Has Apple Lost It's Mojo?

Apple has been riding an incredible wave of success since the release of the original IMac in 1998.  From the IMac to the IPod to ITunes to the IPhone to the IPad, there is no doubt they have been the dominant company in the last few years when it comes to releasing product and that's not even counting the MacBooks or their new hobby AppleTv.  They are valued as the 2nd most valuable company in the world right behind Exxon Mobile who just passed them again in the last couple of months.  Some would say that Apple is poised to overtake the entire PC Industry.  I, however, am not as bullish about Apple as many are.

First of all, I'm not an Apple hater.  They and Microsoft are the embodiment of the American nerds that proved there was a market for the things they loved, namely computers.  Steve Jobs was a brilliant man with an almost P.T. Barnum skill for hawking his wares.  But to be honest, Apple didn't really invent anything that wasn't already around.  The Mac was built around hardware and software designed by PARQ -Xerox, the IPod was a Walkman with a hard drive and they didn't invent the tablet or the smartphone either.   They modeled ITunes after other music stores already online at the time.  Most of their breakthroughs were designs copied from other companies.  Now don't get me wrong when I say that.  Where Apple has succeeded is in their marketing and coolness factor.  Plainly put Apple products are just cooler.

But can this really propel them forward?  Let's face it there isn't a whole lot of areas that computer's haven't touched yet and even fewer research companies to come up with the next big thing for Apple to reverse engineer.  Plus, and no disrespect to Tim Cook, Apple is a company at a crossroads without their guru and founder Steve Jobs.  The day is coming that someone else will be the next cool thing and Apple had better recognize that and refocus or they could be the next Research In Motion.

It's not all bad news for Apple though.  They are still going to sell a butt load of phones in China which is a HUGE untapped market and the new cheaper IPhone will be good for them too.  I think they'll make more stride into TV with the Apple TV also.  From there I just don't know.

Maybe it's time for a shakeup in the foundation of both Microsoft and Apple to make room for the next generations of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates to really propel the future of computers and personal electronics.

Time as they say will be the true judge.