It dated to about 1998. Ten inch screen, very thin and weightless. Compare that to the bulky laptops of the era and THAT is true innovation.

Here is one similar to it:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sony-Vaio-UltraS...QQcmdZViewItem

And one that came out a few years later. Still only 4 pounds and not even an inch high:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sony-VAIO-PCG-R5...QQcmdZViewItem


So much for the great Apple innovation, huh?

Likely because they have to be. If they didn't come out with gadget stuff that caters to the yuppie wanna be hipsters niche, then they would have been out of biz a long time ago.

Other than that the only real market they had was the CGI artist side but even that is slowly getting taken over by unix powered machines.

There stuff is easy to use. I want to check my email with my phone or surf the web but look at way it was before. I do not want to buy extra software or add special tweaks to get it to do what I want. Tons of people came out and said "my phone does all of that." Then they see the iphone and go ok I gotcha. I sent one to mom. It will take her an hour to set it up or so just because she does not have itunes yet and then bam she will be checking erh email and surfing the web at the dentist office.

I was out with friends and we wanted to know when MTV launched. Bam! wikipedia - 1981. It is easy to use.

usability and design.

Steve Jobs is high on acid

Necessity because they're up against a much larger competitor

I'll add marketing into the list. They do a great job of telling you their stuff is cool. Include the cool look-and-feel of the stores in that.

And on product design, man, even the boxes their products come in are cool. When I opened my iphone I was impressed by the packaging.

I own way more Apple products than I thought I would a few years ago.

All started again once Steve Jobs came back. it's his mission.

Pity some of their stuff works like shit though...

You should see the other guy

Man, I still haven't switched to Vista on my HP.

I dont see the big deal about apple, i have an apple lappy spent $3k on it and it collected dust so i gave it to my sister.

barely anything works on macs, the features are absoluetley stupid, and their commercials are annoying.

i would never spend a dime on a mac again.

i thougt it was so cool at first but then realised it was a waste of money, i will always stick to PC now.

honestly - I don't think you gave it a fair try..

I have a iBook sitting in my closet collecting dust. The damn logic board went sour in 3 or 4 years. Stay clear of Apple! :thumbsup

Watch an old promo vid of the NeXT computers that Steve Jobs had come out and you'll start to see that Steve Jobs is ALWAYS way ahead of the game on innovation.

Two words: Steve Jobs.

that laptop looks fucking hot

the air has built in ram and battery no thanks

I hated my iphone at first but it is almost like having a laptop with me for the basic stuff so it did what I wanted but I have no doubts that it is not reliable in that if it falls it is done I bet. I have tons of broken ipods laying around.

Steve jobs is a god, that's why

Funny part is, EVERY single one of these " new innovative " products is a new model of something he tried 10 years ago and failed, only cause the shit was too ahead of its time

Newton = Iphone etc, just now the worlds ready for it.

You can boot up a brand spankin new Imac beside an '84 Mac SE and you'll see it for yourself , same shit .. just newer and nicer to look at.

You're paying twice as much as a Macbook for less features. The Macbook is 1.03 in thick and 5 lbs. The Air is .72 in thick and 3 pounds.

I don't see the point.

Are you comparing a Vaio to a Macbook?

Vaio = "shit"
Macbook = "The Cats Meow"

sweet looking,
But missing some important stuff... no firewire, no express port, no Ethernet port. So, not able to use high speed sprint card, my external firewire drives or even direct connect to my gigabyte ethernet for larger file transfers... no thanks.

I will stick to my Asus eee thanks anyways.

Look at everything Apple has into their laptops. The Sony could not touch Apple then, nor now.

The true innovation of Apple lies in their accepting a single fact: as technology becomes commonplace in society, its design becomes ever more important.

Other companies tend to focus solely on the functionality of technology. However, when technology becomes an integral part of your life, it needs to be integrated in such a way that it complements your lifestyle, rather than contrasting with it.

Take, for example, the iPod. Technologically, it wasn't particularly innovative. Aesthetically, it was. It wasn't a useful but awkward gadget, like the competition. Instead, it was an object that provided simple functionality, as well as being something that people gladly carried around and accepted into their daily life.

Or look at the iPhone. Technologically, it isn't nearly as sophisticated as other smartphones. But it is something that provides simple functionality, designed in such a way that it effortlessly blends into a person's life.

For me, the best example is perhaps the iMac in my office. With another brand, I could have gotten more functionality for less money. In truth, however, the extra functionality was something I didn't need - my work, sadly, does not usually require me to play the newest games at the highest settings.
Meanwhile, the iMac in question actually adds to the design of my office, rather than taking away from it. Not only does this help in creating a comfortable place to work, it also puts my clients at ease, especially the technophobic ones. It gives them the feeling that technology is being used merely as a tool, rather than as an intimidating and enigmatic barrier between them and me. That allows them to retain a feeling of control - and you'd be surprised at just how highly the typical 50+ brick-and-mortar CEO values that.

Talk about a loaded question :)

Anyway, I definitely give them props for marketing :)

13 inch screen. no thanks.

cuz they take an existing product, put it in a white box and charge you a lot of money for it :)

Man you got to hand it to Jobs, he has done an amazing job with Apple.

I really don't know why everyone is so impressed with this new laptop. I mean sure it is cool to have something so thin, but it doesn't even have a CD/DVD rom? I think that's a bit pre-mature, cd/dvd/bluray etc.. will be a force for another few years at least. Also there is no firewire.. didn't apple invent that? Also there is no chance of an upgrade, its sealed in the similar fashion of an IPod.

But yes I agree it *looks* very nice, I do agree.

Uh, they don't have a choice.

I remember like 5 or 6 years ago.. I ran a very large mac lab.. and I worked with apple computer a lot.. and I found out that a ton of there income ( something like 30 to 50% at that time) comes from patents and research they have done..

things like

flooply drives
talking computer ( like text to speech)
Voice requisition (sp) software ( like talking and having the computer type)

and other things apple have huge patents in and make a killing off of.

thinking of getting one, are you happy with it?