Which Apple product will prove Steve Job's legacy?

Hmmm, I believe that people will list lots of products, iPad, iPhone, iTouch, iPod etc. However in my mind (as a Mac user) I believe he will be remembered as one of the greatest business minds we have seen. He has successfully brought Apple from the brink of disaster to be one of the Leaders in IT innovation and one of the largest companies in the world.

Glad to see he will remain as a chairman of the board for Apple.....

To pick a product I would say the device range running iOS, these have been an absolute world wind success for Apple. I must admit I would be lost without my iPhone :)

Amongst some of today's coverage was news that at one point, apparently, Apple was 90 days from bankruptcy, which would likely to have been in the dark days of 1997 when the company was on its knees. The bubble iMac I'd imagine would have a soft spot in most Apple employees' hearts given it was the product that arguably kept the company alive and kicking.

Yeah, I have worked in a number of offices over the years with these "lolly" computers (they were colourful). And who could forget the table lamp iMac like the G4's :)

To low paid DIY users of the open Linux devices/OSs and wildly upgradable Windows machines, Jobs turned computers into high-status whitegoods, and chained their users to their apron of exorbitant service, incompatabilty with business environments, and pay-for service packs.
Can you imagine selling a car that could not have its battery replaced by any one but the manufacturer?
My kids have had 3 ipod touchs and all died just outside their warranty. The joke is on consumers.

Wow, I am sorry to hear that you have had a poor experience with Apple Products. Just to provide a different story I have not had any issues with any Apple product I have bought. In fact I had more issue with Dell Laptop batteries dying over the years.

I have also had no real compatibility issues with Macs over the years. I work in an industry where my clients have all range of computers and software versions and I have not had any problem in terms of incompatibility. In fact some of my clients have made the move to Mac as a preference over other products. The price is certainly higher, however I do prefer the user experience of a Mac.

Just as a little bit of historical trivia, my first Apple computer was the original Apple II back in 1977, perhaps my love affair (brain washing) began then... :)

What I've found interesting over the years is the claim that Microsoft's Windows is a closed system, yet with the inner workings of its OS freely available on its MSDN website, one could argue that Apple's Mac OS X, is a more closed system.

It is true that Apple has released an open-source version of Mac OS X called "Darwin" to the web, but finding free information from Apple about Mac OS X (equivalent to Windows Win32 API for example) I've not found easy.

What do you think accounts for Apple's success more - it's hardware or the ease of use of its operating systems? Perhaps it's ability to grab people's attention?

Personally I think it has been a combination of both (certainly in recent years). As I said I have found the Apple hardware platform very reliable. In my opinion the Mac OS and hardware tends to maintain a higher level of performance as it ages than a traditional Windows PC (of course linux on a PC certainly performs well as it ages).

The operating system (since Lisa) on the Apple platform has IMHO out performed other operating systems in terms of usability. A good example is to compare the LISA circa early 80's over competitors of the time. The LISA had enormous interface and usability improvements over other personal computers at the time, and the development of the LISA OS lead to the original Macintosh.

This legacy of usability has continued with Apple and today we find that Apple is continuing to push the boundaries of computing with gestures, highly usable touch screen devices and an operating system that oozes usability and simplicity.

When you look at the iOS devices I cannot think of another IT advancement that has reached out to the general community and been taken up so readily (other than mobile phones).

I think that it is a hardware software and usability combination that has given Apple its success.

Granted they gave people what they want, but what they want is crap. As an analogy, Apple is to the IT world as the 7PM Report is to News. It is chaired by a comedian.
Gather your pitchforks villagers, we're going to take down Dr Frankenstein!

Ummmm, I am not sure how to respond to that Reg. I have certainly had a wonderful life in IT with Windows products just as I have had with Apple. Could you elaborate on what makes Apple products such a bad choice for consumers (without hijacking this thread if that is OK Darren)?

No, I don't mind - provided it all stays calm and civil.

After a bit more though perhaps Apple's legacy will be one of Innovation. The company has given a lot in terms of cutting edge products, in particular products that can be readily consumed by the general public. These products have revolutionise how people consume information. communicate, work and enjoy their leisure time.....

