Death By A Thousand Iterations
On the same day Microsoft revealed Majorana 1, a computer chip that makes a genuine step forward toward quantum computing, Apple unveiled another iPhone, only this time a bit smaller and a bit cheaper.
It was yet another hyped-up announcement — especially on Twitter X, where Apple is advertising again; that protest lasted long — which failed to live up to expectations, or at least what is left of them. The company revealed another safe, bland, boring product, devoid of innovation or excitement, a product so obviously designed to scrape a few more percentage points in the smartphone market, its purpose solely to increase the stock price for another quarter.
It was another example of how the company operates under Tim Cook: a fear of innovation, disguised as innovation.
Whenever I write about Apple, I always feel the need to make the caveat that I like the company. I own a MacBook Air, an iPhone and AirPods. My 2010 MacBook Pro was the best tech product I've ever owned. As a product designer by degree (read: I have the degree but never got a product design-related job), the company was a genuine inspiration to me during my education.
For the longest time, I've been in their ecosystem. Thrilled at first, then content, now… I'm only here because I am. Over the years, I've been finding myself resistant to many of the additions. I hate Siri, partly because it can't understand my accent, and partly because even when it does, it never answers my query properly. It has been turned off on all my devices for years now. And don't get me started on Apple Intelligence, a feature rushed out in a bad dose of FOMO, the best feature of which seems to be that it can make an angrily worded email sound a little nicer. Again, it's turned off, and staying off. Almost every Apple event results in me Googling something along the lines of "what features should I turn off in iOS whatever." That's a worry trend, and I'm sure I'm not alone.
Its core products aside, I fucking detest what the company is these days, and even more so, what it represents. Once a beacon of design prowess, it's now a corporate juggernaut, only existing to fatten shareholders' wallets as it pursues growth at all costs, even when that very pursuit is killing what's left of its soul. Every year things get a bit faster, a bit thinner, or a bit shinier. They update a screen here or add a camera there. Even when they do try to do something, like the recent camera button, they talk it down like they're almost embarrassed by it. Steve Jobs — who, let's be frank, was an asshole — would have still gone on stage and had you believing this camera button was the best thing since sliced bread. You're one the biggest, most successful companies ever — invent something and show enough backbone to stand behind it! It was the same with the Vision Pro. Yes, a totally unnecessary and overpriced product that was destined to fail, but at least pretend you believe in it. Instead, we had pictures of Tim Cook wearing it, looking like my Dad trying to understand how to work a PlayStation controller — confused, uncomfortable and desperate to put it down.
It seems wild to suggest a trillion-dollar company is in danger. We're not there yet, but Apple should be wary. All empires eventually fall, even one with billions of dollars under the mattress. It would only take one competitor to get a product right or one AI company to come up with some kind of anti-phone device that's actually useful, actually works and doesn't invade your privacy to start eating its market share. From there, it doesn't take much to cause panic, poor decision-making and a surrendering of the throne.
Technology never stands. While I've wondered for a while now if the smartphone was peak technology, something so revolutionary that there's little room for new devices or products, there will be something else. Even if we don't really need something else, growth at all costs demands something new. It's this crazed obsession that somewhat explains the hype around the Metaverse, or AR/VR headsets, or AI chatbots that can't interact with you like humans and spit out inaccurate nonsense — the tech world is craving something new, anything new, and will keep going until one of these products or devices makes a serious splash.
And history tells us that one day, someone will get it right.
For Apple, it means the iPhone can only provide life support for so long.
If it shows some bravery to innovate, shakes up its organizational chain, or hits a bumpy spell that forces leadership changes, it could still be part of that frontier. But if Apple continues to sit on the sidelines pumping out more and more iPhones with fewer and fewer returns – filling up landfill sites across the world – it’s in trouble. Consumer habits are changing. Sales are stagnating. Regulators are clamping down.
It will be a slow death by a thousand iterations.
Have been feeling this for a while about apple while also simultaneously becoming a bigger and bigger fan of how they do things and how clean everything is. But at some point, someone has to question the direction Apple is taking with nearly every company pushing yo find the next big thing, while apple doing minor hardware and OS tweaks on the same overused designs on its products and trying to push for its independent identity, which to a great extent is being and will be throttled by regulators, especially in EU
Only a tech ‘journalist’ getting swag and free products could describe the new phone like this:
“Apple's newest phone offers value but not as much affordability.” —CNet.
WTF?.
Fire Tim Cook.