Apple's True Legacy

Back in 2001 when Apple debuted the original iPod and iTunes, everyone thought they would flop. “The iPod is too expensive,” they would say, or, “Creative already has an MP3 player that does so much more.” What the detractors and tech press at the time didn’t realize was that it didn’t matter the price, nor did it matter how many checkboxes the iPod ticked off on a spec sheet. People wanted a way to organize and listen to their music that was simple and elegant. The iPod/iTunes combo was a solid package - especially when paired with an iBook or PowerBook. It was the beginning of a real Apple ecosystem.

In 2003, Apple trotted out the iTunes store, where users could download songs directly to their Macs without needing to buy and rip CDs. Sure, the option was (and still is) available, but you didn’t have to worry about gong to a music store (remember those?) and hoping the new Marcy Playground album was still in stock. Apple’s iTunes gave music lovers all over the world the benefit of instant gratification at what seemed like a great price - $.99 per track, or $10 an album.

Since then, iTunes has matured and the iPod has evolved into a complete lineup of devices aimed at eveyone from runners, to students, to audiophiles with massive music collections. Now, we have the iPhone and iPad as part of the family and Apple has grown tremendously over the past 10 years.

Fast forward to 2011 - Apple just demoed their new desktop operating system, Lion, the next iteration of its mobile OS, iOS 5 and a brand new Internet-based syncing service known as iCloud.

Separately, these products are great. Lion looks like a solid improvement on the groundwork layed in Leopard and Snow Leopard, iOS 5 is essentially Apple tying up all the loose ends from previous versions of iOS and iCloud is the MobileMe that should’ve been. But Apple’s execs didn’t demo them separately - i.e. at separate keynotes. Steve Jobs, Phil Schiller, Scott Forstall and the rest of the team showed off each product consecutively, which begs the question: what has Apple really done?

To some, it means Apple has locking you in to its “walled garden”. To others, the company is giving you everything you need in a pretty, all-inclusive package - like a Sandals with free WiFi. To me, it means Apple is getting ready to finish the first volume of its 10 year long opus on the true definition of “ecosystem”.

With your iTunes ID, you can make sure any music, apps and books you purchase on your Mac, iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad are automatically downloaded and synced on all your devices at once. If you start a document in Pages on Lion, it automaticaly saves each change and uploads it to iCloud, then syncs it back down to your iPad where you can work on it later at a coffee shop, or waiting for your train. No buttons are pressed to initiate the sync, no wire is required to transfer the files. Everything is done in the background without the user’s knowledge. Apple’s iCloud is one step closer to making “user error” a thing of the past and that’s the brush being used to paint the bigger picture.

One side of the industry thinks Apple is a hardware company, whose prime directive is to sell Macs and iPhones. The other side considers Apple a software company, where the devices are just shells to run the services and apps it provides. But Apple is more than just “hardware” and “software”. It’s an experience maker.

Devices and apps are nothing compared to the industry-shifting ways in which Apple is changing our perception of what “personal computing” should be. Steve Jobs’ legacy isn’t going to be a giant spaceship in Cupertino, nor will it be the iPad or iPod. Steve’s legacy and, more importantly, Apple’s, will be having built a biome for customers where online services and devices work together so mundane tasks and troubleshooting become unnecessary, while at the same time lowering the barrier of entry for users of all levels. Essentially, Apple has made “your nephew who’s a whiz with computers” obsolete.

Smartphones are smarter than they’ve ever been, but the iPhone doesn’t cram complexity into a plastic case and expect you to adapt to it. It eschews a user manual for “Slide to Unlock”. The iPad is becoming a “first computer” for everyone from 100-year-olds to 16-year-olds due to its intuitive UI, portability and vast app catalog.

Over 200 million users have iTunes accounts and over 14 billion apps have been downloaded since the App Store first opened. This is a massive user base that has watched Apple grow and has grown along with it. It’s a community that’s realized computers don’t have to be complex to be powerful and “being productive” doesn’t mean tweaking your BIOS.

Thanks to Lion, iOS 5 and iCloud, everything is coming together so the next ten years of computing can be even better. I can’t wait.