They haven't really done anything truly new for decades now. The iPod was what made their comeback. It was an MP3 player. Those have been around for a while at that time. Then there was the iPhone which was a really good effort but didn't really invent the smartphone. It evolved what we already had (Nokia and Sony Ericcson had Smartphones on Symbian that did most things the iPhone did, only worse. They played MP3s, you could use them to browse the web and you could install Apps on them). Don't get me wrong, the iPhone was like a catalyst to the smartphone world, accelerating the development of mobile platforms, but it was not a true innovation. In fact, Android was already in development for quite a while at the time the iPhone was released. And to me, the iPad is basically a big smartphone that can't make phone calls. I don't really see much innovation there either. Did it create markets? Yes. Was it really innovative? No.
On the software side there's not really any innovation either. OSX is really a polished BSD. Sure, Apple seems to know what they're doing in terms of UX but again, no real innovation - just one of the few companies that knows how to do it properly.
So yes, I agree with the Woz quote in the title. Microsoft Research has some pretty staggering projects going (both for developers as well as consumers) and Apple seems to be milking tried and tested cows lately. It works for them but it's neither creative nor innovative. This is exactly where Microsoft has to shine these days because people got incredibly bored with MS. Windows 8 is pretty much a disaster on the desktop and the Surface tablet seems to be too slow to handle proper loads. I hope some of those research projects make it into applications even if just for the sake of competition.
> Then there was the iPhone which was a really good effort but didn't really invent the smartphone
There was nothing like the iPhone in the market. Not even close. It was like alien technology at the time. You must be joking about Symbian. My brother's Palm from 2003 could play MP3s, 'browse the web' and install apps too, yet it looks as sophisticated as a wristwatch today.
The development version of Android before iOS still had physical keyboards and a trackwheel, running on 240x160 screens. I'm not even going to comment on OSX or iPad because that's starting to sound like a troll.
By your standards, Tesla isn't doing any innovation either. Batteries and cars have been around for centuries, in fact the first cars at the beginning of the 20th century were battery-powered. It's just a really polished electric car.
They haven't really done anything truly new for decades now. The iPod was what made their comeback. It was an MP3 player. Those have been around for a while at that time. Then there was the iPhone which was a really good effort but didn't really invent the smartphone. It evolved what we already had (Nokia and Sony Ericcson had Smartphones on Symbian that did most things the iPhone did, only worse. They played MP3s, you could use them to browse the web and you could install Apps on them). Don't get me wrong, the iPhone was like a catalyst to the smartphone world, accelerating the development of mobile platforms, but it was not a true innovation. In fact, Android was already in development for quite a while at the time the iPhone was released. And to me, the iPad is basically a big smartphone that can't make phone calls. I don't really see much innovation there either. Did it create markets? Yes. Was it really innovative? No.
On the software side there's not really any innovation either. OSX is really a polished BSD. Sure, Apple seems to know what they're doing in terms of UX but again, no real innovation - just one of the few companies that knows how to do it properly.
So yes, I agree with the Woz quote in the title. Microsoft Research has some pretty staggering projects going (both for developers as well as consumers) and Apple seems to be milking tried and tested cows lately. It works for them but it's neither creative nor innovative. This is exactly where Microsoft has to shine these days because people got incredibly bored with MS. Windows 8 is pretty much a disaster on the desktop and the Surface tablet seems to be too slow to handle proper loads. I hope some of those research projects make it into applications even if just for the sake of competition.