Apple..Lost and Wandering: What has happened to the come-back kid?

For many fans of the technology coming from Cupertino, the release of 2 more iPhones leads one to wonder what is going on with a company that was the once “come-back kid” of Silicon Valley. While I admit that the iPhone is still one of the best mobile devices on the market today, I am still left questioning what has happened to the innovative spirit of this once, tech-trend leader.

Here are some thoughts…

Is Apple releasing technology based on Steve’s wishes?

 As I have been watching the technology releases from Apple, one cannot help but wonder if the release cycle is not based on something that Steve left before he passed. Since the iPhone 6, we have seen performance boosts, bigger flavors, but other than that…the technology has been lacking. Last year, I called that Apple would not refresh the Mac Pro and that their next device would be an iMac Pro. Not only was I point on, but I really think Apple is making a mistake of leaving its Pro users left hanging. After the Final Cut X fiasco, many users moved to Adobe and the PC. Let’s not forget the Macbook Pro. While this is still my go-to machine, there is not much of “wow” in the device and the touch-bar is really not much of game-changer. While the Surface line and Microsoft have a ways to go, Redmond seems to be in a creative explosion. They just need to shed some of their aging technology and move forward. (I have a 2017 Surface Pro and it a pretty amazing product.)

Could it be that Apple is following a plan that is now showing some age? 

My thinking is that if Steve were around today, he would have shifted Apple to head off the market trends. Right now, I do not see Tim Cook doing much of that as a technology leader. This is not to say he is not good at his job. He is one of the most prolific industrial engineers in the business and that is where he needs to be. Apple needs passionate, innovative CEO to move the ball forward. In this business, you must advance forward. Just like in track, the field is watching those out in front. With the right strategy, the leader is taken out quickly. Again, to use Microsoft, I think Satya Nadella is the best thing to happen in Redmond since Bill Gates stepped down. Microsoft has a new breath of excitement in their products and Satya’s team is moving Microsoft into a 21st century company.

Before I close here, I was less than impressed with the renaming of the Apple Store…”Towne Square”?? Umm..ok. There is a time to rebrand, but this tells me that Apple is reaching. Personally and professionally, the Apple Store is a gold standard of customer service that I say trumps anything from Disney. With that said, what was wrong with just calling it the Apple Store? To me, adding a Starbucks would have been a bigger step than calling it something else. I’m just saying.

Lost in Education. 

I hope that someone at Apple is reading this part. For many of us who grew up in the late 70’s and 80’s, the Apple II is the reason many of us are where we are at today. Back then, Apple was a leader in education and the Apple II introduced programming and computer engineering to the masses. Today, the Mac is still cool, but cool is not cutting it in the classroom. The iPad Pro is an amazing tool (and I will talk about it more shortly), but in education today, STEM is the darling. 

Like them or not, Microsoft is leading the way in education. The Surface line turns any classroom into an active-learning environment. Couple that with OneNote Class Notebook and you have the ability to have class anywhere without a projector. Microsoft Teams integrates all of O365 together with a highly collaborative online classroom environment. With the Surface, along with their $30 wireless adapter, there is no need for schools to purchase expensive Smart Boards. The teachers can now use their Surface. It is amazing. Throw in their curriculum for STEM, a teacher now has the resources needed for “hacking” the classroom. Other technologies from Microsoft are opening the world to our students. Skype Translator can translate now 8 languages in video chat and more than 50 for instant messaging. The list is growing each day.

My point is that Apple is not doing much here. They have an amazing tablet called the iPad Pro. For them to get into the education game, they need to begin giving educators the tools to innovate. I wrote in an earlier article that they needed to purchase Evernote and forge a partnership with Microsoft to get the Office product line on parity with its Windows line. Bar none, the Apple Pencil and instant on is the best in the business and is one of the reasons I use it in meetings. But it is going to take more than that to get a school system to invest.

Apple has to do more. Their education marketing is bad. No one cares for Pages, Keynote and iMovie anymore. Educators are looking for lesson plans and how-to’s for their classroom. Basically, what Microsoft is providing now. Apple has some amazing advances in Swift and their health kits. They need to partner with companies like National Instruments to help them build out experiments. Right now, Microsoft computers are the leaders in the STEM fields and connectivity with related hardware. We know that the Apple platform is solid, but it now time to get in the game.

In closing, I am grateful to Steve Wozniak for being the creative engineer that gave us the Apple II. This computer taught me how to code and to learn in a new way. Today, I am passionate about disrupting the classroom and using technology for the right reasons. My advice for our friends in Cupertino, you need break out of the past and “think forward”. We as technology professionals are inspiring a new generation and we would love to see you at the table.