Tim O'Reilly has a nice piece on Apple as innovator:
[W]hat Apple does so well is to realize the potential in a technology, and to frame it in such a way that people discover that they need it. In a way, they are cultural innovators more than they are tech innovators.
Microsoft products are like Japanese danchi (functional, ubiquitous, soulless and ultimately quite depressing). Apple products are like the Guggenheim in Bilbao (breathtaking, beautiful, artistic and just a little bit impractical). Just as the pyramids, not mud huts, are seen today as defining ancient Egyptian culture, so in 3,000 years time Apple products will be seen as the shining examples of our early 21st Century digital lifestyle.
Posted by timo at June 1, 2003 12:54 PM | TrackBack