By CONOR SHEA
Executive Editor
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One of my all-time favorite authors, Tim Ferris, once notoriously called out the difference between public facing messages from large corporations, and their internal goals.
“I think that as much as lip service is paid in most industries to wanting to innovate, no they don’t. They want to be second to market,” said Ferris.
Ferris went on to explain that companies like Apple don’t want to be the first to design a product, they want to come in and sweep the competition with a product that is an improvement in every way. However, I’m not seeing that type of improvement from Apple’s newest product line for 2014-2015.
First off I would like to disclose that I don’t categorize myself as an “Apple hater.” I sit here writing this on my MacBook, listening to music on my iPod, and distracting myself with texts on my iPhone. I rather enjoy the products that Apple sells, despite the criticisms it is hit with frequently. It continues to make products that have both real value, and an even greater perceived value.
However, I’ve grown somewhat tired of Apple pretending that it is the first to bring a product or feature to market. The new Apple Pay feature utilizing near field communication (NFC) technology; that’s been around for years in the Samsung Galaxy line of smart phones. The force sensitive touch screen on the Apple Watch; similar technology was used in Blackberry’s “Storm” smartphone back in 2008. That’s not to say that Apple won’t do it better, but it certainly shouldn’t dress it up as though it is the only company to be touting these amazing features.
I am further frustrated by the fact that the general public waits until Apple puts a feature into its products for it to become widely accepted. I know that a large majority of the market is held by Apple and that it is in that sense the major trend setter.
However, that doesn’t change the fact that tech bloggers who praised the NFC use in Samsung were criticized for promoting what the general public believed to be a gimmick. Despite the fact that NFC has since been more widely adopted, it never really made a dent in the smartphone market. I would be willing to bet that now we will see more phone manufacturers jumping at the bit to include this short range, touchless, payment feature in more products.
To give Apple credit where credit is due, it is starting to finally give its users what they have been asking for in terms of software updates. The customizable digital watch faces of the Apple Watch is a great step toward letting the consumers make the product their own. Furthermore, the introduction of widgets, and allowing users to install other keyboards in IOS 8 will definitely help the company poach some Android consumers.
Only time will tell if this pattern of racing to be second to market is something the consumer wants long-term.
