Farewell, Apple Computer, Inc
The launch of the iPhone was not the biggest news yesterday.
The big story was tucked away towards the end of the Keynote, underlining a shift of which the iPhone is only a part. Apple Computer, Inc became Apple, Inc.
I don’t know how I feel about this; my heart and mind are pulled in two different directions. One the one hand, I have always been wary of iPods and the whole “digital lifestyle” thing. It seems instinctively an enormous distraction from what is really important about Apple (for me)–innovative, beautiful computers that are simply streets ahead of anything else on offer.
So, as you can imagine, I was already feeling grumpy that there was nothing about Leopard or new computer hardware or anything that I fondly imagine to be Apple’s core business in the Keynote. Then this came up, feeding all my worst fears.
On the other hand, I understand the argument that iPods, TV and iPhones are all good for Apple’s bottom line, garner it extra market share and clout and end up benefiting the part of Apple’s product line that I really care about. A kind of “trickle up” effect.
How did you feel when you saw this?
without permission but with thanksI was speaking to a couple of Apple gurus via iChat today who both told me not to worry so much. The computer side of the business is ticking along nicely, the engineers are churning out the same amount of great software at the same rate and so forth. Just because Steve Jobs is so energised by the digital gadgets doesn’t mean that he is not interested in hard-core computing.
I know they must be right. But it’s so hard not to worry…
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Tags: Apple, apple inc, computers, digital lifestyle, name change, steve jobs
January 11th, 2007 at 12:46 am
I think if you look back to Apple prior to Jobs return it’s amazing they are where they are today. That said, they’re never going to be able to sustain the kind of growth any business would like just creating computers. No matter how loyal their customer base is, we cannot buy enough computers to fund the amazing R&D Apple does.
January 11th, 2007 at 1:11 am
I think it is a natural progression for Apple as a company. I think Apple is looking towards making the computer and all their other devices seamlessly integrate with your daily life. Computers, albeit Apple’s computers to a lesser degree, are utilitarian right now. Apple is making it so you can interact with it and your content in more natural ways. Things like being able to watch a slideshow of your pictures on you big screen TV is so much more natural and pleasant for that matter than even looking at a slideshow on a 24″ iMac. There is definitely a shift in how people use their computers and Apple is trying to pave the road for that shift. The iPhone, the Apple TV and the iPod w/dock before them, are the tools that are setting up that path. It should be a great ride!
January 11th, 2007 at 1:19 am
Yes I agree with you, the new name of Apple was a big news for me too. I guess Apple is starting to shift away from computers more and more.
Thank you for sharing this story with me !
January 11th, 2007 at 1:36 am
I always found the “Computer” part of their name distracting, actually!
A lot of big companies say this of themselves, but with Apple it’s truer: they’re a Solutions company. You want to digitize your music and carry it around? Boom, here’s your iPod + iTunes. You want a miniature media server for your home? Boom, here’s your mac mini/AppleTV. You need a kickass video/audio/gfx production studio? Help yourself to a Mac Pro/MacBook Pro. All an all-around digital solution? Here’s an iMac.
These are all brilliantly designed products, both on the hardware and software end, and they’re supported by friendly ecosystems. There’s a computer somewhere in the equation, and you’re welcome to think of the iPhone (or, heck, an iPod) as a computer if you want. But it’s a distraction – I have a feeling that Steve focuses more on what problem a solution is for than whether it’s “still a computer.”
January 11th, 2007 at 2:24 am
I was kind of sad. iPhone is sure a decent gadget, which won’t reach my country for a while (if it will, if it will be localize and so on). But Apple is about Macintoshes. The explanation of the name change is understandable, but the whole consumer electonic thing sounds bad and really not UNIXy.
January 11th, 2007 at 3:02 am
Don’t worry. It’s been a long time coming, and has been happening gradually over the years. Think of it as an expansion of Apple, not a shrinking of the Mac business.
January 11th, 2007 at 3:50 am
I only have history to go on but the Apple ][ was abandoned by Steve when the “next big thing” (Macs) came along. It suffered lack of sufficient development funding and died, slowly.
Steve has said that Apple is a consumer products company and not a technology company and also has a near total lack of interest for the Enterprise space where there is much room for Mac growth. Given all of that and his totally ignoring Macs in the keynote…at Macworld and not CES…I’m nervous.
January 11th, 2007 at 4:02 am
Great article, thank you.
January 11th, 2007 at 4:03 am
I agree that the name change is one of the most significant announcements coming out of MSWF. The keynote notably lacked any excitement about Mac OS X, the computer line, or integration between the current projects (the phone and the TV) and the existing Mac world.
I don’t think this means the end of the Mac, but it certainly means that there will be less fire behind its development than I hoped. It’s a somewhat sad reminder that Apple is neither more nor less than a big corporation.
January 11th, 2007 at 4:05 am
I don’t take this as encouraging from a personal standpoint. Out here in flyover country, where Mac retailers are as scarce as tropical plants in Anchorage, the Apple Store was a godsend. For once Mac users could reliable drive up to a store and get a wide variety of Mac software from knowledgeable people. That was until the iPod phenom.
