Apple boring? Get over it

Nowadays, one of most important questions is if we are going to have a good shopping season at all with this market turmoil. iPod (and this particular version of it) could be the best or the worst product on the market. But if the whole market environment will be shaky, all products, companies (and public in general) will suffer.

In regard to absence of novelty and creativity of Apple, it is hard to keep even small and new company creative. What about an industry “elephant” with multiple levels of governance. It's much more difficult in that case…

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Why do people complain about DRM so much when it's so easy to defea? I've been buying Itunes for my Sony PSP for years now. And the conversion software is free. /boggle

What's an iPod?

Oh God, I thought I'd pushed Blue Dalmatian and Flower Power out of my mind forever. You just resurfaced some terrible memories

Hmm, I don't quite know what to make of anyone who thinks it's unfortunate that the military could benefit from new technology like iPod Touch. Maybe someone will use such technology to defend your right to say such things with just such technology.

Um, does "inability to play content in any multimedia device" refer to their use of AAC encoding? You know, the open standard based on MPEG-4, itself an open standard? Oh my, open standards are so much more evil than MS proprietary, license 'em and pay us for it type standards.

I get all my music on round plastic discs and import it sans DRM to use on my iPod myself. Using AAC naturally.

Paul,

Is iTunes DRM all you can come up with? LOL, what a whiner. That is nothing, it was only put there to get the labels to sign on to iTunes. It doesn't do much good, anyone with half a brain (probably not Paul) knows how to get around it, but an honest person won't even notice it. That last part is why iTunes is so successful. (Except among Windoze fanboys.)

Same product, with some minor tweaks. Hope they add a radio someday, but of course that might impact all the extra gadgets one "must" buy after getting a iPod. The dock, the armband, the cover, etc. etc. Also improve the earphones and sound quality, not just color selection!

"thinness"

To the person who stated that Apple is rightly to be criticized for having a media event that is "uneventful," I have to agree that, superficially, this was an "uneventful" event. After all, Apple themselves have done product refreshes of greater import without holding a media event to announce them.

However, this is assuming the nominal reason for the event was the actual reason. That is, did Apple really hold this event just to announce new iPods? It's possible they did, and, if so, they would have been better off not bothering. However, I wonder whether the real point of the event was simply to show Steve Jobs off to the world as still alive and, to all appearances, not sick or feeble, his thinnes notwithstanding.

I think Apple is concerned enough about the rumors concerning Jobs' health that they really just wanted to create a reason for Steve to come out and show us he's fine.

I do wonder if they will have another media event next month to announce the expected laptop upgrades.

Brian, grow up yourself. Apple's DRM is definitely forced upon it's consumers. The inability to play content in any multimedia device is just one example of Apple most certainly "fencing consumers in".

Stodgy Corporate type that doesn't get it and probably never will! Why should e care what your opinion is? What have you ever produced that benefits people?

I'll take one of those new iPods over anything Microsoft will invent in the next 10 years. Went pure Mac 5 years ago and loving every minute of it. Oh yea my Office 2008 links smoothly to our Companies Windows 2003 Server…yee haw. GO APPLE GO!!!

That's right get over it!! Why is everyone always trying to put Apple down and beating the shit out of their stock. Even if, Steve Jobs were sick which he isn't, do you not think he has any one decent person working for him?? What about Eric Schmidt? Did he go somewhere? I didn't hear that and last time I checked he was one of the most brilliant and sucessful people in the computer industry. He's the guy that took Google public and what did they raise, 35 billion dollars or something like that. Google him. It appears that he had a lot of faith in APPLE, I think he bought about 1 billion dollars worth of shares when, he left Google to join forces with Steve Jobs at Apple.

Why does every one stop having faith in a hot company just because they fall short of fantastic or astronomical predictions. Does any one remember the thing about setting your goals high? Just a little short of astronomical is not a bad thing.

I think there is quite a bit more to this company than the i-phone and

i-pods, if people would just think about it instead of selling stock because Steve Jobs has a cold or the news idiots keep saying over & over & over & over & over that the market isn't looking good. The more you say it the worse it sounds. It might be time to sell stock when companies are not doing well or products are no good, (like microsoft, software).

