Did Apple Ever Invent Anything?

[Coreda]

Responding to the thread title (haven't watched the video): everything we own is a culmination of various once original 'inventions', and even those original concepts were further refinements of past ideas.

Innovation doesn't simply end when the first workable idea is made into a product - it's made better, more efficient and changes over time. Are we all using the first OSes, music players, telephones, typewriters, cars, or virtually anything? No. Would we want to? No. Good products come after an enormous amount of effort, and Apple has shown over the years it can fashion solid products.

It makes no difference to the quality of a product who created the first existing form, as with time and the right talent it can be made better. No single creative idea is wholly original, everything is a synthesis, and Apple is brilliant at synthesizing new technologies into better consumer products. The same can be said for other companies such as Google, they are all driving innovation forward. And that is what ultimately matters.

[davkol]

Innovation doesn't simply end when the first workable idea is made into a product - it's made better, more efficient and changes over time. Are we all using the first OSes, music players, telephones, typewriters, cars, or virtually anything? No. Would we want to? No.

Meanwhile almost all PCs still use 140+ years old QWERTY with only minor changes, such as addition of 1 and 0 keys.

[ideus]

Invent is different than innovate. Innovation is the commercially viable form of the invention. The embodiment of an useful idea into the marketplace. The entrepreneur is primarily concerned with the business mechanics to starting and growing a new venture.


-> Inventor: Identify opportunities to create useful ideas.
--> Innovator: Enable new company formation.
---> Entrepreneur: Develop the business mechanics and grow it.


Most of the companies are in the second and third layers of this process that promotes wealth and economic development. But, invent in an isolated form does not reach the point where the process unleash the economic potential and value for the society.

[Nixietube]

their design was taken from braun and their hardware is just bought from others and their system is unix based and the tablet was made by microsoft in 2001.

[ideus]

their design was taken from braun and their hardware is just bought from others and their system is unix based and the tablet was made by microsoft in 2001.

Right, a winner combination of already available items that no one else did, but Apple, that's innovation.

[Findecanor]

Apple repackages their inventions as well as other people's inventions and sells them.  This is obvious. 

To be fair, Apple has come up with small technical details that has made the big inventions work in a context outside the research lab. From a certain point of view, you could call these small details "inventions".

[tbc]

are you referring to something specific?

i've always been of the opinion that apple has the best battery life in consumer electronics, but they only contribute to the software part of that.  They ASK for specific optimizations, but they didn't exactly have their own fabs and chip engineers to make the actual hardware.

how this plays to is that apple supporters say that 'asking' means that they came up with the idea, so apple is now an inventor.  however, they didn't do the actual ENGINEERING work of tooling a fab and reworking circuits.

so, is invention the 'original' idea or the engineering to make it real?  not talking about legal definitions btw.

[jacobolus]

i've always been of the opinion that apple has the best battery life in consumer electronics, but they only contribute to the software part of that.  They ASK for specific optimizations, but they didn't exactly have their own fabs and chip engineers to make the actual hardware.

They actually have a big team (several hundred? thousands?) of chip engineers working on custom designs (for instance, from acquiring PA Semi and several other chip design firms). You’re right that they collaborate with other companies to actually fab the chips though.

[davkol]

Who *does* invent anything in ICT anyways? interesting interview with John Graham-Cumming, part about Return of the Jedi

[tbc]

i've always been of the opinion that apple has the best battery life in consumer electronics, but they only contribute to the software part of that.  They ASK for specific optimizations, but they didn't exactly have their own fabs and chip engineers to make the actual hardware.

They actually have a big team (several hundred? thousands?) of chip engineers working on custom designs (for instance, from acquiring PA Semi and several other chip design firms). You’re right that they collaborate with other companies to actually fab the chips though.

to be specific, i'm talking about the iphone 4 era where they had intrinsity doing their optimization work for their cpu.

did they actually manage to keep any head chip designers from pa though? i just kept reading resignation after resignation.

[jacobolus]

For example, talking about some of their recent chip design work:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7910/apples-cyclone-microarchitecture-detailed

[ideus]

For example, talking about some of their recent chip design work:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7910/apples-cyclone-microarchitecture-detailed

That is very interesting. With all the excess of cash they have now, it is very easy for them to pay for good scientist and even have them to work in technological developments beyond the PC / electronics businesses. All it takes is some creativity and open mind attitude at the top of the company. They already have the resources.

[boradori007]

yes they did, apple fanbois

[ideus]

Fanbois is actually an innovation. Apple was the first computer company that developed its very own followers club. A captive audience of ferocious and ardent defenders of the company an its products. I'd love to have that for my own enterprises.

[davkol]

Yup.