Apple isn't innovating anymore

The "Apple isn't innovating anymore" is silly disinformation drummed up by people who are thinking tactics, not strategy. Do you really think Jobs, Cook, Schiller and Ive didn't lay out three, five- and ten-year plans? It sounds like you don't know how billion-dollar corporations work. Of course, new iPhones and iPods always are in the pipeline with new designs and new features. I assure you, Apple started laying out the plan for all these cloud services and handheld devices back in 1997 — when Steve Jobs first returned to Apple.

It's that vision thing.

In the second place, at the moment, Apple happens to be doing more innovating behind the scenes: building out infrastructure, the ecosystem and new data centers that will serve iOS 7 and next-generation Macs, Airports, AppleTV and iOS devices for gaming and television. Apple is negotiating HDTV content deals and preparing to take on the next Xbox and Playstation consoles with iOS gaming, so, two new data centers are going up right now (which will give them five in the U.S.). Later, they'll have to build data centers in Asia and Europe too. Also, 802.11ac (gigabit WiFi) and 10GB Ethernet are coming this year. And Apple is watching (and probably working closely with) ISPs to manage its expansions as new, high-speed broadband service that can handle the coming IP gaming and HDTV explosions finally arrive in homes across the nation.

Before he died, Steve Jobs reportedly was making phone calls from his home to Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, characteristically grousing about that company's lousy Internet service (which finally has improved during the past couple of years). Do you think they hadn't also been talking but collaborative issues? Also, Apple is actively hiring more engineers for new Siri-based, hands-free vehicle systems and has signed agreements with several auto manufacturers. It's selling secure iPad and iPhone systems by the hundreds of thousands to government and big business. Android? With FBI security warnings, not so much.

Google, Motorola, Samsung, Nokia, Microsoft, Blackberry, HTC and Sony combined all are far behind Apple in the ecosystem wars. Innovation isn't just visible in a handset.

As for Google Glasses and the failed Google TV box? They're interesting, but Glasses still is not a product — it's vaporware in testing, just like the iWatch, the 4K Apple television, iDashboard systems and iCars, Apple A/V Receivers and other disrupting technologies Apple probably has planned. And I'll wait and see how the Google Glasses vs. iWatch thing works out. :)

In the third place, on average, Apple has been running three-to-five years between major product introductions. Apple doesn't leave anything to chance. It will time the release of all those next-phase, sexy product innovations you don't think are coming to coincide with the launch of the infrastructure that now is being put into place — the expanded data centers, 10GB Ethernet, 802.11ac WiFi, faster nationwide Internet, content deals, etc.

Finally, if Apple isn't innovating, what on earth will Google and Samsung have to crib from?