“If you felt uneasy through Apple’s keynote, you’re not alone. Something felt off. It wasn’t the features or hardware but the messaging,” Jong-Moon Kim writes for Jiggity. “Let’s review parts of the keynote that felt weak and see if Steve can make it shine.”
“The keynote starts with a real-life Prezi presentation with little substance. The most damning line comes near the beginning: ‘Where other perceive first as valuable, you value the first thing that actually matters,'” Kim writes. “Assuring people that ‘It’s not about being first, but being ‘first with meaning” reeks of being defensive,” Kim writes. “Even with companies we respect confidence—not insecurity. A Jobsian Apple would have never said something so weak.”
“There should have been one obvious, visceral reason to buy an iPhone 6. A larger screen size alone is a weak proposition for the company’s flagship product. It’s derivative of existing products and doesn’t say anything differentiated from its competition,” Kim writes. “The trouble now is that the iPhone 6 must depend on its host of secondary features to make the sale… This happens when product creators play it safe. There’s a chance the single X might be wrong. The obvious solution is to be add enough features until there’s Something for Everyone. With Steve Jobs, there was no fear. There was an unassailable, almost divine level of confidence that he had something you will love. We had a crisp, singular exactness to why we’ll be marching to the Apple Store after the keynote and buying that phone.”
“Apple iWatch: Messy. Too many options. This is such a huge blunder,” Kim writes. “Instead of a single, perfect product, we got a jumble of features and choices. There should have been just The One that people call ‘The Jesus Watch’ like the second coming. It’s easy to fall in love with The One. The iPod launched with The One. The iPhone launched with The One. The Apple Watch launched with The Sixty.”
Kim writes, “Without further ado, let’s join Steve Jobs as he introduces the new iPhone and the rumored new wearable.”
Check out Kim’s imagined Steve Jobs’ September 9, 2014 special event keynote, in which Jobs unveils only one, 4.5-inch iPhone 6, here.
Jong-Moon Kim writes about the intersection of psychology, technology and artistry. He graduated from MIT in 2010 with an B.S. and M.S. in computer science. He was the winner of the MIT Web Programming Competition in 2010. He is a Y Combinator alumnus. He is currently working as a founder at an unannounced startup.
MacDailyNews Take: There are parts of this essay that ring true and work so well (the “heartbeat” section, for example) that Apple would do well to have their keynote writers read it and incorporate some of Kim’s ideas going forward.
Other ideas, such as having only one “iWatch” (not “Apple Watch”), not so much.
[Attribution: Cult of Mac. Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]
Weak.
How about actually reading and taking some time to comprehend the hypothetical Job’s keynote before you comment?
I really don’t see what Job in the Bible has to do with an Apple keynote.
Jobs’. Sorry, I was typing quickly.
This person is doing exactly what Steve Jobs said not to do, which is to do what they thought he would. So, beyond that, no more reason to read.
Absolutely so. Hines change the watch would never work in the way he suggests far too limiting because it has no prime function to promote Apples new products have to be far more nuanced and expansive now. At the end of the day this guy is a geek and what makes Apple products superior is that they are designed and made for humans not insular geeks. Jobs saw that Apple had to change in this new world which is as different as they themselves have become. Companies die by doing what they always do so Jobs chose Cook to ensure that did not happen while not having a guy who wanted to impose his own vane vision. That doesn’t work twice and you need a genius to make it work even once. As soon as someone states what Jobs would have done he is starting from the wrong starting point unless his contribution is for entertainment value only.
Agreed. This is the kind of pontification article that Steve would have called up and said, “you’re an idiot”.
I though Tim knocked it out of the park.
I agree. Kim Jung Il clearly watched a different Keynote than we did. He also has been living in a cave for the last few months because all you have heard recently is how many people are going to buy an iPhone 6 because of its larger size.
“Apple iWatch: Messy. Too many options. This is such a huge blunder,”
Ohhhh, just sod off, you arrogant little twerp.
I am constantly amazed by these people who declare, with such utter certitude, what Apple should be doing or should have done.
No, just no. Steve would not have said any of that.
Have you tried a therapy?
did she watch the same speech as me? the iPhone had more improvements than the screen (camera, processor, more ram, shape, thinness…). a watch is jewelry first. you wear it, people see it on you. it must be customizable.
Jong-Moon Kim is a he, not a she.
Still, just another dog eater, MIT or not. Has this guy critiqued Samsung lately?
The watch as this guy presents it looks masculine. . . nothing for women, nothing for kids, nothing for those who want a statement watch. He’s an idiot. It IS one Apple Watch, that users can customize to make their own.
Don’t agree with the just one …. I believe Apple watch and options will make it a huge success ….. original iMac came in many colors …
I also think U2 album giveaway is a nice PR move …..
