Would Jobs be proud of today’s Apple?

When in 2011, one of technology’s most significant figures walked off this vain world, many already knew what was about to happen.

 

Steve Jobs managed to create a company from scratch in a time of rapid advancement in the specific area, using only his boundless innovation, pioneering ideas, and unique entrepreneurship skills to establish it as the best in its field.

For decades, his products were constantly on the market’s spotlight, with every new release quickly becoming a success.

It is evident that Apple would have never reached the top without him.

 

Before losing the battle to cancer, Jobs made sure to drop his “bomb,” the iPhone, which he shortly witnessed transforming into the ultimate smartphone from its very first versions, a term he coined himself.

The revolutionary iPod had preceded it, and of course, the Mac.

 

After his death, the company’s executives were called upon to face the impossible: continue this incredibly difficult and successful path that he had charted.

That is when it became apparent that all the degrees in the world are not enough when it comes to real, innate talent.

 

Tim Cook‘s inadequacy soon surfaced and was repeatedly confirmed seriatim during the last 11 years.

 

Apple not only ceased to lead the industry but also became banal. The bet was no longer on continuous innovation and originality, but simply on achieving to catch up with the unbearable burden of success left behind by its founder.

And as it turns out, they eventually lost that too.

 

From 2011 onwards, Apple has essentially not introduced a single new device. Instead, it rests assured on the “safety” of the models left behind by Jobs, sometimes managing to tarnish them, and even ruin them, with the consecutive bad choices and actions it applies.

A distinctive example is the collapse of the iconic iPod, which went from a hallmark and main product of the company twenty years ago, to its total downfall and complete abolition just a few months back.

 

Alongside, throughout all this time, Apple is unabashedly moving in ways that are diametrically opposed to its creator’s basic principles and philosophy, thus showing the greediness of his successors.

It’s only worth mentioning that Jobs’ opinion on the proper size of mobile phones was that they should be small enough to comfortably fit in the palm of one’s hand and be practical to use likewise. He abided by this theory up until the iPhone 4S, which was his last device before passing away, despite the fact that the competition had already begun to substantially increase their smartphones’ dimensions.

The rest is history, with the company growing the display larger and larger, almost on an annual basis, starting from the iPhone 5 and beyond, reaching today’s 6.7-inch screen size on the Pro Max and Plus models.

Note that all iPhone screens, as long as Jobs was alive, were strictly fixed at 3.5 inches.

 

Who can also override the company’s sudden urge towards extreme minimalism, both in the design of its products and the interface of its software, which was in complete contrast to its past?

 

Meanwhile, the new capabilities of each new model have been exponentially decreasing, iOS updates seem increasingly dull, and prices are on an uncontrollable upward trajectory.

 

Despite the barrage of grim factors and controversial tactics, Apple not only did not “sink”, but also recorded impressive profits, with its stock market value reaching $3 trillion last year!

It seems, therefore, that the indiscreet exploitation of the reputation that Steve Jobs built in previous years, has, against all predictions, yielded positive economic results.

However, ethically speaking, Apple’s pioneering and revolutionary character has been lost, and how proud would its founder be of that?