Apple’s Hardware “Dilemma”
Whoever it is who writes over at Counternotions — he goes by Kontra over at Twitter — knows his shit. He doesn’t write often, unfortunately, but, when he does, he’s consistently insightful. This piece is another winner. On its face, it’s about the ridiculous expectations that inevitably foster widespread disappointment in the tech press when Apple’s new hardware fails to include five cameras, a 5.3" screen, 10GB of RAM, or some other meaningless component that used to be important to the same tech press 15 years ago when spec-based PC comparisons were their bread and butter.
On a deeper level, the piece reveals a stunning truth:
Apple is also unique in constantly moving millions of users into elevated patterns of computing behavior over time. Apple creates markets, others follow. As a market maker, if you will, Apple is in a unique position to create the rules and then educate its users in how to participate in the new paradigm. No other technology company has ever created so many “markets” and educated so many users. Historically, Apple has taught millions how to use GUI-based computers with a mouse. It transitioned personal storage from floppies to hard disk to optical disk to flash. It moved the notion of a cellphone from a device that makes phone calls to a diminutive personal computer with multiple sensors and multi-touch input for hundreds of millions of people. It got millions to pay for music online by the song. It educated people into buying billions of apps instead of using a web browser.
To ensure that you’ve got all that, let me break it out for you in a list:
Since 1984, Apple has:
- Taught millions how to use GUI-based computers with a mouse.
- Transitioned personal storage from floppies to hard disk to optical disk to flash
- Changed the notion of a cellphone from a device that makes phone calls to that of a diminutive personal computer with multiple sensors and multi-touch input for hundreds of millions of people
- Convinced millions to pay for music online by the song
- Educated people into buying billions of apps instead of using a web browser
Considered point by point, I don’t know how anyone could disagree: Apple is a market maker. How many other companies can claim that?