Apple: A Revised Definition of Innovation

Whether your source is news agencies, conversations with peers, or even Mariana Mazzucato's book, "The Entrepreneurial State," we've all talked about Apple and its innovative process. With the iPhone 8 and iPhone X hitting the shelves, many have argued that the new smartphones don't have much to offer over older devices, minus slightly improved displays and batteries that haven't been totally depleted.

Nevertheless, Apple has still received praise for being one of the most innovative companies in the world. However, as Mazzucato makes clear in her piece, "The State Behind the iPhone," many of Apples greatest innovations had been strongly influenced by the State and previous innovations that they had conceptualized or funded in other agencies. Examples include the multi-touch screen (which was actually created by FingerWorks, a company funded by the State and later acquired by Apple), SIRI (which was influenced by a DARPA-led initiative that aimed to create an artificial intelligence program for military use), and even the Apple I computer, which could have only come about as a result of the States role in bringing the computer and Internet to life. So in essence, what Mazzucato argues is that Apple recognizes emerging technologies and innovations, and then finds a unique way to integrate them into their own products. For me, this changes what I have always thought the definition of innovation was. Instead of literally creating an entire new product or process, Apple hybridizes previous innovations by finding a way to integrate them into their own product line, which to some extent blurs the origins of the innovation, as many people are uneducated on where some of the most revolutionary innovations truly came from.

My question for you is: having all of this knowledge about the truth about some of Apple's innovations (for more information, definitely check out Mazzucato's piece, "The State Behind the iPhone"), do you think that this makes Apple any less innovative?

Thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing your replies!

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/picture-galleries/6099399/Top-10-Apple-innovations.html

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