Fall of the mighty Apple!

This article is a tribute to a brand which was known for redefining technology for almost 2 decades. This brand redefined how we used a personal computer by giving us an attractive, yet simple graphical user interface. They reinvented music players, revolutionized smart phones, created a huge industry for ‘tablets’, created a series of awesomely attractive laptops, revolutionized the way we watched televisions (almost).  This was a company, whose products were shamelessly copied by several brands because of the unprecedented success and fan-following they received. A brand that gave nothing but quality ‘innovative’ products to their users, year-after-year.

Today, I have to say this with a very heavy-heart, that this brand (I am referring to Apple if you haven’t yet figured), which was garnered by one of the greatest innovators of our times, has lost its charm.

Last year, when they launched the iPhone5, I was amused and extremely disappointed with its ‘ground-breaking innovative features’. Then came the extremely hyped iOS7. Now, I am not saying that it’s a bad operating system, but nothing in it excited me.  Yes, I do understand that all the current iPhone users have been gung-ho about it, but, all the new features have been a part of other operating systems like Android for years now! Some of them as old as the inception of Android!

This year, I was eagerly waiting for the event to unfold at Cupertino. Although I had almost assumed that the next iPhone will have nothing novel in it, but was hoping that rumors of the iWatch were true. I was really hoping that Apple comes back with a bang with a new product and rises back to the tag of a ‘Revolutionary’ and ‘Innovative’ company. Disappointment!! Disappointment was all I got.

They launched the iPhone5s. It is so lame that I feel ashamed to even call it an upgrade the iPhone5! And then we have iPhone5C, a range of smartphones with colorful bodies. How innovative is that! Oh, hang-on there! Isn’t this what Nokia has been offering with their Lumia series?!

Again, these are not bad phones, but I expect (used to expect) something novel.

Once a trendsetter, now is busy catching-up with the industry by aping features which competitors have been providing for a while. Lack of innovation pulled companies like Blackberry, Kodak down. Signs of Apple’s downturn can be seen by mere sales. Android now accounts for 80% of smartphone sales globally, whereas Apple is now reduced to teens.

 Hope Tim is cooking something that will revive Apple. If not, then “may Apple R.I.P.”.