We miss Jobs but Cook for sure has leadership and vision!
Sorry. Original iMac came in one colour. Bondi Blue. The rest came later.
Oh yea …..
Sometimes I’m right but I can be wrong ….
Still believe choices especially in this case since it’s a wearable are way to go!
Disagree. iPhone 6/6+ looks awesome compared to competing bigger phones, and the camera is going to further change filmmaking. As for the Watch, choice here is brilliant. I was wondering how Apple was going to pull it off. It’s been one of the problems with other smart watches. They’re ugly and you have no choice. If people are going to wear this thing 365, then they have to like it personally. Unless, of course, you thought Swatch was a failure for having many choices.
This article is what’s weak. It’s true that the tone of Apple has shifted slightly toward talking about building “meaningful” products, but what’s wrong with that? It’s Samsung and Microsoft who are on the defensive by being offensive toward Apple, its products, and its customers. Those insanely stupid commercials where they take swipes at iPhones, iPads, and MacBook Airs are just stupid. It shows that they fear Apple’s products. This is just another article among many that you’ll see after has a product announcement. There’s always someone who bitches and moans about what Apple announced without ever having used the new products.
This essay isn’t only weak it is the worst kind of criticism. Where they compare reality to fantasy and alluded that a mythic figure, no longer with us, could have made fantasy reality. For example, stated that iPhione 6 should have had one X thing. They don’t offer what that could have been but say there is one thing that everyone would have wanted and be killer.
Steve Jobs’ Apple might’ve gone with one iPhone 6.
Tim Cook’s Apple will sell significantly more iPhone 6/Plus units than Steve Jobs’ Apple would have sold.
As for iWatch and certain presentation elements, styles, and verbiage, Kim has some excellent ideas, but MacDailyNews’ SteveJack’s idea of why there are so many Apple Watch options make too much sense:
I believe that Apple figured they needed to go “all in” to prove they’re totally committed to Watch and, with their enormous cash reserves, they’ll simply take the hit on whatever inventory management issues come their way. When entering a new market, with Apple’s resources, it’s preferable to spend rather than look like they’re just tentatively dipping a toe in by offering just one or two Watch options.
Further, and even more importantly, the huge range of Apple Watch options (sizes, finishes, materials, bands) makes it really difficult, if not impossible, for Samsung, Xiaomi, and the rest of the knockoff peddlers to come up with so many well-designed options. Sure, they can come up with a bunch of colored watch bands, but are they going to look, feel, and work like all of those already painstakingly designed by Jony Ive and Marc Newson? No, of course not. Just like iPhone knockoffs, they won’t come remotely close to the full experience that only Apple offers to their customers. The inventory management alone, of which Tim Cook is the world’s preeminent expert, would kill the likes of Samsung and Xiaomi et al.
Apple is focused on doing things for customers that no other company on earth can do. If patents and the law won’t protect Apple’s ideas, creating and accomplishing things that are impossible to replicate is the only true method of protection that exists for Apple’s IP (hence the huge sapphire investment, the Liquidmetal licensing, etc.)
Graduated with B.S., yep from that article, he definitely talks a lot of B.S.!
Don’t forget the M.S. (More S***)
And I heard at Bryn Mawr that Ph.D. stands for Piled Higher and Deeper
😄
So true!!
I liked reading that. The iphone part was really like listening to Steve but the iwatch side was a bit stretched in my view
Personally I loved the opening bit. Matter of taste I guess. I didn’t find it defensive. Makes a point Apple often makes… they are always the first with a technology, just the first to get it right. Second point? Well, I guess he’s right. Tim Cook gave no compelling reason to buy the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. I guess a fire sale effort is coming to create some demand for these boring products. They must have realized they wouldn’t sell because inventory is so low I have to wait until November to get mine. As for Apple Watch, Kim is way off base. Personal choice is crucial in the decision to purchase a watch and always has been. The different models and straps will mean you can buy the individual look you want. Headache for Apple to manufacture but great result for customers.
You’re kidding, right? With the bigger screens, Apple just took away one of the last major excuses people had for not buying an iPhone (the other being the price).
They will sell like hot cakes.
When introducing the original bondi blue iMac Steve actually brought watches into the the conversation as a point about why people like color: style — he said most people have six different watches (I think he said six, it’s been a while but here comes the two-pronged point of why that is/was noteworthy). In the context of this article, that was very defensive, because he was introducing a single color! In terms of how Steve telegraphed plans, the bondi blue iMac was followed first by five colors, then by three, then by more. Which to me says the author is just wrong about how Steve would have intro’d the new iPhone.
So in total, with Apple having the biggest sales weekend ever (again) I think the author was trying one if those “I’m smarter than Cook/Apple” articles…. and failing.