What was Jobs doing before he came back to Apple full time? He owned a movie studio, Pixar, I'm sure you've heard of it. I think they changed the course of animation, and brought it into the 21 century and of course computerized it. He sold it to Disney, where (I believe) he is now on the board of directors. I may be wrong but the backround on these guys is any thing but trite, particularly in the computer and entertainment industry. This just leaves me thinking, whether or not there was any thing "NEW" at the show this year, means little. There are connections here that you may not see. I started liking Apple back when I first heard about Eric Schmidt leaving Google to come to Apple, just because and their experience (Jobs & Schmidt)and the history, and relationships between all the past companies. It spelled major potential, and I was right. I was also glad I followed my hunch & bought @ less than $60. Every thing about the I-phone was top secret and it was not what I expected, but I had a hunch, & played it. I still think there are more big things to come, from this company if you would just be patient and leave the stock alone.

For gods sakes go unload some Micro-soft stock, their software stinks.

Adam,

All Apple did was invite people to attend. They didn't beg them.

If GM or (for crying out loud) freakin' brain dead Dell invited someone to a product introduction, no one would even show up.

I think the real point here is you don't trot out a big stage production if all you are doing is a product refresh. You don't see any other company doing that, they issue a press release.

Sure, that may be 'boring' as well. However, you don't create hype for an event that turns out to be non-eventful.

If GM held a huge press event to say "The Cobalt is now available in lime green", they would get slammed. If Dell held a massive invite only production that was blogged in real time all over the net to announce that you can get the latest Latitude notebook with a 500gb hard drive instead of the 320gb, they would get slammed.

Please Apple, if you want to continue growing, grow up as well. Reserve the big productions for the big announcements.

Boris…

When Apple change that name from Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple, Inc. They are more than computer company now.

Windows zealots are really upset about Apple. Apple is taking their marketshare, soon no one will need to jump though all the hoops Microsoft purposefully leaves in so that these guys can feel important. They can't understand how anyone wouldn't want to 'build' their own computer (which any fool can do by simply plugging together various components). They fault people for wanting a product that works and doesn't have to be constantly maintained.

They hate Apple for all their success, and it shows. They are so devoid of any original thought, that they must think to themselves, 'I'll just apply everything that's been said of Microsoft to Apple'! But it's not fooling anyone. Apple are not evil. They do no 'tie' products or 'force' anything on anyone. Apple doesn't have a monopoly. Apple doesn't work overtime fencing you into their systems. They don't set up server side products that won't work outside of the Mac.

Microsoft by comparison never innovated anywhere in the tech space beyond trivial concepts such as 'put another button on the mouse' (even though we all had too many buttons on the keyboard already). Microsoft's idea of 'innovation' was to change the name of the Mac 'trash' to 'recycle bin'. That's PC for you. When they developed windows, they didn't even change the main keystrokes that Apple used for cut, copy paste and undo. Why bother–Apple had it right the first time. But Microsoft were constantly working on their business and developing new ways to tie users to their operating system, setting up services that don't work anywhere else, fighting any new standards or technologies, regardless of how good they were, that threatened them, forcing clone computer (generic PC computer board pluggers like Dell, HP, Sony, in fact all PC manufacturers) to sell Windows and ONLY windows, etc… In short, never playing fair where business was concerned and yet also never contributing one true innovation to anyone that hadn't already been done better by someone else (usually Apple).

Grow up, windows fan boys.

@ Mister and Jerry; The point is not that the iPod was the 'first MP3 player'… The original way Apple solved the MP3 player interface problems is where they are special. Same with the iPhone. If you think; " There were cell phones that had all the features that the iPhone did long before Apple started selling them." you either have never seen an iPhone – or you are hallucinating. There was never a touchscreen phone with an interface like the iPhone, and there still isn't.

Just a note of context, just because Apple fell over 3% on Tuesday does NOT mean anything without the context of the market's move that day. If you consider that the S&P500 also fell over 3% that day, I come to the conclusion that the day was pretty much a wash with investors.

