General

Apple: users win, industry loses

This week is taking place the Apple WWDC 2011, and as usual the opening keynote included announcements about new product/feature launches. Beyond what was announced (I suppose that you already know all about iCloud, iOS 5 and OS X Lion), what I want to bring up is the impact of them. Before going on, I’d like to make it clear that this is not an “I love/hate Apple” post. I made my best effort to be objective when writing this and I hope you can do so when reading it.

Nothing new

In my opinion, and I don’t think I am on my own, there is nothing innovative in the announcements. Every service/feature announced is already offered by existing companies/platforms/services.

I am saying this “nothing new” more as a surprise than as an accusation. In my perception, in previous years Apple had at least shown one “wow” thing, far from the rest of the pack. They established a gap which during the year, competitors would try to shorten only to see it widen again with the launches of the next WWDC. But to my judgement, this year Apple took a break from innovating.

Even though the lack of innovation, I don’t have the slightest doubt that the new launches/features will be very well received. They are quite desirable/useful for users and I can’t see Apple losing any traction at least in the next few years.

Buying vs copying

Beyond the lack of originality, what concerns me is that Apple copied features/services offered by existing startups and I don’t think that is good for the industry. When large companies copy each other, I am not concerned, let them fight each other. But when a biggie copies a small one and threatens not only its success but its survival, I think the industry loses. When other companies like Google, VMware, salesforce.com or even Microsoft like something from a startup, they buy it and make the owners millionaires. What Apple is showing is that when they like something they simply copy it and screw the startup. This I believe, is a great risk for startups.

In the end … we know that all companies are there to make business, but I am among those who believe that there are proper ways. Of course, that is one of the reasons why I don’t run a multibillion company.

By the way, in case you don’t know which startups I am talking about. Here is a quick list (http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/06/which-apps-are-threatened-by-apples-upgrades) although I am sure there are many others not being mentioned.

© 2011 Pedro Galván Kondo.