» Apple versus Microsoft

Ed Bott compares and contrasts Apple and Microsoft, finding more similarities than you might think. Or you might find. There’s a lot here I don’t agree with, but it’s definitely one of the better critiques of Apple’s problems that you might read.

Where I believe his analysis is flawed is here:

Is there another breakthrough hardware product in Apple’s back pocket? It’s hard to believe that a smart watch or a TV has the potential to define a category as the iPhone and iPad did.

I’ll have a piece over at Macworld about this topic next week, but this has for the last decade plus been where Apple’s critics trip up.

“iPod? No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame.”

“Certainly Apple has nothing to bring to the table in the highly mature smartphone market.”

“The iPad is just an oversized iPhone!”

Etc.

Just because you can’t think of a way these products could be amazing doesn’t mean that Apple can’t think of a way to make them amazing.

Tim Cook has set the timeline. In the next year and a half we should see if Apple can pull another rabbit out of its hat. I see no real reason to doubt they can do it again, particularly given where that’s gotten doubters in the past.