Completely agree with this article. Apple has lost its way. However, this is due to their losing Steve Jobs, and not necessarily their falling behind the times.

Here's the thing about Apple: Their whole brand personality has been know-it-all from day one. Smug. And Condescending. They started as a challenger brand and stayed that way, but with some added cockiness thrown in. Remember: They gave us products we didn't know we needed and now can't live without, etc. They have never solicited participation from us, because that's not how they operate. Up until now, their average of being right has been a lot higher than most brands.

And yes, at this point it comes across as being condescending, but it's more the product's lack of revolutionary quality to blame than the conversation. Apple's conversation hasn't changed much. But with the dearth of new products, it comes across as being asshole-ish or defensive now.

Still, if you consider the brand consistency for decades, it's something to applaud. Whether you like it or not, they've stayed "on brand," for a very long time. Yes they can shift their tone a bit, and probably should. But if the brand who built itself upon giving us what it knows we need, suddenly asks us what we need and solicits our opinion, or god forbid, crowd sources ideas?

That wouldn't smack of modernization to me. It would smack more of desperation.

By the way, I also think we in advertising are caught up in the mindset that every consumer out there wants to participate. But that is also a gross assumption. Some people don't want to do the work for the brand; their level of participation stops with liking and sharing?

Is that a bad thing? I don't think so. The like and share crowd wants content. Good content. It's hard enough to get them to share that. Asking them to chase the brand down rabbit holes? I'm thinking that's going to have a shorter shelf life in the end.