Apple Innovation
Innovation at Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is widely regarded today as an innovator in both the computing and digital media fields with its research and development efforts rippling across all dimensions of the private sector. As the discussion below will demonstrate, Apple's success can largely be traced to the internal sourcing of its research and development department and further can be connected to the orientation of Apple's visionary CEO, Steve Jobs.
Still, this internally driven innovation has benefited from some outside influence. The text by Croslin (2011) demonstrates the manner in which innovation can be fed both by External forces and Internal features. Proceeding from interviews with Steve Jobs and others at Apple, the text by Croslin tells the narrative of Jobs and Apple in a way that demonstrates both the primacy of the CEO's vision and the centrality of experiences Jobs had with forces external to his company. Croslin notes that "in 1979, Jobs saw an early and crude graphical user interface being demonstrated at the Xerox research facility in Palo...
He knew immediately that the technology would make computers appealing to 'everyday people.' That technology eventually became The Macintosh, which changed everything about the way we interact with computers. Xerox scientists didn't realize its potential because their 'vision' was limited to making new copiers." (Croslin, p. 1)
An article from 2004 underscores the basic realities at Apple as it contrasts many other computing companies, indicating that in the years of budgetary crisis experienced by companies during the unfolding recession, Apple's unwillingness to sacrifice a dynamic R&D department has proved a financial boon. As VOI (2004) reports, "by combining technical knowhow with a new concept for how to sell music online, Apple's iPod music player has become the most influential new tech product in years. At the same time, Apple has maintained its reputation for making the most elegant, easy-to-use desktop computers as well." (VOI, 1)
This describes the core of innovation, denoting a willingness to perfect existing technologies while imaging new…
