 The Apple Way
Tallulah Habib
Apple is seldom first with the goods, so what makes them so special?
As a kid there was this playground rhyme we used to sing: “First the worst, second the best, third the one with the hairy chest.” Apple's philosophy seems to be something along these lines. They don't have to be the first, if they're the best.
It’s a logical strategy - prototypes by nature have many flaws. Apple takes it upon itself to work out the kinks and re-release items as high-quality, well-designed innovations. The original prototypes fall by the wayside and the public is all too willing to forget they ever existed.
Why, then, is it a surprise to find a Chinese company threatening to sue Apple for stealing the idea for the iPad?
Shenzhen Great Loong Brother president Wu Xiaolong claims that they were the first to release an iPad – called the Tablet PC-P88. On closer inspection, however, there is very little that is similar about the devices. It is merely the idea – a flat computer with a touch screen – the devices have in common.
Historically, this is what Apple has always done. No, it's not really “stealing”... it's “inspiration”.
The iMac is well known for its graphical user interface, but it was the Alto personal computer that originally brought us the desktop metaphor and the wonder of GUI. Apple's online store is also widely thought of as a first, but Dell used the exact same system (WebObjects) a few years previously.
Possibly one of Apple's greatest innovations – the iPod – was far from the first digital music player. Apple saw an opening in the market, however, for one that was physically small with a large memory. The iPhone came along as a converged device – something that was a PDA, music player and phone... with a touch screen. Yet again, it was not the first of its kind. LG had released a touch screen phone a few months earlier.
Despite the fact that Apple's fresh ideas are seldom as fresh as the media make them out to be, Apple has gathered a huge and loyal following, a following that freely admits it's not merely the innovation that puts Apple ahead.
“What Apple does well is make
consumer devices that not only look good, but have a lot of thought in their design,” says Dave Mackie, a web developer and technology enthusiast, “such as... the power cable on the MacBook Pro is magnetic so if you trip over the cable it doesn't pull your laptop onto the floor.”
Richard Barnett, a computing lecturer agrees: "Apple has put a lot of effort into designing a product that is superior, both on a hardware and software level. Apple products, when used together, 'just work'. For example, I purchased a new Apple mouse yesterday, and two clicks later it works with my MacBook."
One of the earliest advertisements for Apple featured a little boy and his dog setting up an Apple computer in a fraction of the time it took an IT professional to set up another computer.
Barnett admits, however, that said mouse cost him almost R1 000. “That is the problem with Apple. In South Africa, their products are seriously overpriced, you can get products with an equivalent processing capability for considerably less.”
It's the same in other countries, with the Inquirer finding that 90% of expensive computers are produced by Apple.
“This iPad thing... it looks cool...” student Ashley-Kate Davidson says, “but, you know, it's massively expensive... as all Apple products are.”
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