Steve Jobs is known for innovation and bringing Apple back to life. He had a vision to make Apple one of the biggest tech companies in the world and indeed he succeeded.
At the same time, he had some principles when it came to product development and organizational culture. Ever since his death, Apple’s new CEO Tim Cook has deviated from Jobs’ vision.
Cook launched a lot of products that Steve would have never approved of.
We will take a look at some of the things that Apple is doing right now, that Steve Jobs never wanted the company to do.
Bigger iPhones
Steve Jobs famously said that Apple would never make a larger iPhone because it does not provide a good user experience. Before his death, Apple launched the iPhone 4 and 4S, both came with a 3.5-inch screen. Jobs believed that 3.5-inch is the optimal screen size for a smartphone.
Jobs passed away in 2011 and in 2012 Apple launched iPhone 5 with a 4-inch display. Just one year after his death, Apple parted ways from his vision and launched a bigger iPhone.
Today, iPhone 6 and 6S have 4.7-inch displays while 6 Plus and 6S Plus come with a 5.5-inch display.
Android manufacturers keep developing larger phones which caused a new segment of phablets to emerge. Apple had to compete with the fierce competition and introduce large-screen phones.
Steve Jobs would not have approved of this product design because he was known for his commitment to innovation and a high standard of design excellence. He was not a follower; instead, he was a visionary innovator
iPad Mini
When the first iPad was launched, every critic said that no one would ever use it. Steve Jobs knew that it would be a success.
He believed that the reason behind the success of the iPad was the difference between a tablet and a smartphone. iPhone had a 3.5-inch screen while iPad had a 10-inch display.
He knew that this size gap would make the iPad a success because if an iPad is smaller then people will just use their smartphones. 10-inches is the perfect size for iPad and Steve stood by his philosophy as long as he lived.
He never wanted to make a smaller iPad but executives at Apple think otherwise.
Apple introduced the iPad Mini in 2012, one year after Steve’s death. The 7-inch iPad was introduced to counter the popular Nexus tablet introduced by Google.
Nexus 7 was the best 7-inch tablet money could buy. It was extremely popular and had a great impact on iPad sales. Apple had to target the small display tablet segment with its iPad Mini.
On the other hand, Steve Jobs would have done things differently by bringing another innovation rather than making what others are making.
Read More: Top 18 Interesting Facts about Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs Hated Stylus
At the launch of the first generation iPhone, Steve Jobs famously taunted the use of a Stylus. He wanted to emphasize the capacitive touch screen in the first iPhone.
He said, “Who wants a stylus?”. “You have to get ’em, put ’em away, you lose ’em. Yuch! Nobody wants a stylus. So let’s not use a stylus.”
It was this one sentence that changed the mobile industry forever. The iPhone started a revolution and since then iPhone is still the most popular smartphone.
On the other hand, Apple just introduced a bigger iPad known as the iPad Pro with a 12.9” display and it comes with a stylus.
If Steve was alive and looking at what Apple is doing to his innovation then he would have fired everyone at the company. Apple is no longer following the vision of the father of the company.
Instead, they are competing with their competitors. The company is only successful today because of the brand name Steve Jobs has created otherwise all these new devices would never be as successful as they are today.
Acquisitions and Mergers
Steve Jobs always believed that it was an insult to his company to buy another company. He discouraged acquisitions because he thought that buying another company meant that Apple was not capable of making great products. It affected Apple’s ability to innovate.
Tim Cook has a totally different mindset. He thinks that if a company is worthy of an acquisition then Apple will not back down.
Apple bought Beats Audio by Dr. Dre for nearly $3 billion dollars.
Beats turned into making accessories for Apple phones and also became the new radio in the latest iOS version.
Steve Jobs would have asked his engineers and product developers to make these products instead of buying another company. Beats Audio is just one acquisition, Apple has bought many small companies as well.
Visual Changes in the iOS
Steve Jobs was a perfectionist. He was the one who introduced different fonts in Macintosh back in the day. He transferred the same vision into iOS. He was picky about every little detail in iOS.
The icons, the color scheme, the background, and so on. After his death, Apple introduced iOS 6 which was a major letdown not only for the users but also for Jobs’ followers.
It had a poor design with flat icons and bright color schemes. Jobs always went with something novel and royal. He absolutely hated these flat icons and bright color schemes that iOS has today.
Not to forget how Apple copies Android today. Many of the features in iOS have been copied from Android including Apple Pay, multitasking, action center, and much more.
Jobs would have never done that instead, he would have integrated his own vision in bringing these features.
Apple TV and Product Launches
Steve Jobs would never announce more than 3 products at an event. He believed that human visualization and memory retention are limited to 3. So he followed this rule at all the product launches.
He was also against live streaming the events. He always said that a keynote should be done in the closed walls of an auditorium.
On the other hand, Apple announced 5 products at its latest event and it live streams events to the general public. Steve would be extremely unhappy with the new Apple.
Lastly, Apple TV was only a hobby and Jobs was never serious about the product. He never wanted TV to become a core product but now it is one of the most important products in Apple’s portfolio.
