January 13th, 2009
Apple's future: It's in the Touch
A guest post on ZDNet yesterday posed the question: Has Apple gotten lazy? It’s not the first time I’ve heard it asked, considering Apple’s headlines in recent months: a pullout from Macworld, the distractions of Steve Jobs’ health and relatively low-key announcements out of Macworld. Sure, upgrades to iLife, iWork and the Macbook line were each newsworthy, just not keynote worthy. That doesn’t make Apple lazy.
Still, I think the author of the post is on to something when he says that Apple will need to do something soon if it wants to keep Wall Street (and the fan base) happy. It seems that Apple would want to keep the wraps on anything worth showcasing so it can be unveiled at the company’s own event, not a trade show. I suspect folks are hard at work at Apple, designing the next big thing without racing the clock to meet a production deadline for a trade show release. Instead, when it’s ready, Apple will summon the tech press to some sort of cryptically-announced event and we’ll all ooh and aah (or not.) But here’s the thing: maybe the next big thing isn’t something we hold in our hands.
Instead of calling Apple lazy, I would counter that the company is in a transitional mode. No, that’s not suggesting transitional in the sense that an ailing Jobs will be passing the reins anytime soon. Instead, it’s transitional in the sense that the focus seems to be shifting away from the hardware side and honing back in on the software, err, applications business. Aside from a handful of product categories, the fun techie stuff is less touchy-feely than it used to be. The cool things no longer come in the form of breakthrough gadgets. They come in the form of apps for the iPhone, links between iPhoto and Facebook, virtual piano lessons from within Garage Band.
In terms of a breakthrough gadget, the next big thing is already out there - and has been for more than a year. The iPod Touch (horrible name for it) is the real breakthrough device here, not the iPhone. When it was announced back in September 2007, the Touch got buried by news of a $200 price drop to the iPhone and announcements of an new iPod Nano look, an iPod classic upgrade and a WiFi iTunes music store for the iPhone (and Touch). It’s older cousin, the iPhone, continues to steal the thunder. But as carrier exclusivity (and subsequent connection problems) become deal-breakers for some potential buyers, the Touch becomes an real alternative.
After all, its the non-phone parts of the iPhone - the Touch - that’s seen noteworthy success. Applications have become a sweet spot - both in development and downloads. Some of the key apps from the desktop/notebook computing environment - photos, music and now games - are key apps on the mobile devices. With WiFi connectivity, there’s access to the net and cloud apps such as Google Docs, Yahoo mail, Flickr, Facebook and even business apps such as salesforce and Oracle. Eventually, Skype will release an application that will turn telephony services into just another app - so why does anyone need the carriers again?
There’s been some anticipation around a netbook announcement from Apple but I think we already have access to Apple’s netbook - or at least a predecessor - in the iPod Touch. I suspect forthcoming announcements will focus less on gadgets like the iPhone and the Touch and more on the services, features and tools FOR the iPhone and the Touch. I’ll continue to assume that Apple is hard at work and no where near becoming lazy.
Sam Diaz is a senior editor at ZDNet. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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