I'd say over the last 5 years Apple has lost its way and chosen to become a hardware company over being a software company.
Depsite their monster cash flows and huge profits, Apple has really got a list of shame when it comes to software:
a) Keynote - not a nice presentation program at all - it hasn't seen a makeover in years.
b) IOS 10 which replaces the old O/S - it looks pretty but is not very useful.
c) iTunes - this reminds me of music software from 2005! Its now years behinds its rivals like Roon.
d) All the office software looks dated. The word processing, spreadsheets etc. look a decade old - it's as if the dev staff have left the building. Look at the modern software advances like Dropbox, Slack and others leading the way. Apple has nothing new in this space to keep it moving forward for years.
Software can change faster in markets than hardware does, so I would advise Apple to engage in their software for the long haul.
Software (like Steemit) also allows us to engage more fully than we ever did before, and it appears that hardware often closes more doors than it opens.
I don't wish to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt about Apple, but they do need to realise that hardware always get cheaper, so if you can't win in this space, you shouldn't run in it - switch the focus to software instead and your path will be much smoother.
It really annoys me when people buy the iphone 4 and then the iphone5 and then iphone 6 and then iphone 7. (some even go the 's' after having the non 's' version, like really every single iphone every made)
OMG they are good phones, even today the iphone 5 is not a bad phone.
But to buy each model every time it comes out is crazy and creates a lot pollution. Skip a model or 2 is good for the world.
If you have/had the iphone 6 and you just bought the iphone 7 from what I hear you just paid BIG money for a very TINY upgrade. Is that cool? I don't know.
I use Blackberry DTEK50 so i didn't buy a phone to be cool. I may have lost friends but it is great phone. Does everything even the top Android phones can do but more secure. I expect it will last me 2-3 years ike my last hone the phone the Sony Experia did.
...then buys the iPhone 8, then buys the iPhone 9....etc etc...BORING! For me King of the Smartphones is the Samsung S7 Edge - its knocks lumps out of ANY iPhone!
I agree. Since the original iMac, Apple has slowly lost its way.
I remember the first time I saw the new iMac design - I was blown away!
hah well-timed post. check out apple afterhours right now, down over 2%
It was only time. Sexy hardware can't last forever!