The Apple Store essentially became the iPod Store and grabbed more an more floor space, sales staff and Genius Bar time. Many exceptional early Apple Store employees saw what was happening and left. The iPhone will only make this worse.
It probably makes great business sense, but doesn’t make for good business practice. I can get a crappy Cingular cell phone pre-paid for $20 at any Target or Wal-Mart and do not want a PDA. I would like a nice Slate Tablet Mac- the true expression of the Knowledge Navigator of long ago. Apple has all of the tools HW & SW to make it happen, but will not go for it.
While Steve Jobs pimps his new phone, those hand-held check out devices at the Apple Store are running Windows…
January 11th, 2007 at 4:08 am
I agree with Mark. In fact, I’d even go one step further. Think of the whole iPod, iTunes, Apple TV stuff — Apple’s entertainment arm, if you will — as a way to get lots of cash into Apple’s computing division. The iPhone is a beautiful physical object, judging by the photos, but it’s very much interface-driven and underpinned by the OS it’s running on. There’s going to be a constant back-and-forth between iPhone’s feature set and the Mac OS, which can only benefit the computing side. The fluff stuff that Apple has been doing over the years has allowed it to become financially secure in a way that sticking to its core business would not have allowed. BTW, have you noticed how these days the morons who do financial analysis (and are usually clueless about technology) no longer even mention Apple’s market share in the OS market?
January 11th, 2007 at 4:18 am
Not to worry mate, I think part of the name change is probably in response to the shareholders, for a better brand and value?
I have no doubt that Apple will continue to churn out revoluntionary “leapfrog” macs in years to come… afterall, I think it takes and needs a shorter time to refresh a mac line, than compare to the iPod and the iPhone.
My bold predictions for the coming months? Quad or 8-core Mac Pros, thinner Apple Displays with built-in iSight. If the iMac needs a new revamp, it probably would be an even thinner display. Leopard and iLife 07 will roll out.
And I think one year for the iPhone is way too long without an upgrade, and we would be able to easily update its software and add new stuffs just like how we update an iPod. A wide screen iPod of the same design (as the iPhone) may emerge, but purely just an iPod with even higher capacity.
Maybe by the time the iPod comes to us here in Asia and Australia in 2008, it will run on Leopard, or even the next Mac OS, maybe 3 or higher MP camera, maybe even 3G connectivity with a 2nd camera for that portable iChat!
I think the future of the iPhone is endless! It is the Newton re-born!!
January 11th, 2007 at 4:53 am
“Think of it as an expansion of Apple, not a shrinking of the Mac business.”
Agreed.
Look at Sony (which Jobs has previously pointed to as a model).
Sony makes hundreds (thousands?) of individual electronic devices.
Some of them are computers.
So what if Apple makes lots of “other” consumer electronics.
It doesn’t mean that they are going to stop making computers.
And it certainly doesn’t mean that they will stop making Mac OS X.
After all, Mac OS X is the thing that distinguishes Apple computers from everyone elses (an undeniably good thing).
And unless I missed something about the Apple TV, you still need a computer from which to broadcast the media.
Apple has not made any announcements that respresent anything but the continued development of a highly integrated, rich multimedia experience.
There is no real distinction between the fact that Apple makes iLife and the fact that they make iPods. One is software and one is hardware, but they both are simply extensions of the highly integrated rich multimedia experience, which happens to have a computer in the center.
Apple = Sony
MacBook (Pro) = Vaio
iPod = Walkman
iPhone = W950i
Cinema Display = Bravia (HDTV)
I know, I know, the Cinema Display needs HDMI before this is true. It’s just an example of where Apple might be heading with its product line.
I can here the Sony critics groaning now (“I hope Apple doesn’t turn into Sony”). But, the big difference is that Apple is still streamlined in its products and goals. The challenge for Apple will to stay that way as they grow forward.
January 11th, 2007 at 4:59 am
There’s nothing to worry about Apple abandoning the Mac.
Jay, in case you are already forgetting, the iPhone is powered by Mac OS X.
Can I say that again just to make sure it sinks in? The iPhone is essentially a Newtonized version of Mac OS X.
Looks to me like Apple found another brilliant way to leverage its investment in OS X. Not only did OS X allow them to fully transition from the PowerPC to Intel architecture in less than a year (can anyone imagine Microsoft doing the same for Windows?), but OS X is now letting them get into ultra-portable, ultra-mobile devices.
The Mac is back, and boy is it back!
January 11th, 2007 at 5:03 am
good post kind of a weird day yesterday and why Steve let that Cingular putz read off those cards yada yada… you know? and one more thing….Have you heard anything about the Beatles’ unlikely he put them in cover flow if things aren’t cozy? Why would he miss a FUN opportunity to announce what would be very cool Beatles in the iTunes house news??
January 11th, 2007 at 5:12 am
I saw a comment saying that the iPhone may just be the perfect trojan horse to win over even more Windows users. I think Mac market share has benefited tremendously by the iPod. It’s all good for the platform I think. If there ever start to be signs of slowed OS/Hardware development, then maybe I’ll worry.
