As of this week, Apple no longer "leads" the world in innovation

Wednesday was announcement day for Apple.

My take away is that Apple has gone from the world leader in product innovation to a company that has stagnated.

Sure, the iPhone 6 is now the 6s and it may be the best phone out there (for the next 15 minutes) in the cellular marketplace.

But let's look at the UNDERwhelming products they announced:

WATCH: Amazing features ... BUT a 12 to 18 hour battery that needs daily recharging. And nobody seems to really like it. They are forced to drive it upscale and now feature "Hermes" bands, which puts it in the ultra-luxury category of goods. Its not an 'everyman's' watch but now an expensive luxury garment/trinket/bauble. Yes it does everything, and then some, when it comes to being the world's best "fitness" watch and in that regard has no comparison. But it comes at a very high price and with way too short of a battery life. Customers are saying NO THANK YOU and not buying it, odd for Apple but they are not releasing sales #s. New enhancements won't make it any better.

You need to fix the hardware limitations and lower the price a bit.


iPad PRO: Bigger, but better? No. At $799 its the price of a Windows LapTop computer but its less capable, has less storage and is no more portable. The iPads big selling points are small size, ease of use, but only modestly capable. By increasing size and price it makes for a compelling reason to upgrade to a 'real' computer. And the stylus, a $100 for a stylus? Seriously.


Apple TV: What? Did Apple stop listening to customers. Its a streaming box, and an expensive one. Google's Chrome, Amazon's Fire Stick and Roku's Stick are all under $50. Amazon and Roku both offer 'boxes' that are similar to Apple TV but both are under $100 while the cheapest of the new Apple TV offerings is $149. Apple TV also requires a $10 per month subscription and it omits most of the 'free' streaming channels offered by Roku. Further it is not compatible with Amazon's PRIME service so if you are an Amazon customer and have PRIME you won't be able to get PRIME Video on an Apple TV. And consumers who use ROKU, Amazon Fire or Google's ChromeTV pay ZERO subscription fees for the box itself so how the heck can Apple justify a $10/month fee for using hardware?


Sorry Apple, you still make great phones and your laptops are astounding even if expensive, but you better get your act together because you're 'middle age' is showing, you are no longer the hip company that innovated change in the world, your belly is getting fat, your hair is graying.

Bill Gates said that Apple cannot maintain "it" long ago.

BTW - He also said the cell phone is the invention of the century and that it usefulness is, as of yet, not fully realized. (Paraphrasing some here)

The competition is good and innovative. Apple is such an innovative company itself, yet it took them years to offer a screen larger then 4" on their phones, when the competition was literally selling millions of 5 and 6 inch screens.

Steve Jobs always said a 4" screen was the ideal size. He was wrong. At least to me.

I love my imac, but I too passed on the Apple watch, preferring a Garmin Fenix, which does more for physical training, but does NOT look nearing as nice and rich. Function over Form for me and it was an easy decision.

I disagree the Apple watch is the best fitness watch. Garmin and Suunto make the best. It does not have GPS and requires a connection to a iphone to get it. Now you need the iphone outside of your pockets, I assume, to receive satellite reception. All the guys I walk, run and hike with have Garmins or Suuntos for a reason.

TiredRetired said:

...

I disagree the Apple watch is the best fitness watch. Garmin and Suunto make the best. It does not have GPS and requires a connection to a iphone to get it. Now you need the iphone outside of your pockets, I assume, to receive satellite reception. All the guys I walk, run and hike with have Garmins or Suuntos for a reason.

Click to expand...

I think Garmin and Suunto make the best 'adventure' watches, but not the best 'fitness' watch.

Apple's Watch is, by far, the best fitness watch. It can track far more metrics, measure far more body activity, and do so more accurately, than all the other fitness watches combined.

We can disagree on need for a live GPS function for fitness, but the multitude of fitness and health 'Apps' make the Apple Watch something of a miracle for fitness buffs, it is damn near a Star Trek "TriCorder" in its ability to monitor your body and does so more accurately than any other wearable device short of real medical monitors. Further, it can track your travel, like a GPS watch, by linking up to your iPhone AFTER your workout so you don't have to carry the iPhone with you during the workout.

Now if you want to say that the only way the Apple Watch works at its best is IF it is paired with an iPhone (or iPad, or Touch) then to that I will agree. It does work best that way and really only goes from "great" to "amazing" when it is 1/2 of a 2 piece system. Doctors and fitness experts seem to agree, but the Watch is an amazing combination of software & hardware that is LIMITED by battery technology. Consequently it will never be a good adventure watch in its current form factor. And the LIMITATIONS of the Watch make it a bad watch overall.

Melensdad said:

I think Garmin and Suunto make the best 'adventure' watches, but not the best 'fitness' watch.

Apple's Watch is, by far, the best fitness watch. It can track far more metrics, measure far more body activity, and do so more accurately, than all the other fitness watches combined.

We can disagree on need for a live GPS function for fitness, but the multitude of fitness and health 'Apps' make the Apple Watch something of a miracle for fitness buffs, it is damn near a Star Trek "TriCorder" in its ability to monitor your body and does so more accurately than any other wearable device short of real medical monitors. Further, it can track your travel, like a GPS watch, by linking up to your iPhone AFTER your workout so you don't have to carry the iPhone with you during the workout.

Now if you want to say that the only way the Apple Watch works at its best is IF it is paired with an iPhone (or iPad, or Touch) then to that I will agree. It does work best that way and really only goes from "great" to "amazing" when it is 1/2 of a 2 piece system. Doctors and fitness experts seem to agree, but the Watch is an amazing combination of software & hardware that is LIMITED by battery technology. Consequently it will never be a good adventure watch in its current form factor. And the LIMITATIONS of the Watch make it a bad watch overall.

Click to expand...

Adventure watch. I never really used that term. Me and the buds love having GPS. You can track your hike/walk/run and download it onto OpenStreets via GarnimConnect for a visual and a record of all workouts and it tracks calories burned more accurately because it knows the elevation gains and losses as well as distance and speed. Now that I have it, I could not workout without it. I would be lost.

I do not understand the lousy battery life of the Apple. I charge my Garmin every 10 days or so. In 100% watch mode it will go months using about 1% of battery life per day. I have never verified that as I am always using the GPS and that uses more battery.

I guess I need to go on more adventures now.