Mossberg:
Five years ago last week, the legendary Steve Jobs stepped down as Apple’s CEO after an amazing 14-year run that took the technology company from the edge of disaster to the heights of glory. He personally selected his COO, Tim Cook, as the new CEO, and passed away six weeks later.
So, how has Apple changed in the first five years of the Tim Cook era? How is it different from the peak of the Jobs era?
The short answer is that the company has surged financially to heights Jobs likely never dreamed of. It has also refined its popular product line and retained most of its senior talent.
But Cook’s Apple has yet to produce the kind of new, game-changing product Jobs was famous for launching. Or, if it has, we don’t know it yet.
I think a better title for this article would have been, “Jobs’ metric of success is different than Cook’s metric of success. Both were critical.”
I think Walt Mossberg’s analysis is interesting, worth reading, but I also think it is couched incorrectly. Steve Jobs ran Apple in a startup mode. Just as most startups need different leadership as they mature, in my opinion, Tim Cook is exactly the kind of leader Apple needed to crush the supply chain and build up Apple’s presence around the world, exactly the kind of leader Apple needs to navigate the choppy tax waters ahead.
And I have no doubt that Apple has plenty of innovation in the hopper, some of it extensions to familiar forms, some of it in the labs, still being shaped.
I have a slightly different take but I agree with you Dave, Mossberg sounds like a typical journalist who only bites on drama, not on incremental gains.
I’ve always thought that Tim Cook was and is the right guy to take Apple to the next level, whatever that is. He’s far from perfect, but neither was Jobs.
Where I think Cook/Apple has made a mistake is in not incrementally updating the Macintosh line and its accessories. We don’t need huge breakthrough products, we need regular reminders that Apple still supports the Macintosh line. The lack of movement on the Mac Pro, the mix of ports on various Macs, the fact that Apple dropped their monitor without mention of a new one, iCloud weakness, etc. These things all bother me as both a very long term Mac user and AAPL stockholder.
I just don’t know what Apple sees as the future of the Macintosh, and I shudder when I hear say that the iPad Pro is the future of personal computing.
Even though, In 1976 when the first Apple I showed up, it was really until the Apple II, a year later in 1977, that Apple really made any headway, for a couple of years anyway until 1979.
But it was almost 5 years later, with the Macintosh 128, that the real success of Mac came about.
Then almost 14 years later, in 1998, that the colored iMac was introduced, 14 years.
Where was the clamoring for “More innovation!” then?
Up to this point Apple was all about computers
They tried other products, but lets face it, it was Apple Computer.
Then in 2001 the first iPod. So, since 1976 to 2001 Apple made computers, that’s 25 years.
25 years later they made the iPod.
Five years later in 2007, the iPhone, and Apple TV.
Three years later the iPad in 2010 and the Apple Watch five years later in 2015.
I don’t know about anyone else here, but it seems Apple is innovating as much or more than they ever have.
Apple does need a solid refresh with the iMac line and I am hopeful they’ll be along soon.
But even here, this happened while Steve Jobs was at Apple too.
The iPhone was not a breakthrough success until it was (notwithstanding the initial awe and wonder, which is impossible to achieve nowadays), which didn’t happen in 2007. Same with the iPod, which took time to rise to the sales summit it eventually did. Give the Apple Watch a couple more years to decide if it is a breakthrough product.
Similarly, give the MacBook time before judging it next to the MacBook Air.
The iPad was a different story. It did become a breakthrough product overnight. But it is flaming out (ok, plateauing) faster than the iPhone too.
Lest we forget, Jobs did not create any of the breakthrough product. He simply pushed for higher standards and decided on timing. One of the greatest decision makers in industry. But the key innovative talent behind the previous breakthrough products has not been diluted at Apple.
All to say, a full chapter has not been written.
For long stretches of time, Steve Jobs didn’t have a breakthrough product either.
And while the iPhone has been shown to be the revolutionary product of its era, it was also the culmination of an evolved design from the iPod’s humble beginnings.
If you look at the reality of the world, once the computer became small and pocket sized, the changes have been once again evolutionary.
Miracles only happen once in a while.
Where’s Google’s breakthrough product? Where’s Microsoft’s breakthrough product? Boring. Journalism is near-death and Mossberg puts another nail in it.
Mossberg is now an old crank yearning for the fond memories of the past. he’s joined the ranks of Dvorak and others.
While there were breakthroughs in the early years of both personal computers and mobile devices, they came few and far between.
Steve Jobs brought Apple back from the dead, so now the myth is that he walked on water. Cook has been successfully steering this ship for some time now, but it’s not the Ark people. Apple makes great products, fearless decisions, and they are certainly not done yet.
like it or not desktops are devaluing. I use my iPad far more hours in the day. my family rarely ever touch the desktop anymore. devices like iPad will continue to gain abilities and will take on more, so cook is right, they are the future.
I know all the techies on blogs are butthurt about it, but the reality is most people don’t need the latest Intel chipset nor do they know what one is. PCs are plateauing…they do what most people need them to do. “pro” editors are a very small subset of customer base.
agreed. the double standard is rubbish.