January 11th, 2007 at 6:59 am
Would it really be so bad if Apple’s amazing design was brought to more aspects of your life?
January 11th, 2007 at 7:24 am
I’m not nervous at all. I actually found everything about the iphone rather thrilling. like when the first mac came out. It did make me sad, or at least a bit nostalgic. but I just don’t see the Apple laptops and desktops going the way of the Apple ][. The whole face of computing changed yesterday; Apple is just leading the way.
January 11th, 2007 at 7:58 am
Given all the press coverage dedicated to the iPhone, any other announcements would simply have been swamped and completely lost on the wider world. I assume it didn’t make sense from a marketing perspective to have any other significant announcements… IMO, there will be a special event once the iPhone hubbub has died down a little, dedicated to the computer side of things.
January 11th, 2007 at 9:55 am
Paul…yes it’s OS X but not as we know it. I’d compare the OS X in the iPhone to embedded Linux or Windows Portable. You can’t add apps and what you get from Cupertino is all what you’re going to get. It’s more an iPod that is also a Blackberry rather than a 21st century Newton. I think I’ll sit this round of Apple kit out.
January 11th, 2007 at 10:53 am
All who worry about Apple losing focus on Macs as its core business have forgotten something very important about these new products that they share with iPods:
They are designed to work with computers, not to replace them!
In fact, a good argument can be made that the iPhone is a glorified computer accessory. Sure, you *could* enter all your Address Book contact info directly into one, but most of us enjoy being able to use all ten digits for data entry. You still need a computer for iPod content, for iPhoto & contact sync, & so on.
Nobody is going to own one of these things without first owning a computer. And just like with the iPod, a Mac is a better choice for all who value the ease of use that is the distinguishing feature of the product.
January 11th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
Minor nitpick: Note that the indication in the article that “Apple Computers, Inc became Apple, Inc.” is not quite correct – the company has NEVER been “Apple Computer_S_”, and it’s frustrating to see so many references to that name (it’s a very common mistake across the web.)
Apple Computer, Inc. was incorporated on January 3rd, 1977. And, I think it’s great that just after their 30th anniversary, they have changed their name to Apple Inc. – to stress their expansion into the consumer electronics space. Of course, the press releases and copyright block on most communications have simply indicated “Apple…” for quite some time now, so it seems this official change has been on its way for a while.
Here’s to the next 30 years!
January 11th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
SomeOne: Fair point. Laziness on my part.
January 11th, 2007 at 11:53 pm
Well, it struck me that this year’s MacWorld was very much “The MacWorld without Macs”! So I guess the shift from Apple Computer to Apple was pretty much in keeping with this – after all, the keynote didn’t really deal with _any_ computers (well, not as we know them).
By memory (and I could be wrong, so I trust that that others with longer and more Mac-centric memories than mine will set me to rights if that is the case) this is the first time that Job’s MacWorld keynote has not unveilled, announced a refresh or otherwise showcased some form of Mac – be it anything from a notebook to a desktop or a server, or even a key system component such as a display.
Eagle-eyed folk should also note that nor did we see any new software on parade – no updates to iLife or iWork, and of course not even a glimpse of Leopard (and without a schill for the OS here was no reason for Jobs to trot out a spokesperson from Adobe or Microsoft to briefly spruik forthcoming versions of CS3 or Office:Mac 2008 in support of the Mac OS).
I’ve got no doubt that all of those things will occur in the months ahead, most likely at a mix of scheduled events (such as other MacWorld expos plus WWDC) and specially-held launches (Apple has done quite a few of those in the past two years, as well as just slipping out some updated machines with just a press release!).
But all of this – the almost total and undoubtedly deliberate ‘ignorance’ (in the proper meaning of the word) of anything connected with the traditional ‘computing’ side of Apple, so that the keynote was almost entirely devoted to the ‘digital lifestyle’ products and partnerships of ‘the new more-than-just-computers’ Apple — it all seemed intended to underscore what Jobs was saying by rubbing out the ‘Computer’ from Apple’ his company’s name and “skating to where the puck would be, not where is is now”.
David
January 12th, 2007 at 1:13 am
The discipline of having to run OS X in such a resource-limited device as the new iPhone will have ripple effects for the entire product line. They will be forced to optimize the OS to the nth degree and can’t afford to let the OS become subject to code bloat. I reckon the fruits of the optimization they have had to perform to get OS X working well on iPhone will show up in 10.5 (Leopard).
iPhone also represents Apple’s foray into tablet computing. A very small tablet, mind you, but there will be a demand for similar devices but bigger. Think Mac Book Pro with the the main unit missing – all you have is the LCD display and a bezel – an iPhone with a 15″ diagonal touch screen.
Jobs quoted Alan Kay during the presentation. Recall Kay’s Dynabook?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynabook
or Sculley’s Knowledge Navigator?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_Navigator
iPhone is a leap in that direction. It’s unusual, though that a product starts out being a mini version of what it will ultimately become, but the iPhone is the future of Apple’s computers…