Avoiding speculation would be the first place to start to avoid "disappointment." It's ridiculous to hold the expectation that Apple can release a product with as much magnitude as the first iPod or iPhone at each keynote event. Apple makes a ton of other products, as well, and they also deserve their time in the spotlight.

From a retail pov, I couldn't tell you how many customers talk about how sure they are that product a. or product b. is going to be released "any day now." Where are these expectations coming from, if not Apple? Rumor sites, or futile research fueled by desire, usually. "I heard it's going to have Bluetooth? Maybe now we can do this…?!?" or "Apple patented this technology, I wonder if that means … ?!?"

Then you have the types that seem to be waiting for iPods to toast bread before they buy one. The types that are on the slippery slope of always waiting for the next best thing.

Apple simply forgetting that they were computer company first. Market with iPods in this point is pretty much saturated and there is small opportunity to grow. What more Apple is even more evil than Microsoft to locking their customer to their product. Not supporting free file transfer in between computer and iPod is so simple to do and Apple being so stubborn about not to allow for this convenient feature. Lately they even decided to control other people's software, a move upset a lots of people. Most affordable computer apple has "mac mini" didn't get upgraded in 20 months!!! Price is the same though (PC equivalent of mini mac would today sell for probably 1/3 or even 1/4 of price of mini – with a keyboard). Do you still think that Apple is such a great company?! Yes, I'm asking you apple fan boys.

Copy iphone.. Whats there to copy from iphone except for looks and touch UI thing.

Most of the phones are pretty advanced.

You cant store a file and read it in later. In other words did anyone notice that iPhone doesnt have a file browser. Atleast I didnt find one yet.

You cant even connect that phone to your PC using Bluetooth. So you cant sync using bluetooth. This technology was available a few years back.

There is a huge list.

Most of the free phones after mail in rebates even few years back should do that. I guess iPhone should copy things from other phone. But then that reminds me of another post which says about Apple propritery etc.

I have two iPhones both new and old one.

Hey.

I think people have totally missed the impact of the new iPod touch.

For $230, you get a full blown computer; you get to carry it in your pocket; use free wifi everywhere. Who needs an internet connection? Just get a cup o' Joe.

What about Africa and Asia where we have 5% PC penetration? Do you think the touch (bought at $150 by the 10,000) might make a difference in education? small business? communications? (and, unfortunately, the military).

I say the touch will soon be recognized as the 1st Global Computer with historical importance equivalent to the light bulb.

Boring? Think Again.

It was a little boring. I thought for sure the new iPods were going to add a teleportation feature or cancer screening at the least.

Who is going to want an mp3 player that only plays music and video?

So what if the media wasn't impressed. I'm sure the average buyer will like the new Nano and will buy it for themselves and as gifts for others. Sales should be very good into the holidays. As long as Apple makes lots of money, that's what matters. The stores will stay crowded and people will be buying not only Nanos, but Macs, too. Everyone wants Apple to increase revenue and market share and the Nano will help. There's lots of colors for people to choose from and should please both genders.

*****

I'm not saying the new BlackBerry Flip won't sell, but it won't outsell the Nano. Sure, RIM's stock went up as usual when it was announced, but RIM investors like to support the company. It doesn't mean they'll get returns on the Flip. Only the future knows that for certain. If many of you so-called Mac and iPod lovers spent some of your money purchasing Apple stock around announcement time, you'd see a rise in Apple stock, also.

*****

Apple is a solid company, but it recently hasn't been good to investors at all. It has a large cash hoard that will keep the company afloat for a long time if the economy stays weak and it's also there for future investments. I suppose if Apple stock wasn't being manipulated by hedge funds, it would probably be a lot higher.

*****

I don't think we should pay too much attention to the media complaining about Apple not putting out a revolutionary product every year. We should just be satisfied their products are good and that they'll sell in quantity.

*****

A lot of companies have been left in bad financial shape this year, but Apple isn't one of them. They're still expanding their retail stores and hiring workers in a time when most companies are laying off workers. Apple should be commended for growing their business at a time when many companies are failing finanancially. Apple will be in a position to rocket when the economy finally turns around.

