“Apple prides itself on constantly re-imagining the future, but even the world’s leading gadget-maker likes to dwell on the past too. Thirty years ago Steve Jobs commanded the stage at the Flint Centre for the Performing Arts near Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino to show off the new Macintosh computer. On September 9th Mr Jobs’s successor, Tim Cook, held a similar performance in the same location to thunderous applause,” The Economist writes. “Those invited were given a chance to play with the gadgets presented on stage: two new iPhones and a wearable device, called the Apple Watch. ‘This is the next chapter in Apple’s story,’ he said, sounding much like the young Mr Jobs in 1984.”
“It may well be true—but not for the reasons most people might think,” The Economist writes. “Lost in the maelstrom of snazzy new gadgets, applause and photos was an important shift: this week’s announcements showed that Apple’s future will be less about hardware and more about its ‘ecosystem’ — a combination of software, services, data and a plethora of partners.”
“The new openness does not only apply to technology. Mr Cook has let outsiders join his inner circle, hiring executives from retail and other industries to expand Apple’s expertise,” The Economist writes. “He has also overseen the largest acquisition in Apple’s history, the $3 billion purchase in May of Beats, a headphones and music-streaming company. For its new payment system it teamed up with big retailers, such as Whole Foods and Walgreens, and credit-card firms, including MasterCard and Visa.”
Full article here.