Apple co-founder Wozniak predicts iPod's demise

 

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Posted on 9 Oct 2008 at 12:22

Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, has admitted the iPod is coming to the end of its lifecycle. He also criticised the iPhone, claiming the policy of "locking products down" does not favour consumers.

According to Wozniak, the iPod has enjoyed a good life, but he is mindful of the fact that popular fads in the past have tended to die out when the next big thing comes along.

"The iPod has sort of lived a long life at number one," he told the Telegraph. "Things like that, if you look back to transistor radios and Walkmans, they kind of die out after a while," he admitted.

He reckons the iPod is becoming commodotised, and its novelty is beginning to wear off.

"It's kind of like everyone has got one or two or three. You get to a point when they are on display everywhere, they get real cheap and they are not selling as much."

Wozniak also admitted that Google's policy of developing an open-source platform in Android is more beneficial to consumers in the long run than Apple's closed source operating system.

"Consumers aren't getting all they want when companies are very proprietary and lock their products down," he said when comparing the iPhone's operating system to Google's Android. "I would like to write some more powerful apps than what you're allowed," he lamented.

He also criticised the Apple 'fanboy' culture, and said that he and co-founder Steve Jobs "don't like the fact that it's a bit of a religion". Rather than blindly worshipping everything the company does, Wozniak would prefer for Apple users to question and scrutinise the company and its products.

"I would like to have the users influence the next generation," he said. "With a religion you're not allowed to challenge anything. I want our customers to challenge us."

Wozniak also told the Telegraph that "nobody, not even Steve Jobs" knows what's next for Apple. "I think he would be sitting there [unaware] right up until the day it is introduced." However, he let slip to the newspaper that Apple's future could lie in an "iWatch".

Author: Dawinderpal Sahota