I liked a lot of what the author captured about the style of a Stevenote. But he missed the mark on product selection. Steve himself rather famously changed his mind over the years on some things. The world has changed from when the first iPhone was introduced. It was wildly successful without an App Store, cut and paste, 64 bit A7, etc.
I agree with him in part that Steve had a better, crisper way of distilling things down for the presentation. I disagree with him about what the product line would look like.
It is time for MDN to declare a moratorium on all “What would Steve have done” opinions. Apple is Tim Cook’s company now. He should be evaluated on his own merits, not with comparison to Steve.
It seems there are those that wish Apple wasn’t the most valuable company in the world. Those that wish only served the one off and unique. They relish the different ones as you are with us or fsck off. Apple is not the same company when it had to the one off. They now operate from a position of strength and that means applying to more of the masses. Would Steve have done things different, yes. Did Steve hand pick Tim to take Apple to the next level, yes. Would Steve think this essay was right on, no.
Do you like to answer your own questions? I think you do.
Steve is gone. We miss him but stop trying to force his style on current Apple.
The writer graduated in 2010, but I hope he’s not still living in that year.
As you’d expect, a much more insightful viewpoint from this fella:
http://www.asymco.com/2014/09/11/tentpoles/
I actually agree with much of what was written here. Sure we can live in the past, but something did feel off with Tuesday’s keynote.
And yes they do have too many options of the Apple Watch. Should have started with one watch and a handful of bands. The three watches reminds me of Apple’s boat load of product options pre Steve’s return to Apple.
No. Tim understands the need for a product portfolio. That’s what you get with Apple watch. Different styles at various price points. One size fits all might have worked when Apple was a smaller company trying to get itself out of near bankruptcy. Now it’s a $180B company with a market cap of $600B. With Cook Apple is growing up, growing into the big company that it is.
Even Steve maintained the Good, Better, Best model of product lines until sales of the 17″ laptop trailed off. Today: 21.5″ and 27″ iMac, 11″ and 13″ MBA, 13″ and 15″ MBP… and while not a form-factor difference, the Mac Pro comes with quad- or six-core processors.
A Korean “Kim” guy tries to help Apple shine? I’m skeptical. If this guy is any good maybe Samedung should hire him to at least have brilliant keynotes on blatantly copied products, dont u think?
fun read
First. Cook is not Jobs. Trying to emulate him will be a massive fail. Jobs was the ultimate performer on stage and it is really hard to compete with that.
I felt this product release was the best Cook has ever done. He talked very well and kept the flow going. He was a lot more animated than I have ever seen him and I think that’s because all these products were initiated on his own watch. The ownership helps breed confidence. Cook has his own style and he can’t simply try to perform like SJ could because it would not be natural.
The Apple Watch really does need 3 models simply because they can be used for very different activities. I will be buying the Sports version (depending on price) and love the choice of straps. I will be buying it for various reasons: Apple Pay, Health and Exercise tracking and for the customizable faces. It won’t be a fashion item for me but for others it will. So why limit to one model when a watch is a very personal possession for some people.
The clever thing is have only one type of internals. That minimizes the problems with production and will allow adjustments to be rapidly made in terms of demand for each model. The straps are phenomenal. I have a watch that I like but the strap is very clunky and having it adjusted took time and money. Being able to swap out the straps is immense. Why hasn’t anyone thought about that before? I love that.
Apply Pay is a long term play. Just like iTunes. It will be huge but will take time to become commonplace. I can’t wait to get my Apple Watch because I still have over a year left on my phone contract.
When Apple stock hits $120, its gold for my wife and I. She can can her over priced Bulgari.
Sick of hearing how Jobs would have done it. It’s like hearing about how Apple is doomed. Please make it stop.
Misplaced energy. Please it’s unfare to Tim to post this crap. Even if Jobs would have done it differently.
Example, people die in the name of Jesus, who would wouldn’t want such a thing.
Let’s not name drop Steve Jobs on some sort of fantasy.
By the way, I am not trying to compare Steve to Jesus. I think it’s easier to understand what I am getting at.
MDN’s take – yes.
“Let’s review parts of the keynote that felt weak and see if Steve can make it shine.” 1) We loved Steve, but he is dead. 2) As an AAPL investor I admire Tim as taking a monumental task, and executing beautifully. 3:) Please, please, let Steve RIP. 4) Look forward.
The article if anything is too sensationalized! Too negative !
In many ways bogus!
Come on people get off the ” what would Steve have done ” band wagon!!!… Its getting extremely Boring and supremely irritating.
Stop living in the past and get with it.
Steve is gone.
Can things be better .. Always.. Even when Steve was around!
Is the present team doing awesome.YES!
Case in point …Look at the iPhone 6 record breaking orders!
And MDN ical the comments on the apple watch..