“Where does Apple go from here? The question lies at the heart of the media and industry buzz that so often surrounds a company adept at surprising and confounding even the most jaded observers. It’s particularly pressing in light of the oblique reference to a ‘new product transition’ made by Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer during a July conference call with analysts,” Arik Hesseldahl writes for BusinessWeek.
“So I am left wondering, what might Apple have under its belt to surprise and delight customers over the next 6 to 24 months? Indulge me while I consider the prospect that at least for the foreseeable future, Apple has done virtually everything it could reasonably be expected to do, given consumer needs and the current state of tech and the economy. There are only so many world-changing moments that even Apple can create,” Hesseldahl writes.
“The Web is rife with rumors that Apple will next introduce a device that bridges the gap between the iPod touch and the Mac—a machine that’s one part mini-mobile PC and one part media and entertainment device. The idea seems obvious to anyone who’s used the iPod touch for e-mail and Web-browsing but wants a larger screen. While other PC companies like Dell and Asustek build mini-notebooks, Apple could best them all, or so the argument goes,” Hesseldahl writes.
“But then what? As obvious as the path to a tablet device seems now, I have trouble imagining the next obvious path that Apple might follow in 2009 and 2010. In fact, the company may very well be nearing a product plateau. And here’s the real kicker: That may not be a bad thing,” Hesseldahl writes.
“I’m not suggesting that Apple should slow down and take a breath on the innovation front. Not at all. The company now operates within substantially wider borders than it did when it unveiled the first iPod in 2001. Rather than widening those borders even further, there lies within them plenty of room for important, even if not world-changing innovations—not to mention scope for expanding Apple’s business,” Hesseldahl writes.
Full article here.
Even more stunning than Hesseldahl’s complete lack of imagination is his decision to spotlight it in an article for BusinessWeek.
There’s an old Wayne Gretzky quote that I love. ‘I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.’ And we’ve always tried to do that at Apple. Since the very very beginning. And we always will. – Apple CEO Steve Jobs, January 8, 2007