In the late 2000’s, and the early part of the next decade, there were two events that everyone set aside a little time for. Mad Men dominated television with an iron fist, but Apple took hold of our online and offline consciences whenever one of its keynote events were announced.
These events used to be magical. It was a truly unique sensation to know that something big was coming, like the iPad or a new iPhone, but to still be giddy at its prospects. The event would be reported on like an arrival of aliens, and in some ways, the technologies announced changed the world in a comparable fashion.
The productions of the events themselves guaranteed the keynote would be a spectacle that would really get people buzzing. Black backgrounds, simple slideshows and one turtleneck-ed figure standing confidently on stage always combined as a harbinger of exciting and unimagined things yet to come. Apple events used to be like a science fair that millions took notice of.
This, however, is no longer the case.
In spite of Apple’s continued success as the first trillion-dollar company, the landmark presentations that did so much to elevate them are now mostly footnotes.
Jonah Baker | Argonaut
Some of it has to do with Steve Jobs’ passing, but the much larger part of the current malaise comes from the products. Apple has been looking for the next big thing for years, and the less-than-groundbreaking technologies in the Watch and HomePod are just not enough to maintain the level of hype that customers and fans are used to.
At the last few events, CEO Tim Cook has relied more on advancements in software and peripheral improvements to the iPhone to keep the buzz going. Today’s event was a similar song and dance.
Apple announced new iterations of the iPhone X that include display improvements and incremental improvements to processing and durability. These are all reasonable improvements to get excited about, but none are the kind of instantly groundbreaking revelations that make you look past the price tag without the smallest consideration before buying in the same way the original iPhone or iPod did.
The presentations are still sleek, but there is no punch with the products. Instead of bringing the future of technology to the consumer, Apple has taken a backseat in innovation and instead refines their own takes on things like smartwatches and personal assistants.
Apple has changed tremendously over the past decade and most financial observers would say that nothing is wrong with how they do business and satisfy consumers. Their commercial success cannot be denied, but neither can the missing wow factor that no longer accompanies every new Apple event. Those moments of excitement now come from intermittent press releases, as the newest startup boasts the silver bullet to our communication or energy needs.
We will never have the iconic turtleneck back, and we may never have similarly iconic expos from Apple. Recent history all but confirms a shift away from the innovative and wholeheartedly into the commercially successful.
Jonah Baker can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @jonahpbaker