http://micahsingleton.com/post/34688966700/apple-looking-forward

I'm actually surprised this didn't happen more quickly after the death of Jobs. Kudos to Tim Cook for realizing the hole left by Jobs, purging Forstall from the company, and putting Ives in place as the new "Steve Jobs" of Apple. Ives is the only guy up to the task, I think.

As I've said many times in the past, a strong Apple is good for the tech industry and to believe otherwise is foolish. That doesn't mean a Draconian "we're going to sue you into submission" Apple is a good thing but if the company is strong, we're all better off for it. Apple is uniquely positioned as a company that makes both hardware and software and prizes innovation. Their control over both hardware and software allows them to push new, fully-developed ideas to market sooner and with more polish than either Google or Microsoft or (fill in company here) could hope to do. All you have to do is look at the last ten years of laptops to see how much influence Apple has on the market. Their widescreens, trackpads, and keyboards have become industry standards during that time, as has their "shiny slate" design to laptop casing.

Hopefully Ives can push the company into new, interesting directions.

Eh, I don't agree. Until now, Ives has had zero control over user interfaces. He designed some brilliant hardware but since he had no input on the software side of things, I can't give him too much credit for what Apple is today. Without iTunes, without iOS, and without OS X, Apple is a very different company.

"As I've said many times in the past, a strong Apple is good for the tech industry"


???

Tbh honest Apple might have contributed to marketing (but not really in the tech dept.)

I don't see Steve Jobs or Jony Ives as modern Teslas...

What did applle do with Keyboards? Or widescreens actually? Just wondering since I'm not really following apple.

They didn't invent the chiclet keyboard (Sony used them on a few models) nor did they invent widescreen monitors (obviously) but they pushed hard in both arenas, moving all their laptops to that form factor long before anyone else. Customer response was so strong that inevitably, everyone else followed.

I agree with rocketpig. Apple's contribution to the modern day consumer tech is not overstated. From user interface to modern design of laptops, desktops (those HP all in ones), tablets, phones and retail stores can be seen everywhere. Interested to see what Ive does with the aging ios.

Apple basically invented the modern smartphone market. Does that count for nothing? Before the iPhone, Blackberrys and awful Windows Mobile phones were the standard. Two years after the introduction of the iPhone, nearly every new phone used Apple's slate-style of phone with integrated app store, capacitive screen, etc.

And then there's the iPad...

Here's hoping that he burns that fucker to the ground. iOS is the weakest link in the iPhone package at this point.

 Give credit where it is due. 

Thanks for clarifying.