Typical media – They can only report excitement or disappointment. If every product (coming from a company that is known to deliver groundbreaking products) isn't groundbreaking, they're bored.

Booo Hoooo!!

"The same company that made Macintosh computers which were best used for target practice. "

What planet are you from? The early macs were far superior to what Microsoft had then. The current macs are the same. Go back to your cave. Your like that guy on the geico comercial. Yes macs are so easy to use a caveman can use them. They are more reliable to. It is not the fault of people that ACTUALLY get it that you don't get it.

Of course its boring… its Apple. The same company that made Macintosh computers which were best used for target practice. Just because they hired a new marketing agency and made "white" their official color doesn't make their product any better or more interesting than before. Yawn.

There really is ZERO logic in how the market perceives Apple right now. Just days after their iPod event, RIM unveils a flip-phone version of the Blackberry, and the stock gets a nice bounce. Why? What was innovative or revolutionary about simply copying a popular form factor? I'm not sure what Apple is required to do these days to impress people. I suppose until they announce an iPod that you wear like a ring that holds 1TB of music and video which it beams directly into your auditory and visual cortex, the share price will continue to be manipulated by the hedgies and shorts.

I find it funny that people rail on the media folks being bored. Ahhh… they were invited to an exciting Apple event by Apple… they should expect what the event was being billed as and not just Apple shlepping some new iPods for those that need to have the latest and greatest and need something to spend their plastic money on.

It was boring period. Apple is a gadget company now with a limited stable so they will just need to keep polishing up the same old ponied to keep the cash rolling in. So go on and help them out and buy that iPod number 3 or 4. Apple loves those that love them.

Most of the effects of Apple's iPod-focused event are invisible to the dumb American Media. Look at the publicity a small town "babe" gets because she gets selected to provide the window dressing for the Republican mess up of the country!!!

People who say "boring" are the classic bunch of idiots lack of innitiative, the same that always wonder why didn't the have that idea, the same that don't do anything but complain about anything, if it is because it is, if it is not because it is not. The same that don't help to make something good even better. The same that… Ah, you got the idea.

Brian- you couldn't be more wrong. Apple steals it's ideas just like everyone else does. They just pretty them up and make them hip with edgy advertising. You really think that the iPod was the first mp3 player? Not by a mile, it was just the "coolest" one. Same with the iPhone. There were cell phones that had all the features that the iPhone did long before Apple started selling them.

Apple's IPOD was nothing new. MP3 players were around for ages before the IPOD was launched! The only innovative thing in the IPOD is the volumne and menu control dial!…. I guess Apple is learning from Microsoft… improvising products that other people create and make them more marketable.

Perhaps I'm in the minority but I found Tuesdays event exciting.

1. NBC is back on iTunes in HD!

2. The new Nano's are amazing. New OS, motion sensing, Native voice recording, text to speech for the visually impaired. Double the memory for the same money.

3. iTunes 8 with Genius.

4. New iPod Touch, ultra slim design, reworked OS, lower price point.

5. iPhone software patch Friday(today)

Let's not forget, the event was deemed "Let's Rock" and it was well known that this was for the iPod, nothing else. iPhone has been stealing the limelight and it was fairly obvious that Jobs wanted to promote the iPod and not iPhone. Remember , the iPod and iTunes are Apples bread and butter. Maybe not as cool as the iPhone, but they bring in a lot more money. With the holiday season here this event and iPod refresh was a necessary and welcome thing. I have heard from many of my non-techy friends that they will be picking up a new Nano for the holidays. So mission accomplished Apple.

Of course now there is a rumor that the notebook line will be refreshed at an event in October. So …

Yep. Nailed it.

Christ people! It's a freakin' MP3 player. A minority use it for video (who wants to watch Batman on a tisy-bitsy screen, unless your stuck on an airplane forced to watch Harry and the Henderson's), but most listen to music.

iPod, Zune, Sansa, whatever you want to call them…THEY JUST PLAY MUSIC. There's NOTHING left for these things to do!

