The death of Steve Jobs has been widely reported in the Media. A quick visit to the Apple website confirmed it (see screenshot above). Steve died of pancreatic cancer and has received worldwide tributes from the great and the good.
I don’t mean to speak ill of the dead, but was he really that much of a visionary as he’s been made out to be in the media? In recent years he’s most famous for the Iphone and the Ipad. So let’s look at them both.
First the Iphone:
(Image Copyright Tech Radar, 2011.)
I love the Iphone, indeed I’ve blogged about it (see Will an Iphone 4 change my life? & Iphone Essentials: Accessories & Apps). However how original was the concept of creating a phone that’s a mini-computer? In my opinion it was already being done and Apple simply moved into the phone market.
Next the Ipad. Looking at Steve Jobs he looks like he was Star Trek geek. And anyone who watches Star Trek will have seen these:
(Image Copyright Muktware, 2011.)
Looks remarkably similar don’t you think? Plus anyone who uses a laptop to check the net knows that often they’re not as mobile as they could be. So in my opinion not that much of an original idea.
What will be interesting will be to see how Apple will develop without Steve Jobs. Will they continue to have the stronghold over the tablet market or will the likes of Amazon and others seize the opportunity to get a foothold in the tablet market?
Steve Jobs undoubtedly brought Apple back from the brink of death, but I think he was more of a technology risk taker than a visionary. Since his return to Apple in 1997 he made devices that he liked and that luckily (for him and Apple) people in the majority also liked and enjoyed using.
Blog soon,
Antony
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