How about 40% mark ups, the cultivation of the myth that Macs don't get viruses, the charade of sales in December becoming unadvertised redundancies in January, education markets targeted for mass sales with no quarter given in discount or service for their hard won money. Those are some of my experiences.
I'm not trying to convert, just saying the Emperor has no clothes.

My first computer experience was with a Mac OS 7. Ease of use? Give over, it was that experience that got me on the path to tech support.

To some extent, in the case of the iPod, I seem to remember that in an IP lawsuit, Apple rolled out the original inventor of the music player idea in an attempt to say to a company suing it, Burst.com, something along the lines of "well, we mightn't have invented the idea, but neither did you!".

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1053152/Apple-admit-Briton-DID-i...

Hmmm, isn't the history of many companies fraught with Lawsuits and Counter Law suits. I understand that Microsoft is currently being sued by a company for patent violations regarding the Kinect hardware for XBox's. Apple has sued Nokia, Nokia sues Apple (in fact Nokia seems to sue a lot of folks). Microsoft from memory settled a case out of court for other violations with XBOX Live's online gaming technologies.

This kind of stuff is far from over and there will be more to come from many vendors.

Absolutely. I'm just showing that while Apple may well have popularised the iPod, it didn't invent it.

The point I take from Darren's comment is neither Jobs nor Apple "innovated" the iPod. The iPad is just a big iPod Touch.
In fact they also didn't "innovate" the GUI or the mouse or the microcomputer or the Operating System or the laptop or the LCD or the laser printer or the WWW or the mobile phone.
So really that leaves marketing!
Successful marketing does not equal technological advancement however much they want to sell that to the world.

I agree that Apple may not have invented the original iPod. However they have taken it to new levels. The iPod still undoubtably holds the lion share of the market place. Given this, one has to give Apple credit for a product that suits the masses well. There is one thing we can be sure of if something does not work well people will stop buying it. Marketing can only get you so far.

iPhone for sure. Although I agree that Apple doesn't generally innovate that well, they sure know how to package everything together and market it in such a way to be appealing for the consumer. Many phones had better features in one regard or another that were preexisting but apple was the first to package it together in an appealing way that quite honestly defines our modern perception of what a smartphone should be.

Disclaimer: I actually strongly dislike apple products generally as actual devices, especially due to their walled garden policies. :P

You would remember when the iPhone 4 arrived it was soon found to have antenna issues and software issues. Pretty important for a mobile phone's antenna to work. That led Jobs to manufacture and distribute cases for them all. Nice design.
Such is the aura around Apple objects that fans continued to lap them up. I know a manager who took the day off to stand in line at Apple Chermside when the iPad2 came out. Their launches are "events" that take people's minds off the substance of what their money buys.
That's marketing baby!

Certainly there were issues with the iPhone 4. However many manufactures have issues with products. Over recent years my car has been in the shop for a number of recalls. Microsoft has had to recall Millions of XBox power leads due to faulty manufacturing. And lest we forget Windows Vista, a truly nightmarish Operating System.

I am not sure that Apple is any different to any other company in terms of teething problems with new products. In terms of a walled garden, Nokia certainly keeps its cards close to its chest with the ISA operating system for its phones, there is no known API for general developers, rather they need to use JAVA. An Apple equivalent would be the Cocoa set of API's.

Microsoft has made some wonderful, inventive products over the years (whether through internal innovation or simply buying up a company for its product). Apple is no different. At the end of the day it is about choice and suitability. :)

P.S. Wonderful thread, what a can of worms you have opened Darren :)

"I am not sure that Apple is any different to any other company "
"Apple is no different."
At last we can drink from the same well!

Apple
Easy they have that i just want one and dont know why factor. Honestly i have an Iphone and Ipad and really had no need for ethier. What can i say to creat products like this is pure genius.This man will be sorly missing just for his different way of thinking.

From the gist of most of these posts and IMHO, Apple, like Microsoft are really only marketing companies. Neither really innovate but take great ideas and wrap them in a package that is attractive to consumers. Remember, DOS was not Bill Gate's invention, just an adaptation of QDOS. FWIW I suggest that iDevices are to the 21st century what the first PC's (that includes those bits of fruit) were to the 20th century.