A discussion about Apple Innovation

I was trying to think about new technology that Apple has introduced and nothing came to mind. The following is a written discussion which entailed between myself and some friends I have who work in the computing industry. You may notice I am not exactly Apple's biggest fan and enjoy a good debate but I always strive to keep them fair and factual.

Obviously all views in this discussion are those of the individual persons and not the companies or organisations they are affiliated with.


Scott Smith (Software Engineer @ Thales Group)

"Thats a damn good question... Only thing that really jumps out is in the realm of video codecs. They developed a lot of the under lying technology for most of the formats we're use to seeing today.

This question is much easier to answer if the subject was Microsoft. You'd just have to head on over to Microsoft Research! Theres some damn cool stuff there!"

Grant Anderson (Web Dev Lecturer @ Abertay University)

"Microsoft get's a bad rap when you consider Windows is like the only non-Unix OS, they made one of the first mobile OS and IE isn't based on open source code.?"

Scott Smith (Software Engineer @ Thales Group) 

"Another good example of apples inventions is the GUI's we are use to today. They invented the concept of menu bars, and window buttons. Previous attempts before the Apple Lisa, in terms of GUIs, were screens made out of hyperlinks."

Grant Anderson (Web Dev Lecturer @ Abertay University)

"I'll give you the dropdown menus but the GUI was stolen by both Apple and Windows from Xerox"

Scott Smith (Software Engineer @ Thales Group)

"The concept of the GUI wasn't invented by Xerox either, they were just the first to commercially use it. First GUI was just hyperlinks and a pointer. I believe developed at Stanford"


Grant Anderson (Web Dev Lecturer @ Abertay University)


"Didn't know about Stanford Scott, I did know Berners-Lee didn't invent hyperlinks but I'd never looked up where they came from"

Simon Kilroy (Programmer @ Digital Goldfish) 

"Have you watched Pirates Of Silicon Valley Grant? It's pretty accurate in terms of the early days of both companies and shows how "innovative" they often both were."

Grant Anderson (Web Dev Lecturer @ Abertay University)

"that rings a bell actually...might need to revisit that one."


Su Zuki (@ Dell) 

"did u never hear of the powerPC microprocessor? that said...RISC is what powers the ARM architecture today....Based on which 90% of the smartphones run today....another example would be the laptop trackpad."

Grant Anderson (Web Dev Lecturer @ Abertay University)

"Apple didn't invent the microprocessor or the laptop trackpad."


Su Zuki (@ Dell) 

"it was called the AIM allaince (apple ibm and motorola)? the latest would be the intel apple alliance to invent the thunderbolt....."


Grant Anderson (Web Dev Lecturer @ Abertay University)

"I thought the first microprocessor was the Intel 4004?"


Su Zuki (@ Dell) 

"sure..intel 4004 was the first mp....but risc was way more powerful and futuristic than intel at the time...

apple may not be the most innovative company technology wise....but it sure upped the stakes....without the mac...we would still be sitting at windows me....and without the iphone...multi touch would still be in a lab...waiting for its turn to see the light of day.... i would say execution and time to delivery of apple based on its brand image was second to none...."

Grant Anderson (Web Dev Lecturer @ Abertay University)

"RISC sounds interesting. I would agree Apple have been successful at popularising technology. I'm not sure if we would still be at Windows ME, you have to give the various flavours of Linux their due. Was just reading about the PowerPC...didn't sound ground breaking unless I missed something?."


Su Zuki (@ Dell) 

"the PowerPC was a direct implementation of RISC"

Grant Anderson (Web Dev Lecturer @ Abertay University)

"Wasn't the first system to use RISC by the Control Data Corporation?"


James B R Frame (Sales Manager @ Samsung)

"Steve Jobs' patents:"

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/08/24/technology/steve-jobs-patents.html


Grant Anderson (Web Dev Lecturer @ Abertay University)

"the patents don't really consist of new technology just the way it's been assembled."


James B R Frame (Sales Manager @ Samsung)

"I would argue otherwise as the very word invent meaning : to devise / put together.
In the same way early man took a stone with a sharp edge and with grass or a vine bound it to a stick. Thus using existing things -Technologies and invented the axe and or hammer"


Grant Anderson (Web Dev Lecturer @ Abertay University)

"yes putting things together to create something new is an invention...however Steve Jobs was not the first to assemble any of the items listed there...he just done it slightly differently."


Scott Smith (Software Engineer @ Thales Group)

"Steve Jobs never assembled anything... he was a business man, not an engineer lol"

Scott Smith (Software Engineer @ Thales Group) 

"First mass market laser printer was made by apple, and it was a beaut! Apple Laserwriter"


Grant Anderson (Web Dev Lecturer @ Abertay University)

"The only innovative part of the Laserwriter was the PostScript interpreter...made by Adobe."


Mark Daly (Web Developer) 

"postscript interpreter, I think Adobe stole the idea from macromedia?"

Scott Smith (Software Engineer @ Thales Group) 

"Theres a bit more to it than what Wikipedia says Mark. Specifically to do with the way that it printed fonts. Basically it knew a handful of common fonts and so printed them more accurately"


Scott Smith (Software Engineer @ Thales Group) 

"To be honest, I can think of more that Apple has invented than Google has. I mean, look at Android, they didn't even make that, they just bought it"

Grant Anderson (Web Dev Lecturer @ Abertay University)

"Really Scott. I must say I'm a bit of a Google fanboy. They have created some fantastic online applications which they give away for free...an ethos right at the heart of Tim Berners-Lee intention for the world wide web."

Scott Smith (Software Engineer @ Thales Group)

"really Grant? I hadn't noticed. You can't exactly say "give away for free" & "ethos" together when talking about google. They make there money by passing on your online activities to other companies that wish to advertise to you. But anyway... the question is... what have they invented. Because I really can't think of much. Search engines existed, online office tools existed. They bought their mobile OS, email similar to gmail has existed. Their social networking attempts are pretty awful (yes ping was awful too)"


Grant Anderson (Web Dev Lecturer @ Abertay University)

"They use advertising to pay for the mountain of other resources which are free...fair game in my opinion. I agree search engines existed but they did revolutionise the way they work using PageRank. As far as I know Analytics is quite unique, Google streetview was a first, they created a CAPTCHA program which simultaneously digitises books and makes them available through their book search"


Scott Smith (Software Engineer @ Thales Group) 

"In terms of innovation, the only one I'll give you is street view, as that was a massive project that really has 

changed the way we do things. I'm still amazed by it =]"