Edible Apple

Ahead of the iPhone 4S launch, Steve Wozniak was humbly camping out overnight to be one of the first people to get his hands on Apple’s latest smartphone. While there, Woz was interviewed about a wide range of subjects, from his thoughts on AI to his thoughts on an Apple post-Steve Jobs.

First, Woz said that he hopes Jobs’ departure doesn’t create a power vaccum that results in a struggle for position at the top

I hope there’s not a play for a lot of people in the company wanting to have power bases and I hope that they can really settle that it needs one person, almost one person, one mind still in control to keep products so small.

Woz also hopes that Apple  doesn’t go down the same path as Sony to the extent that both companies became famous for releasing products that were more elegant, sophisticated, and sleeker than the competition.  But Sony lost that formula for success, Woz explained, and it all happened because of their CEO.

That notwithstanding, Woz still thinks Apple is well positioned for the future, but admits to being a little afraid because during the iPhone 4S introduction the phrase “dual-core processors” were mentioned twice.

“Steve doesn’t want us to think about dual-core processors,” Wozniak said. “All we need to know is how do we get our answer, how do we connect to the Internet… Just the human things, not the technical things”

Worse, Woz explained, was when Phil Schiller mentioned the split antenna design.

“Who cares about a split antenna?” Woz asked. What Apple should have said, in Woz’s opinion, is that the iPhone 4S has better reception thanks to a new technology.

Okay, we get that, but you still have to, even at a surface level, explain what that new technology is.

In fairness, Jobs’ own product introductions didn’t necessarily shy away from technical descriptions of the degree Woz mentioned. For example, Jobs took some time, when introducing the original iPhone 4, to explain the benefits of having the antenna reside on the outside of the device. Further, mentioning dual-core is hardly an egregious offense.

What you won’t see, though, is Apple referencing “dual-core” in any of its advertising materials.

But a product introduction? That’s fair game.

via CNET