[nirvana]

People have been saying that Apple was going down, in my experience, since 1981 with the introduction of the IBM PC.

Seriously, in the 1980s it was IBM, Commodore, Tandy, et al. In the 1990s it was Windows. In the past decade every two-bit media player was called an iPod killer. Every phone ripping off the iPhone is called an iPhone killer. Every tablet is called an iPad killer.

And of course the myth has been spread that anything Apple does well is just the result of Steve Jobs.

Just as everyone who buys Apple products does so because they come under Steve Jobs "reality distortion field".

And how everything Apple has been doing in the past 5 years was poor because Steve Jobs health was bad.

How about that the iPod sucked becuase it didn't have an FM tuner?

Or the iPhone is never going to fly without a physical keyboard.

Or the iPad sounds like a woman's product and nobody will buy it, and of course nobody will carry it around.

Etc. Etc. Etc.

Apple is failing, always has been, and always will be.

Every time the stock goes down $30 (equivalent to a $60 stock going down $3) the stock is crashing.

When Apple misses wall street expectations by a few cents (but beats their projections) its a sign that the stock is in decline - before Steve Jobs died it was just proof that Apple sucked. When he was sick, it was because he lost control. Now that he's dead, Apple will never be able to accomplish anything good.

It has been 30 years of this crap.

[KevinEldon]

Steve Jobs suggests that Apple didn't innovate while he wasn't there (http://www.macrumors.com/2011/09/19/steve-jobs-apple-almost-...).

The question is then does Apple, without Jobs, have the visionaries and the management team supporting those visionaries to pioneer very specific markets to continue earning billions in the future. I'd guess that over the next few years a Google Glass-style device is ready for the market and some sort of car-friendly voice-controlled heads-up-display computing device is capable of commanding billions, but outside of that it's going to be about apps and information... and although Apple has a huge presence today and lots of cash they've got a very hard positition to hold as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, etc. are fighting for the same consumers who are paying a premium for Apple products.

My dad got a 1st gen iPad and really liked it. He just got a Nexus 7 and ditched his iPad. He doesn't think it's amazing or anything, but he can fit it in his pocket, buy books from Amazon directly, it was only $200 and it's lighter and easier to read on. At some point Apple's differentiation shifts from being innovative devices to being "sexy" design and a great interface... sure that sells, but it doesn't sell at nearly the same level as truly innovative devices like the iPod, iPhone, or iPad can. Apple's doing well today, but maintaining this level of success if going to be extremely difficult.

[duaneb]

Apple did still innovate (the Newton, anyone?), just... pathetically.

[taligent]

> Google Glass-style device is ready for the market and some sort of car-friendly voice-controlled heads-up-display

I am sorry but anyone who thinks devices like these are going to be some wild success are ignorant of the realities of our society.

People do not want to be recorded by random third parties and existing privacy laws in many countries respect that. As such the current use case of the device is likely to be illegal from day one. Throw in the problems of recording of children, recording inside workplaces and public institutions, complications for law enforcement, distraction whilst driving etc. The end result being the only place you could safely wear them is inside your own home.

Do I think it will be common in the future. Sure. But society and the law moves a lot slower than people realise.

[drumdance]

People do not want to be recorded by random third parties

...unless they get tremendous (perceived) value from it. Facebook, anyone?

[dfc]

People do not recognize the privacy invasion of using facebook. Try and follow a stranger around with a video camera, I doubt it goes over well.

[esolyt]

Either you're not serious or you need to calm down.

[CamperBob2]

It has been 30 years of this crap.

During most of which Apple really was "beleaguered," and, as such, a crappy stock to hold.

[powerslave12r]

Your argument would be more useful if you listed what people are currently cribbing about and then debunked it.

[signalsignal]

Why don't you enumerate the complaints do he can refute each? It will be like HN teamwork. :)

[incision]

What's your point?

The same spread of naysayers as well as unbounded optimists can be found touting their opinion of every thing on earth - tech companies, nations, sports team, fashion, whatever.