There was a time in Apple’s history when the company started with the customer experience and worked their way back towards technology. All the past products at Apple, have been designed in that manner, and that’s where the innovation and progress really used to occur. For example, the iPod, was not the first digital music player to be created, but it was the one that caused the disruption in the industry, it changed the way people bought, listened and organized their music. Similar with the iPhone, it didn’t change the way people talked to each other over the phone, but rather it made using the Internet and taking photos with your phone mainstream. Similarly, the App Store, affected software developers and the public in general, in the way it allowed the distribution of software from a unified source, allowing monetization.

Thus when Tim Cook concluded with the new iPhone X announcement, which i watched at home wondering how stagnant the Smartphone industry has become.

The words that Tim Cook said, were “iPhone X. This really is the future.” revealed a lot about Apple, and the direction the company is heading in. Apple is becoming a company that is just incorporating the most cutting edge technology to existing products, rather than working from the customer experience perspective to create new products that add value. As a User Experience designer, I spend most of time glued to screens, either on my workstation or on my phone, and I have a feeling that there is a lot of “Genuine talent” at Apple, that wants to make products that improve the quality of life. However, at the same time, it is only in their interest to keep us addicted to such technology, to fulfill their corporate interests.

I have a feeling all this boils down to corporate culture at Apple itself. Though this is something I cannot directly verify, it is something that I can infer from the stagnation in their product line-up. A lot of management professionals are mistaken, thinking that consumers are unable to measure output. They think the general public or outsiders of the company can’t necessarily measure or quantify innovation.

This is strictly a misconception. The reason why companies like Apple, are becoming stagnant is that they are losing key people. One of the key people that Apple, lost was obviously Steve Jobs. Everyone is aware of that, however, there are other people too that were very influential and held key positions, but left because they didn’t like the new management style after a change of leadership that occurred Post-Steve Jobs.

Scott Forstall, the man who was responsible for leading the original software development team for the iPhone and iPad.  He was a strong proponent of the skeuomorphic design style, something advocated by former CEO Steve Jobs. No Longer at Apple.

Tony Fadell, A Lebanese American who started as a contractor at Apple responsible for Apple’s audio product strategy, he is considered one of the brainchild behind the Apple iPod. Tony Fadell later went on and worked with Google on the Nest and Google Glass, after the company he initiated was acquired by Google. For the record, (Google) acquired Nest Labs for US$3.2 billion.

The main lesson I can see here is Apple has lost traction in terms of Creativity, Innovation, and Progress because of losing key individuals due to centralized decision-making, and ill-conceived management practices. It is human nature not to agree with everyone on all things, but you don’t let go of good people, the ones that were responsible for what your product line-up is today.