Apple vs. Microsoft: The Feud Continues
Apple or Microsoft? Your lifestyle and preference will dictate.
For almost a decade now, Apple has been viewed as the undisputed king of the personal computing space. Their products, such as the iPhone and iPad have set the bar regarding what consumers covet. By doing this they have forced many competitors to innovate in their wake and emulate the company’s distinctive signature style.
How long will Apple be king?
Signs suggest this long-held position of prominence may finally be waning. Since Tim Cook took over as Apple’s CEO, many have conjectured that Steve Jobs’ visionary goals, a simple but integrated aesthetic, and creating an ecosystem of products may be finally on the wane.
Although Apple is known for pushing the envelope, recent moves to change core functionality (like removing a headphone jack from the iPhone 7 and a USB plug from future MacBooks) has left users frustrated. These moves are seen by many as ways to embed obsolescence into products to make more money—something that is certain to irritate consumers. As MarketWatch put it, “[Cook’s] role has exposed him to intense scrutiny. This has been with particular emphasis on the ways in which he has, or has not, stacked up against Jobs, whose legacy product, the iPhone, remains Apple’s best-selling core offering.
Coming up from the rear… Microsoft
It’s not just Apple’s product offerings that have changed independently.Competitors have got their act together. Mashable recently reported on the simultaneous product releases of Apple and Microsoft and found the drama didn’t play out as usual.
“This week Microsoft and Apple went head to head in an epic battle to win the hearts of technology buffs everywhere. Microsoft announced it would be holding an event on Wednesday, and naturally, its competitive frenemy, Apple, chose to host its MacBook event the following day. Though Apple has a reputation for dazzling fans with impressive events, many people felt Microsoft came out on top this time around.”
Innovation takes the lead – Who will it be?
Indeed, online sentiment of the competing offerings has also changed, with many pointing out on Twitter that Microsoft is innovating in a manner similar to Apple’s past zeal left-field thinking. Many verbalized that the Surface Studio, released by Microsoft, was far more in line with what consumers in the personal computing space want to see in the future. This compares more favorably that the rather mediocre (and sometimes frustratingly unnecessary) current crop of updates to Apple’s existing product line.
Tech is Tech
However, perhaps the other reason why Apple is no longer the disputable king is due in part to the change in computing itself. As one columnist wrote in Business Insider regarding the dueling product release, “Because so much of what we do these days is based in the browser, Mac versus PC is no longer a lifestyle decision like it was back when boxed software ruled all. It’s just a matter of taste. Even Microsoft knows it. So while iPhones and Androids may have little features that set them apart from each other, they are still, by and large, running the same major apps, connecting to the same big services.”
While this is an interesting point, brands will still undoubtedly seek the brand “cool factor” that was once bestowed on Apple, even when their products are selling healthily. While the future of the personal computing market is now in flux, it seems obvious that Apple can no longer rest on Jobs’ legacy. There have been few major changes to its laptop line since Jobs’ death. While the iPhone is still a smartphone leader, that’s unlikely going to be enough to sustain the company’s legacy cachet forever.