Nik Rawlinson
That’s as true today as it was back then. Apple’s line-up is more varied now than at any time in its history, yet ‘i’ is still its focus. The iMac and iPod are still here, and they’ve been joined by the iPhone and iPad, which, more than any other i-device, will define Apple’s future.
Those seven years have marked the move from PowerPC to Intel (another ‘i’). Apple has grown as a company, Mac OS X has finally gained the recognition it deserves… only to be more or less eclipsed by iOS, another i-manifestation. Why? Because the App Store makes it a ludicrously easy – and, in many cases, ludicrously profitable – platform for which to develop.
The biggest ‘i’ of them all, though, which has underpinned each of these products, is the unspoken ‘i’ of the Internet. The iMac was so aptly named because it was the first new computer of the Internet age. It was a reboot of the whole idea of computing, stripped of legacy ports and connections and ready for the era during which software is bought online, communication is online, we live our lives online…
The iTunes Store works because it’s so easy to download music, books and apps over the Internet. The iPod touch is so much better equipped than any other iPod by dint of the fact that it puts the Internet in the palm of your hand. The iPad is a fully fledged computer, but only really shines when connected to the Internet because iOS so ably runs applications that are little more than windows on the web. Words with Friends, Twitter, Maps and countless other iApps would be nothing without Internet connectivity.
The point I was trying to make in that first editorial was that while Apple’s i-obsession was well placed, we should look beyond the narrow range of i-prefixed products it had back then and see what the future should hold.
And what a future it was.
As I write this, my last editorial for MacUser, the ‘i’ line-up is better and more varied than ever and it looks set to very soon make Apple the biggest company in the world (it’s in second position as I write). It has been a thrilling seven years in which to chronicle Apple’s rise and rise, but the story is far from over. I may be handing over this column – and the reins of the magazine – but I’ll be joining you on the other side of the fence, as a reader, to see where Apple – and MacUser – takes us next.
