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Everyone Has An Opinion! Today JoeJoomla is launching a new section called 'Sound Off'. In this section you'll find my opinions on just about anything. You might like them, or you might not, but for what it's worth, here they come.
My first 'sound off' is in response to a post entitled "Has Apple gotten lazy" on 'The Apple Core' contributed by Mike Waters and Posted by Jason D. O'Grady at blogs.zdent.com on January 12th, 2009.
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In this blog they infer the following:
- Apple’s over all product line has become stagnant
- iPod hasn’t had a huge enhancement since video
- iPhone hasn’t seen anything great since Exchange support
- The entire desktop line hasn’t received much needed attention in a very long time
- Apple better change gears quickly or they will lose the market share that it has gained
I suspect all the above ranting may be on account of the fact that the rumored hardware items that everyone was hoping for at the recent MacWorld didn't materialize. There was no new Mac Mini, no iPod Nano, and therefore the sky must be falling at Apple Inc.
The expectation of Apple Inc. to bring new groundbreaking innovations several times a year has become so huge that if Apple doesn't grant our every wish like some tooth fairy that somehow the end is in sight. Give me a break! Apple computer users aren't going to be running in droves to the other hardware platforms any time soon. Most companies would love to have Apple's current over all product line, let alone the brand loyalty that's attached to them.
The iPod is so far out in front of the competition that when Apple finally replaces it with the next itineration of a personal music player a lot of other companies will still be trying to match the brilliance of the current iPod line.
So the iPhone hasn't seen anything great lately? I'm still laughing at the industry critics who thought Apple was crazy for entering the cell phone market in the first place. They claimed that the mature cell phone market would be an impenetrable wall for a new player to enter the field. When Apple turned that market upside down with the iPhone I was reminded of a quote someone famous made a very long time ago saying 'everything that needed to be invented has already been invented'. This is not unlike the thinking of those who predicted Apple would lose their shirts with their doomed cell phone.
Many former hard core PC users I have spoken with lately are telling me they never knew how they got along without the apps they currently use on their iPhone. They are also telling me that when the time comes to replace their computers they are going to buy a Mac. Heck, even my sister just became a switcher and bought a Mac the other day.
Sales may slow down for Apple like everyone else, but will Apple will lose the market share that it has gained? I don't think so. The last time I walked by an Apple store it was crowded. There were more staff in the store serving people than the other computer stores had customers. Of course all it would take to cause a major hemorrhage in market share is for another company to showcase a complete product line that works together as elegantly as Apple's and smokes the iPod, the iPhone, Apple's OS, their applications and other products. Show me the money, I'm waiting. Oh, and I'll bet Apple employees aren't as lazy as you think. If they are, I wonder what has their competition been doing for the last several years?
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