It is absolutely ridiculous to expect a completely new and amazing product every two seconds. Can't we just be happy that they offer what they offer rather than lust after that new gadget to replace what we just bought last week? Oh right, that wouldn't be good for investors pockets. Sorry.

I for one am content with my 4th gen iPod and am more interested in software and firmware updates to improve upon what they already offer than to buy a brand new device just because it is new.

After Apple’s iPod announcement this week, pundits groused that the whole event was predictable and utterly lacking in surprises. Well, yes. Yes it was. And for investors, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Actually, it is a bad thing. You point out 2 paragraphs later that AAPL dropped 3%. That's huge! Those investors clearly thought it was "a bad thing." Unless of course, you were referring to other investors…

The clueless media are always looking for something easy to write about, never wanting to do their homework about any certain subject.

Apple is followed endlessly by the clueless pack, while excellent competitive products are making tremendous results.

I've owned two Apple products, both given to me. And both seriously disappointed me with software failures and quirks that made them extremely frustrating to use. But alas, the media doesn't realize there are better products on the market, so the likes of SanDisk, Samsung and Zune all have to rely on word of mouth. They are, and they are growing market share in spite of Fortune et al.

I was at the Tokyo MacWorld Expo when Steve jobs unveiled the Flower Power and Blue Dalmatian iMacs. He was wearing a suit and a kind of a necktie. He looked so out of place and uncomfortable! I think he knew that his presentation was way off what customers wanted. But, it was fun being in Tokyo with the Japanese Mac Fans! Their enthusiasm was contagious for the iMac, but not the silly dress-up! Soon after Apple brought out the Flat Screen iMac with the Goose Neck, and we all knew Apple was accelerating innovation and design. It's been a great ride! Steve looks so much better in jeans, in a comfort zone of well designed product!

Exactly right. It's easy to be disappointed when they don't hit a home run every time at bat. When, compared to other tech companies though, Apple is chalking up the runs and it's not even close. Sometimes you gotta just get people on base in order to load 'em up for the grand slam.

The question that you don't raise, but which I think should be raised is what Apple should do now.

Given that their previous uber-secretive nature is virtually impossible to maintain, should they even go to the lengths that they do?

Also, given that they can barely keep anything secret anymore, the other important question should be if these regularly scheduled "events" are really worth it.

Some claim that they create interest, that they dominate the news, that they generate demand. These are all good things, but does the "event" really do any of this beyond what a lower key release would do? Also, given that after virtually ever "event" lately the stock takes a dive, is this really in the best interest of the investors?

I am not trying to say that the events should or shouldn't happen, but it is stupid of Apple to not at least investigate it. For instance, I see articles written about the new Microsoft ads, all despite there not being any "event" to feature them. Would a scheduled press release, some good commercials, and a store update really have made that big of a difference from what we got, and would it have avoided the stock price drop?

That is what I question.

Yea, you're right, every new thing Apple does doesn't have to be exciting. However, when you hold a conference where the announcement is a secret (or trying to be a secret), you're expected to wow people. If its not exciting, then don't bother making it a secret and don't make a big deal about it. People were disappointed because Apple made a big deal about nothing.

It's also the economy. Apple, like any other company, watches the economy acutely. Why launch a new product in a seemingly poor world economy?

In cycles like these Apple usually focuses more on R&D and refreshing current product lines. When economic conditions are favorable, we'll see new products. We'll see a flurry of new products as well as cyclical product refreshes.

Yes, Apple has set very high expectations for itself, but the recipe is still the same: Good economy, new products; slow economy, product refreshes.

When you least expect it, Silicon Valley's Wonka Factory will catch you by surprise.

Well maybe if Apple didn't try to make such a big deal out of a simple BORING upgrade, nobody would of found if so lame of a show. Apple knows that big press = big money. Why do you thing all you hear about is Apple whenever they come out with the smallest thing. While any other company knows its not a big deal, so they don't make it one. So if you ask me why it was so lame this time around, its Apple's fault.

