Has Apple Lost it's Charm? Afterthoughts from the Apple Event

Dear Steemit Friends,

I have been following and using Apple products for the past 10+ years. I'm not one of those hardcore Apple fans who will stand in line, pay double-the-price for a newly released item, or someone who knows the history and everything to know about Apples story and every nuance of their products. I am a general user and consumer who loves technology and has over the past several years upgraded to every new Apple iPhone and has purchased the occasional iPad and various other products. Like many people, I have been waiting for the latest update on the new iPhone and just finished watching the livestream of the Apple Special Event - where the new iPhone was released.

To start. Im not writing to criticize Apple on their design choices, their lack of innovation, and/or their almost ridiculous pricing for their products. I am writing though, to speak more about how their products and events in general have lost that "Apple Feel" that they once had. That whimsical, take-technology-to-the-next level, and all-inspiring aura they once had. To go into more detail - I remember when I would watch one of the live broadcasts and not only be amazed by the products, but also inspired about what the future would bring. Nowadays, and especially with this last event, I felt it was just an announcement of a new product that is not too much different then any other product that is out in the market today.

I'm not sure if I was the only one who felt it, but did anyone notice how after each speaker the audience would "woot" and applaud, yet the feeling of genuinely feeling excited and happy was not there. It felt silent and empty and almost as if people just applauded and cheered out of obligation.

All throughout, the Apple team talked about how innovative they are and how they constantly changed the direction technology was headed. I agree that they definitely do set standards and lead technology adoption, however when it comes to innovation and that oooh and ahhh feeling, they have lost that spark. They simply take other people's innovations and make them look and sound better. I understand that is part of the way Apple works, but innovating on old ideas is not even a strength anymore.

All throughout the event, I was hoping for some game-changing technology introduction and announcement, but sadly nothing truly jaw-dropping was shared. I was even hoping that I might see the fingerprint sensor embedded in the screen, but unfortunately, the team just danced around it and completely ignored it, instead replacing it with 3D facial recognition and highlighting that as the future of security - this to me seemed like more of tactic and clever wording to hide the fact that it was technology that they still had not figure out yet either - or because it was too complicated and difficult to figure out, which in turn led them to scrapping it all together and introducing something new that would be considered a "game changer" in it's place.

The curved screen isn't really curved - at least by comparison to other OLED screens like Samsungs, where it actually curves around the side of the phone and has some innovative uses. As I type, Im still on the fence if I will actually cough up close to $1000 USD for the phone. I feel it just doesn't measure up to a 10th year anniversary product, although I know we can’t expect a game-changing product like the iPhone every year. I’m generally pretty happy with Apple as a whole, but using Apple devices isn’t very exciting anymore.

The original Apple "feel" has over the last several years has been lost. In a similar post, Noah Halford explains in great detail how Apple once was versus how it is now. It is definitely a good post worth checking out. He shares the following observation:

a good point of comparison here is in the way that Apple keynotes⁷ have changed since Tim Cook took over. A software funeral would feel totally out of place today, as would Phil Schiller jumping on to a mattress to celebrate “one giant leap for wireless networking.” There’s no drama anymore. If you have two hours to kill, watch the original iPhone introduction and compare it to the original Apple Watch introduction. The difference is striking. When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone, he spent quite a bit of time explaining the issues with smartphones of the time and how Apple aimed to address them; Tim Cook began his introduction of the Apple Watch with a video reminiscent of an iPod nano ad and never gave much of a motivation for the existence of the device (i.e., the product category) itself, other than effectively saying, “Smartwatches are getting popular and we think we can make a better one.”

On that note... I did like the Apple Watch and will probably upgrade from my current generation 1 watch to the new 3rd generation watch, since it can now be a stand-alone device with it's own wireless and LTE capabilities, operating without the need for your iPhone being near.

How do you feel about Apple? Have they lost their touch? Please let me know what you think in the comments below. Please also Follow, Upvote, Comment, and Resteem if you enjoyed this post.

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