Lay Techs: Tech for Laypeople

I bet most of you people were immediately interested in the title of this article and will decide to read on just to see what I have to say about the controversial topic of 'What Is So Great About Apple?'

Well I have to firstly tell you that I am foremost an objective consumer, which means I am only loyal to one brand: Competition. I neither love nor hate a brand to death and as much as I dislike the business model of a brand I always hope for them to do well, simply because competition will ensure consumers win in the end. 

So I will hope to shed light to the age-old question of what this company did to generate so many die hard loyalists, and at the same time so many extremist critics worldwide. I will do so by simply lining up all their best products and telling you why I think they were so 'Revolutionary'. 

PCs

I will use the term PC here to refer to Personal Computers as opposed to macro or super computers generically, instead of the much used reference to Windows-powered machines. 

The Apple II was one of the few first Personal Computers in the market at that time built and sold as a complete product. Back then computers were pretty macro in size and regular consumers never thought they could ever get their hands on a computer small enough to fit into a corner of their homes. Of course this machine was not able to get into every household, but they did pave the way to the PC industry. 

Macintosh made it big not because of their seemingly un-groundbreaking machine, but rather their strong and successful brand positioning. Launched in 1984, Apple took a bold step to put themselves against the 'Big Blue' IBM by placing themselves against conformism and corporatism. The legendary advertisement paid homage to George Orwell's 1984.  Although everyone else in the company thought pitting themselves against IBM was the stupidest thing to do, it was on the contrary the one move that started a revolution. Fitting and ingenious, although if they were smart enough they'd known their enemy to be Microsoft. 

The iMac was the first sign of Steve Job's return to Apple, after being booted out of the company many years before. With Jonny Ive, he showed the world PCs can come in many colors other than black and the entire machine in a single product. No huge towers connected to dozens of cables in and out? Why wouldn't the world fall in love again? 

The Non-Computer Generation

iPod: I remember having bought a Chinese-made generic USB storage stick with music playback capabilities about a year before the iPod was introduced, so I am very sure we can all agree this product is not at all groundbreaking. What baffled me was when the world screamed for this particular device, nobody had the brains or balls to take the first step and make it happen. Not until Apple did. That to me, is revolutionary. 

What made matters worse was that Sony had a similar devices stored in their vault for a while now, not daring to launch it for fear of the revisit of the Minidisk flop. Then there was Sony owning record labels and MP3s being the killer of record sales. Too bad for them this was also the start of their decline as well. 

iTunes: If people were still skeptical of the iPod, iTunes made sure all doubts were squashed. It is as I would like to stress again, wasn't a new product. But the vision to create an entire ecosystem of hardware, software and digital store integration was incredibly ballsy and deserve all the credit. The iTunes was the first great step of redemption since the pandemic outbreak of media piracy.    

iPhone: When they announced it, everyone laughed. "What does a computer company know about making phones?" Turned out they made a mobile computer able to make and receive calls. Then every major player out there thought this device was a mere fad that will die sooner than it came about. They were wrong, again. I'm just happy they made it possible for touch phones to not need styluses. 

Appstore: Come on, don't tell me this is not an epic move. Before this companies have been trying so hard to introduce consumers to a digital purchasing habit, but to no avail. Along with iTunes the Appstore sparked a new wave of digital consumption. What was that word to describe it? Yes, a Revolution. Nobody was more willing to give out their credit card information and pay for things that don't actually exist in real life until Apple. 

Macbook Air: Who knew by reducing the storage capacity and removing the optical drive from a laptop were they able to completely ignite an entirely new laptop market? Even if PC makers knew, nobody thought this move would generate a positive reaction. Then came the Macbook Air. Now everyone is making a similar product to fight for this market of consumers. 

The Track Pad: First they introduced the computer mice to every household, and just when everyone thought no peripheral can outperform this efficient device, Apple comes out with the track pad technology that rendered the mouse completely obsolete and redundant. Until now, no other company can duplicate a track pad halfway good enough. 

Conclusion

Why was Apple such an awesome company? Never will one person out there with a shred of intelligence tell you proudly that they've been creating all these products and services out of thin air. But what made them awesome was that they kept taking first steps and creating new worlds. 

Don't believe me? Sit back for a moment and try to imagine a world without Apple. Microsoft created tablet computers years before the iPad. Portable MP3 players were already in the market about a year before the iPod. Online purchasing platforms were already available before iTunes and Appstore. Touch screen mobile devices were already there before the iPhone. SSD drives and cloud computing was already there before the Macbook Air. 

I stress again that I am not an Apple fanboy, and I always say these people are drones that would buy a pile of shit if it came with a glowing Apple logo. But I am also by no means an ignorant hater because most of these hardcore fans are educated people and I believe they are driven to this loyalty with, at least a little, knowledge of why they love this brand so unconditionally. 

That being said, I have to disagree with Paul Schiller's statement "Can't Innovate, My Ass" when he introduced the new Mac Pro in this year's WWDC and say they haven't been properly innovating for a while now. I urge people in Apple to not let their pride consume and ultimately cause their own downfall, as demonstrated by many tech companies of late. Keep coming out with bold new products and services, because only the select few like you and Google have the ability to do it.

Here is a video never before published until just a week ago. Watch and listen, and be inspired by his vision. He even referenced Newton's Principia. Haunting.