Following the official launch of the hotly-anticipated iPhone 5 last week, Apple Inc. released iOS 6, the latest iteration of its operating system for mobile devices. The update includes many useful new features, and improved older ones.  The most talked-about changes are those that transpired after Apple’s recent divorce from Google.

 This sudden change meant that Apple had to create a new navigation app, “Maps”, which is nothing less than a failure. It told me that a sewer treatment plant was a gas station and that the only London in the world is the one in Ontario. Closer to home, the app might give the College a few headaches, as it suggests to the uninformed driver that the main quad is traversed by two public access roads.

This debacle comes less than a month after Apple triumphed in a lawsuit filed in California against Samsung, a rival electronic manufacturer. 

After a very short deliberative period, the jury found that Samsung had willfully infringed Apple’s patents and awarded $1.05 billion in favor of the company from Cupertino. 

In response to the verdict, Samsung said that the decision was a “loss for the American consumer,” which would squash innovation and give “one company a monopoly over rectangles with rounded corners.” By contrast, an Apple spokeswoman told the New York Times that the company valued “originality and innovation” above all. She went on to say that the jury had sent a “clear message that stealing isn’t right.”

 However, Apple has no such qualms about stealing intellectual property when it comes to appropriating the work of others.

Indeed, on the day that iOS 6 was released, iPad users across Switzerland were surprised to discover a design element in the clock app that was oddly familiar. So familiar in fact, that the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) has accused Apple of violating its trademarked iconic clocks, which are found in railway stations all around the country. Perhaps Apple thought that by accusing others of theft, it was immune from the same changes. 

Whereas the case against Samsung was based around designs and trademarks only a few years old, the SBB’s complaint is related to a design that is hardly recent. The Swiss railway clock has existed since 1944. Its debut predates the birth of Steve Jobs by 11 years.

If anything, this situation exemplifies what appears to be a disheartening trend at Apple. Rigorous evaluation—once the company’s hallmark—seems to have been forgotten. As it gets closer to being the first trillion dollar company of this age, it would seem that Apple’s old eye for simple, innovative design has been blinded by dollar signs. 

There is no doubt that both the new operating system and the iPhone are innovative, but in so many ways they both fail to compete with the output of Samsung and other companies using Google’s Android operating system.  

People will still want to buy iPhones; in the first 24 hours of its announcement, Apple received two million orders for the iPhone 5—that’s 23 per second. But the edge the company had when it released the first iPhone in 2007 is gone. Of the smart phones sold in the first half of 2012, Android’s market share was more than triple that of Apple’s.

Apple needs to release products that play to its strengths in terms of design and product innovation, rather than rehashing the same old ideas every two years.  News that Microsoft will release its new phone in the coming months and rumors that Amazon is developing a phone of its own should be reason enough to give Apple cause to stop and think. 

Unless it can stay ahead of its competitors, Apple (and most importantly, its shareholders) will have to accept that, at this rate, the company’s dizzying climb in profits will eventually reach an inevitable plateau. 

Following the official launch of the hotly-anticipated iPhone 5 last week, Apple Inc. released iOS 6, the latest iteration of its operating system for mobile devices. The update includes many useful new features, and improved older ones.  The most talked-about changes are those that transpired after Apple’s recent divorce from Google.
 This sudden change meant that Apple had to create a new navigation app, “Maps”, which is nothing less than a failure. It told me that a sewer treatment plant was a gas station and that the only London in the world is the one in Ontario. Closer to home, the app might give the College a few headaches, as it suggests to the uninformed driver that the main quad is traversed by two public access roads.
This debacle comes less than a month after Apple triumphed in a lawsuit filed in California against Samsung, a rival electronic manufacturer. 
After a very short deliberative period, the jury found that Samsung had willfully infringed Apple’s patents and awarded $1.05 billion in favor of the company from Cupertino. 
In response to the verdict, Samsung said that the decision was a “loss for the American consumer,” which would squash innovation and give “one company a monopoly over rectangles with rounded corners.” By contrast, an Apple spokeswoman told the New York Times that the company valued “originality and innovation” above all. She went on to say that the jury had sent a “clear message that stealing isn’t right.”
 However, Apple has no such qualms about stealing intellectual property when it comes to appropriating the work of others.
Indeed, on the day that iOS 6 was released, iPad users across Switzerland were surprised to discover a design element in the clock app that was oddly familiar. So familiar in fact, that the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) has accused Apple of violating its trademarked iconic clocks, which are found in railway stations all around the country. Perhaps Apple thought that by accusing others of theft, it was immune from the same changes. 
Whereas the case against Samsung was based around designs and trademarks only a few years old, the SBB’s complaint is related to a design that is hardly recent. The Swiss railway clock has existed since 1944. Its debut predates the birth of Steve Jobs by 11 years.
If anything, this situation exemplifies what appears to be a disheartening trend at Apple. Rigorous evaluation—once the company’s hallmark—seems to have been forgotten. As it gets closer to being the first trillion dollar company of this age, it would seem that Apple’s old eye for simple, innovative design has been blinded by dollar signs. 
There is no doubt that both the new operating system and the iPhone are innovative, but in so many ways they both fail to compete with the output of Samsung and other companies using Google’s Android operating system.  
People will still want to buy iPhones; in the first 24 hours of its announcement, Apple received two million orders for the iPhone 5—that’s 23 per second. But the edge the company had when it released the first iPhone in 2007 is gone. Of the smart phones sold in the first half of 2012, Android’s market share was more than triple that of Apple’s.
Apple needs to release products that play to its strengths in terms of design and product innovation, rather than rehashing the same old ideas every two years.  News that Microsoft will release its new phone in the coming months and rumors that Amazon is developing a phone of its own should be reason enough to give Apple cause to stop and think. 
Unless it can stay ahead of its competitors, Apple (and most importantly, its shareholders) will have to accept that, at this rate, the company’s dizzying climb in profits will eventually reach an inevitable plateau.