There has certainly been no lack of provocative comments about Apple in the last few weeks, including the Forrester Research CEOs prophecy that Apple is doomed to fall into decline following the passing of the companys co-founder and former head Steve Jobs. The latest statements come from Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who told the technology news blog aNewDomain that he thinks the interface for Apple archrival Microsofts Windows Phone is more beautiful than that of Apples best-selling and much-lauded iPhone.
“I’m shocked, every screen is much more beautiful than the same apps on Android and iPhone,” he said. “The iPhone has a lot of beauty and simplicity, and you don’t get lost as much in it, but it is more awkward to use (than Windows Phone 7.5 Mango). I’ll be carrying the Windows Phone with me almost everywhere.”
The comments kicked off an intense debate in the technology community, as gadget aficionados prepare for the impending release of the Windows 8 operating system and the expected launch of the iPhone 5 sometime this year. Wozniak later clarified his comments with a post about the interview that added a new dimension to the controversy, giving love to Apple and at the same time adding more provocative comments as to how the Windows Phone operating system came to be so polished.
“iPhone is my favorite phone. I did give my opinion that the Windows Phone had superior visual appearance and operation cues that were also more attractive. In my opinion, it sets the mark for user interface. I would recommend it over my Android phones, given that it doesn’t yet have the breadth of apps, he wrote. I surmise that Microsoft hired someone from Apple and put money into having a role in the UI and appearance of some key apps. I also surmised that Steve Jobs might have been reincarnated at MS due to a lot of what I see and feel with this phone, making me think of a lot of great Apple things.”
The comments come on the heels of a blog post by Forrester’s CEO George Colony, who compared Apples future to that of Sony, a tech giant that struggled to find a clear vision following the end of co-founder Akio Moritas run at the company’s helm.
Colony, who wrote an April 25 blog post titled “Apple=Sony,” which concluded that without Jobs’ “singular charismatic leadership,” risk-taking prowess and “unparalleled ability to envision and design products,” the company was likely to coast for a period of 24 to 48 months, and then fall into decline. The blog post has generated a serious online response, with many technology observers attacking its premise and its conclusions about Apple in the post-Jobs era.