Why Your Next iPhone Won't Be Ceramic
Apple continues to regress, and that's kind of sad.<p>The post-Steve-Jobs Apple has continued to produce superb products. And it has scaled to a truly impressive level while maintaining quality and financial statement success. However, at this point it's an old story to say that Apple has recently failed to capture our imagination and "show us the magic" the way it did throughout the 2000s. I remember being blown away by the early iMacs and Macbooks, the early-gen iPods, iPhone, iPad (don't forget how impressive the iPad was when it first came out), and the Macbook Air.<p>When people speculate that the next generation of Apple products may be ceramic, I think I know why: they want the magic. Ceramic? That's sounds new and interesting. Maybe it's environmentally friendly. Reading Koenig's article, the case seems pretty strong for Apple's disincentive to make such a significant change. It's the same disincentive that all large, successful companies face: they do pretty well with the status quo, so why incur the massive expense to do something new and risky?<p>I can't really blame Apple. But I also can't help but be a little sad. The same way I can't help but be a little sad when a talented movie director goes mainstream. It's a reminder that we all have to face reality and make practical decisions; we all contribute to the massive pile of human ambition and pass our excrement to the level below us; and we all are getting older.