Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was at TEDx Brussels in mid-November, where after in an interview with TechCrunch he spoke about Apple‘s innovation. He was asked whether Microsoft had surpassed Apple in that regard and had some interesting things to say.
Wozniak said that he had seen “œmore of the type of innovation“ at Microsoft that left him saying: “œWhoa, they really changed things drastically. Whoa, they aren‘t even going in the same direction as everyone else, meaning the iPhone and the Android operating systems.“
He continued to say that he fears Microsoft “œmay have been sitting in their labs, while Apple was just used to cranking out the newest iPhone and falling behind.“ He said it worries him greatly, and when asked why, replied “œbecause of my love for Apple“.
Microsoft have been thought of in recent years to be lagging behind the likes of Google and Apple, but have very recently, albeit a bit late, come to the party in a huge way. With the launch of their own tablet, the Surface, together with Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, Microsoft is trying to become a large player in the mobile market as well, relying on their integration capabilities with traditional desktop based PC computers. Windows Phone is different to Android and iOS in that it is an information-centric operating system rather than an application-centric one.
We have seen some interesting things from Microsoft in their new product line up, and the Surface looks like a potential winner. But could Steve be correct, is Apple really falling behind in the innovation race?
That seems to be the feeling in the general public as well, with many Apple fans crying foul after the launch of the latest iPhone 5 (not that it stopped them from buying one, or several in fact). Steve Wozniak may have a point, in my opinion. I would hate to see Apple go through what happened after the last “œpost-Jobs“ era, where they started churning out Macintosh after Macintosh iterations with slight improvements. We all know what happened to the company back then and they brought Jobs back to right the ship.
Wozniak went on; “œApple had some bad times“ referring to the Mac debacle I mentioned above, “œImproving is not Apple-style innovation. It‘s not like you‘re creating something astounding, that you‘re just gasping because it‘s so unexpected,“ said Wozniak. When Steve Jobs came back, he noted, that changed.
This time though, Apple doesn‘t have that safety net to return to. Apple‘s innovation over the years was a lot different from, for example, Samsung‘s. They are obviously both very successful with different innovation models. Apple is more of what we call a “œneed seeker“, someone that identifies needs in the market that have not been met and then creates a product around that. Samsung, however, is more of a “œmarket reader“, innovating around current market trends, or what could be called a “œfast follower“. However, I feel Apple‘s model might be moving in the same direction (just look at how Apple finally gave in and gave the iPhone 5 a bigger screen).
We will have to wait and see how successful Microsoft‘s new products are. One thing is for sure, though. They certainly went back to the drawing board and tried to step outside the box. The potential with their mobile devices integrating with other Microsoft products is astounding. Imagine taking your work home with you, massive Excel or any other Office files, and being able to work on them like you would on a laptop. Imagine being able to connect to a server with your tablet running a fully functional SQL Server, or using Microsoft Reporting Services churning out report after report for your boss on the go. The possibilities do seem endless.
This isn‘t to say that Microsoft‘s innovations will be financially successful, though. But I think Wozniak is right to point out that Microsoft has done some seriously innovative work, where Apple hasn‘t done anything truly different in some time now. I would hate to see Apple stagnate and rely on their current customer base to stay loyal.
What are your thoughts on Steve Wozniak’s words?