“Mossberg is now an old crank … he’s joined the ranks of Dvorak”
Shudder but, unfortunately somewhat true.
Mossberg needs to make a buck by pandering to all those who need to be pandered to—those of any age who never grew out of being spoiled brats in constant need of being entertained.
I’m looking forward to Apple’s iPhone event and to owning a 7 Pro or Plus. Great phone, the 6S+!
I still love my iMac which works flawlessly, but I’d love to see a Pro with updated guts and GPUs worthy of The Foundry’s (Modo) attention for software optimization.
Mossberg has yet to produce the kind of new, game-changing tech journalism that his younger self was famous for launching. Or if he has, we can’t tell the difference.
Oh god, Walt has succumbed to the clickbait BS of “Apple isn’t innovating!”
The fact is Steve’s second tenure had at most 3 and at least 1 truly breakthrough product. The indisputable on is the iPhone. If we’re a bit lenient with the definiton of breakthrough, the iPod took MP3 players and radically improved their ease of use and started the idea that such a thing was critical to product success. The other would be the iPad. Note that the iphone was released 10 years after Steve returned, not the next year or anything.
That’s it. If you’re talking change the world level it was ONE breakthrough product. The bigger change was that design mattered, details are key and striving to build as good a product as possible will resonate with enough people that you can brtng a company back from the brink and make it one of the most valuable on Earth.
Perfect. And, like Apple, they really had one. Google’s was search that actually found what you wanted. Microsoft’s…. I’d argue they never had one. Windows was an obvious move after seeing the Mac. Office likewise was an obvious move to take out things like Wordperfect. If anything, their innovation was a business one (becoming the default OS in x86 machines).
Everyone who parrots this idiotic meme always fail to consider the fact that the industry was COMPLETELY different under Jobs. The competitive landscape is night and day between 2007 and 2016. Competitors in 2007 were far more complacent, far less hungry, allowing a hungry Apple to swoop in from underneath their feet.
In 2016, competitors are far more hungry, ALL trying to claim the “innovation” throne. All trying to 1-up Apple and beat Apple to the punch. Paying attention to every rumor coming out of Cupertino, which has increased dramatically since Apple became the most-watched company in the world and has doubled in headcount.
Circumstances have changed drastically. Nobody can say how Steve Jobs would have handled these same circumstances that 2016 Apple has to contend with, because Jobs was not alive to do it.
From article: “Apple just needs an exciting new iPhone. After I saw Samsung’s gorgeous new Galaxy S7 in March, I wrote a column calling for the next iPhone to be “spectacular.”
Apparently, Mossberg consider that Samsung S7 is a breakthrough procuct. Go figure.
Yes but we’re talking about people that do “real” work not entertain themselves. Real work, for the most part, requires a desktop class OS.
“real work” is very subjective, though I do think full computers/traditional computers/ even desktop computers will be needed going forward – for a long time (10+ years at least)… some people need to process 5K video.
This would be a shrinking market, yet any company can still make a lot of money selling hardware and software … which I think Apple sometimes forgets. Maybe they are looking to far ahead.
It is annoying that Apple stopped making “computers”. We still have a traditional computer operating system – which is great. This system does not need “touch” either, as it is not designed for touch – at all … (unless maybe in kiosk mode) and you would get that bastid OS by Microsoft called, ‘Windows’ …
My last computer from Apple is a 2010 Mac Pro tower and it is still very nice and heavily upgraded. I’m not sure I would by another Mac again … Apple should really get a clue – there are many who will pay the extra money for an Apple computer…. if they can upgrade it down the road (or sell it to someone who is thinking about upgrading an older model).
Actually Jobs did “create” the break through products – all of which existed before in a similar or different format … MP3 players, ‘smart phones’ and even tablets were around for ages, yet Jobs’ savvy allowed Apple to make a much better, more elegant device. This insight is what most other tech companies lack.
I fear now, Apple is going to far into the gadget area – as their computers are not very ‘upgradable’ anymore. Maybe Steve Wozniak should come back? – he should! Woz!
I respectfully disagree (and agree with Obsidian below).
To each his own. For what I use a computer for, an iPad (which I have and love) will not do. I like a mouse, a real keyboard, and a larger screen and the various things that Mac OS makes possible that iOS doesn’t.
Doing real text editing on an iPad, even an iPad Pro with an Apple keyboard is not the same (for me) as it is using any simple writing tool in Mac OS.
While it may be true that most people buying iPads today have no need for a “computer” that doesn’t apply to everyone and there is a group of people who Apple used to call the “Pro Market” who will most likely choose a computer over an iPad to do their work most days. Doesn’t mean they won’t buy and use an iPad, just not for the kind of work they do.
I, too, respectfully disagree. As a CPA and a hobby photographer for 43 years, there are still many things my iPad does not and can not do for me that my three year old MacBook Pro whips through.
I love my iPad, use it several hours a night, and actually teach a class on it and iPhones at our local senior center, and it certainly is all the computer many people need. My day, however, is spent on my much more efficient laptop.
If nothing else, I need a ten key pad 😉