Don’t Look Back: Steve Jobs, always moving forward
Last week Apple introduced three new iPod models, including a redesign of their ultra-successful Nano model, along with a Classic version and the new iPod Touch (which is basically the iPhone minus the phone and the AT&T contract; I instantly pre-ordered one). What I think is remarkable about this is whenever Apple introduces new products, it instantly phases out its old ones. For example, it’s now impossible to buy any of the former Nano models (you know, the ones that were cutting-edge up until last Wednesday). The same way that the Nano itself replaced the mega-popular iPod Mini just a few years ago, the Nano itself has now been replaced with an even newer model. While some view this with cynicism, as if Steve Jobs is out to wring every nickel he can from enthusiasts/obsessives who’ll purchase anything with the Apple logo on it, I instead look at this with awe and admiration, the sign of a man and a company who demand nothing but the very best.
After all, neither Apple or Jobs are cluttering the marketplace; at any one time, there are only three to five iPod models to choose from. So instead of the Mini standing next to both versions of the Nano (not to mention the Shuffle, which itself has gone through a few transformations), the older models disappear — a la Logan’s Run — and make way for the new ones. But instead of this being about Jobs and money, this is about Apple and its addiction to change, along with its relentless quest to always have on hand the best possible product.
In thinking about this in terms of the publishing industry, I thought it would make an interesting comparison (mainly because, while Apple changes all the time, publishing tries to change as little as possible). True, Apple is a technology company whose bread and butter is innovation, while publishing is supplying a good rather than an experience (after all, no one expects much innovation to come from such basic products as, well, bread and butter). And yet, in the “print is dead” debate, the fact that books are indeed a technology is brought up all the time. Indeed, many pro-book pundits feel that printed books are the “perfect” technology, and that computers — no matter how advanced — can never best a book when it comes to delivering a satisfying reading experience. So I think that the comparison between Apple and publishing is somewhat apt (or rather, not as outlandish as it sounds).
So then what I find so shocking is that no one in publishing is really trying to push the boundaries the way Apple always is. In fact, it’s almost the reverse; instead of charging ever forward, publishing seems content to always look back. At this point, we’ve gone from viewing Gutenberg as the man who printed bibles to looking at him like a biblical figure himself: a saint not to argued with, the inventor of a religion instead of a technology. So instead of, in the past 500 years, pushing for the evolution of books, we have instead grown warm with the idea that they won’t evolve at all. Not only that, but we reject as a heretic anyone who suggests that books, “the perfect invention,” have any need for improvement. If Steve Jobs felt this way, Apple computers would still be made out of blocks of wood and the world wouldn’t have any iPods to be updated in the first place.
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Bravo!
The hardest part of publishing is honoring tradition and leveraging what you know without getting trapped by extinct (near extinct) practices, mind sets, and tools!
(oh and I pre-ordered an iPod Touch too!)
I dont agree that publishers dont push the boundaries. Its just that we have been living comfortably within the boundaries for so long we take them for granted. Publishers have taken a simple idea - words and images on paper - and spun off a galaxy of variations to meet every conceivable need (books shaped like toilet seats? check). What exactly is so limiting about boundaries like those?
Apple must innovate like a shark must swim - keep moving or die. But the thing is, most electronic products leave much to be desired, and the ecosystem of delivering content to consumers truly sucks (multiple DRM schemes, expiring books, etc.), so there is a hell of a lot of room for improvement…
But you’re talking about innovation within the paradigm of the book, and I would argue that a book in a funny shape is still just a book. There needs to be innovation in the delivery of text, words, and stories. It’s not enough to change the package, we need to reinvent the experience. And why shouldn’t all industries be like sharks, constantly moving? I agree that, in a technology setting, it’s much more important, but even publishing needs to swim now and again (instead of just floating).
Hmmm, I’m not sure we really need innovation in the delivery of text, words, and stories, since it will just be stuffed with porn.
But seriously, we’ve already got books in every shape, size, and subject, newspapers, magazines, TV - cable and network, Big Hollywood Movies, indie films, foreign cinema, opera, theater, musicals, poetry readings, performance art, radio - AM, FM, and satellite, rock concerts, bars, nightclubs, karaoke, the symphony, sporting events, fairs, festivals, museums, galleries, farmers markets, bingo, church, gyms, massage parlors, tanning salons, air travel, road trips, the beach, safaris, camping, adult education, self-help groups, therapy, the mall, meditation, food, sex, and sleep. If thats not keeping you busy, then sure, reinvent an experience.
I have increasingly felt that Publishing has in fact become a slave to Gutenberg at the detriment of profits, and writers themselves. Why the publishing industry doesn’t push Jobs into seeing that a color reader should join that Apple lineup, I do not know!To most we are a technological embarrassment of an industry, but I see great potential. An viable color ebook reader could save more then the book business. I fantasize about a touch version , as I know many others do.
Apple is still the only company that understands that usability will trump technology every day.
The i-phone is a great mobile device with incredible potential. I can hardly wait to see what comes next!
[…] Keith, Ipod News Contributor wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThe same way that the Nano itself replaced the mega-popular iPod Mini just a few years ago, the Nano itself has now been replaced with an even newer model. While some view this with cynicism, as if Steve Jobs is out to wring every … […]