Image via Apple.com
Ever since the passing of Steve Jobs, the idea that Apple is not what it used to be has grown and grown. This sentiment has been amplified in recent years, as made clear by countless articles, YouTube videos, and Podcast rants that all seem to say that Apple is nothing compared to what it was under Jobs. While I personally believe that Apple, in recent years, has demonstrated a downward trend in terms of the number of their innovations, I do not think that has everything to do with the lack of Steve Jobs. I believe that Jobs was a key player in realizing and making ubiquitous Apple’s innovations, but I don’t think that his absence is the prime reason Apple’s innovations have been seemingly few and far between in recent years. I think that innovation as a whole has plateaued recently, as a result of a transition in the technology landscape. Most of Apple’s (and Silicon Valley’s as a whole) innovations of the past two or three decades revolved around making tech more personal and accessible. The sole purpose of the original Mac’s game-changing graphical user interface was to widen the accessibility of the personal computer, so that even a child could understand it. The iPhone put a computer in all of our pockets, virtually erasing the need for a computer to do most tasks, and forcing it to adopt new features to remain a viable product, while making computers more trendy and omnipresent than ever before. But now, computers are ubiquitous. They aren’t scary, massive boxes like they used to be. They’re stylish, popular, and they’re everywhere. Everyone can use them, from 4 year olds to senior citizens, computers can’t be much more easier to access and to use. What once was a push for innovation is now an upper limit that stalls it. But this doesn’t mean that Apple will never innovate ever again. New technologies, like AR haven’t yet been able to infiltrate the consumer landscape, and it’s up to innovative companies like Apple to push them to do so. Technology is always advancing, and we will always need companies like Apple to make its newest evolutions available to us.