A lot of what is posted is basically generalizations. And I'll put this on you to prove that TC is coasting; he seems to be moving and shaking. To my mind he's churning out viable/innovative products that people are buying.
The paragraph about android is a generalization/hyperbole. Sorry. Nobody claimed that Apple invented anything? Did they invent the MP3 player, cell phone or finger print reader?
SJ is dead and TC is now at the helm. You can't grab market share and record profits, they have to be earned. TC is putting out products that people want to buy. You can't miss the mark and then sell record amounts of products.
Let's look at all the 'innovative' products released under the 'visionary' Cook
(Not counting the iPhone 4S since that was essentially a product of Steve Jobs)
Hardware:
1. iPhone 5: A slightly taller iPhone with LTE. A solid offering but just a natural progression of the iPhone. Nothing special.
2. iPhone 5S: A decent incremental update. Touch ID is a cool (if unoriginal feature) but iOS 7 really brought down a great deal of the experience.
3. iPhone 5C: I'm incredibly glad that this particular iPhone model never caught on. The plastic back was ugly and looked like an after thought and had all the same internals as the 5 from the previous year. Also the overly bright colors matched the equally cartoony flat aesthetic of the current iOS design language. That's the only time the software looked like it matched the hardware. It seems as if the redesign of iOS was based around the 5C.
4. iPhone 6/6 Plus: Predictable and somewhat of a disappointment for a major iPhone release. I liked the curved anodized aluminum back, but not crazy about the antenna lines and the protruding camera. Also iOS 8 was meh. And Apple really overhyped the Apple Pay feature, good concept even if it was a bit too late.
5. iPhone 6S/6S Plus: Pretty underwhelming, even for an S update. 3D touch and live photos felt like the same kinda novelty features that Samsung was doing a few years ago that the fanboys on here condemned. But if Apple does it, then they get pass or something. Also, iOS 9 was another letdown of an update.
6. iPad mini (all generations): A smaller iPad, nothing really to see here. Decent device overall even if it felt a bit shoehorned in.
7. iPad with Retina Display (3&4): A welcomed update even though it added a bit of extra bulk and not much else besides that.
8. iPad Air: Definitely a step up from the previous full-sized iPads. Unfortunately the lack of proper UI optimization in the more recent versions of iOS have prevented me from considering getting one. Pre-iOS 7 handled the interface transition to the larger display much better.
9. iPad Pro: An oversized and overpriced tablet that's actually inferior to the Surface, which is the same overall concept but of course, it was condemned by the Apple fanboys until Apple made their own. Like with its smaller counterparts, the iPad Pro does not fully take advantage of the larger display canvas, essentially running a blown-up iPhone interface on a near-13" display that leaves a lot to be desired. The Apple Pencil looks is also an overpriced and glorified stylus and looks like a parody of Apple that the Onion News would do (MacBook Wheel, anyone?).
10. The iPod lineup: We haven't had a major refresh of the iPod line since the iPhone 5 announcement in 2012. The 6th gen touch and 7th gen nano were welcomed updates and I honestly thought that Apple still cares about iPods and music but of course I was wrong. Discontinuing the iPod classic was a huge blunder, especially considering how terrible of a service and app that Apple Music is, you'd hope there would be a traditional alternative to the unnecessary and clunky streaming features.
11. Apple Watch: It's really hard to classify the Watch as its own product since it's completely reliant on an iPhone to function, it's essentially a fashion accessory for the iPhone. An overpriced one if you look at it like that. It feels less like an important piece of wearable tech and it seems more concerned with marketing itself as a fashion statement. If that doesn't convince you o the lack of focus at Apple today, nothing will.
12. Retina MacBook: Probably the worst MacBook model released. Lack of ports is a definite deal breaker, the lack of a MagSafe connector and the SD FaceTime camera makes the 12" Retina Macbook a lackluster entry to their notebook lineup.
13. The rest of the Mac lineup: This is probably the only product category (for the most part) that Apple has kept solid and consistent so I won't elaborate too much here.
Software:
1. iOS 6: Aside from the Maps debacle being blown out of proportion, iOS 6 was a fantastic update all around. Very beautiful, stabled, refined and polished. Whatever issues people had with this version of iOS definitely paled in comparison to what followed.
2. iOS 7/8/9: I think my opinion of anything iOS 7+ has already been made abundantly clear but I cannot stress enough how this was the beginning of the decline of quality on the software end both in appearance and performance. I'm definitely less attracted to the iOS platform now.
3. OS X Mountain Lion: Great update for the Mac. Brought a lot more iOS features to the desktop even if it was a bit too heavy on the Skeumorphism.
4. OS X Mavericks: A solid update all around. Cleaned out all the textures while still retaining the traditional OS X look and feel. This is the route Apple should've went with iOS.
5. OS X Yosemite/El Capitan: After iOS 7, I was rightfully nervous about the OS X redesign, but I definitely breathed a sigh of relief after seeing it. A much less radical and more conservative redesign. I definitely don't hate the new design of OS X, I think it's a much more mature looking redesign in terms of a sorta flat UI. OS X still has the depth, contrast and detail that iOS currently lacks and should actually implement.
still want to keep focusing on the rate? Or the dollars.