Boring? Yes, I think the world has come to expect revolutions from Apple every time they open their mouth. Taken in that manner this was not revolutionary, it was evolutionary. They own 73% of the portable music player market (mp3 players). The other day they revised most of the entire product line that continues to dominate this segment and even manages to grow against the laws of large numbers. For any other company this would have been big news. There is nothing like the iPod touch except for the iPhone, which is just another iPod that also makes calls. In any other company the touch would be incredible. For that matter there isn't another mp3 playing in the market as refined the Nano for anywhere near the price.

Hell, Microsoft, in an attempt to overshadow the iPod announcements, the day before announced their Zune was going to now download music via WiFi and they rec’d press on that “news”. If Apple did that the world would laugh and say, “so what”. Perhaps that is why Zune has 2% market share.

Apple also introduced iTunes 8. There are some big changes there as well as new content from NBC and HD video. Again, if Amazon, Mr. Softy, any handset maker, had made ONE of these announcements, the press would be telling Apple to look out because (fill in the blank) was gunning for them and is going to catch up. However, Apple makes ALL these announcements and the press generally says that Apple is loosing their edge. Most of the business press doesn't understand enough about the market to make comments.

BTW, iPod market share does not include iPhone units, otherwise Apple market share would be even more dominant.

I own Apple and have been buying it for the past 7 years. I have been using Apples/Macs etc for over 20.

Apple is an investment. In this horrific market, looking at a company with 70% market share of a very profitable sector(portable music/video) And a hugely successful jump into an extremely competitive market, with arguably best of class technology and user interface(iPhone) Apple is as close as you can get in a bear market to a sure thing.

Oh yeah, anyone mention $19B in the bank. Apple could buy Washington Mutual or SIRI for cash and not even blink.

Last and not least, my 9 year old just bought her first iPod Nano (orange) with her own money yesterday. Wow!

Keep up the good work, and let the speculators and hedge funds enjoy the ups and down.

More from this columnist please! He's one of the few – if not the only – balanced viewpoints on Apple. Well written!

I'm long Apple. The stock price drop will only make me buy more.

Glad someone finally has the courage to say it…. Apple certainly don't want people thinking for themselves ! Leave it to them to tell you what you should and shouldn't need or want in an mp3 player.

If it weren't for the proprietary crap Apple shove down their consumer's throats, their products might be actually "user friendly" and less "stupid". But I guess that Apple would rather keep treating their users like dumb children. (and I DO own a mac,so this dummie knows what he's saying.)

Once your in the spotlight you can expect to bashed if you perform any less than what is expected of you. Other companies have been used to this for years.

You're spot on, Jon. It was around the time that the original iPod came out that I learned not to be disappointed by these Apple press events and keynotes. Leading up to that event was a lot of speculation that Apple was going to bring back the Newton or some form of PDA. When Apple didn't deliver what I wanted, I was crushed! Apple had let me down! It turned out the iPod was actually a pretty amazing item, but the point is I decided not to develop expectations for these events. I avoid the rumor sites. When Apple's offering is underwhelming I am no longer plunged into crisis. When it's something big, I am pleasantly surprised.

To use a baseball analogy, Apple doesn't hit home runs every time. Sometimes, like this last Tuesday, they hit a single. Once in a while they'll strike out (remember the iPod Hifi?).

One other thing about the stock price drop. This often happens after a keynote or press event, even when the new products are awesome. It's profit taking. Buy on the rumor and sell on the news and all that. It's been going on for years with Apple.

Exactly. Apple comes out with great innovative products far more than any other tech company, but even Apple can't come out with an iPhone or iPod touch every quarter.

And, why would they need to? No other company has been able to even COPY the iPhone or iPod touch yet.

The entire PC industry has copied many of Apple's moves and tried to sell them as their own. If you want to fault some company for not innovating, it's quite ridiculous to blame Apple when there are dozens of companies that literally have done nothing but pick and choose which of Apple's moves to copy, and this has been going on for decades.

It is boring! That is because it has so much to offer and is so DAMMED easy to use, you don't have to think like with other products!