The much anticipated Apple Pencil was the newest product to hit the market this week; and it was met with mixed reactions from consumers and retailers alike.
The Apple Pencil’s main use is for the new 12.9 inch iPad Pro. The Pencil works with sensitive technology; pressing the pencil lightly onto the iPad produces thin strokes, while applying more pressure produces thicker strokes.
Among Apple’s many and varied claims is the Pencil’s super fast chargeability. It is also purportedly more powerful and more versatile in kinetic form, as it can roll more easily and is longer than other styluses on the market.
The Apple Pencil has been likened to Samsung’s S Pen, which works on the Samsung tablets and Note smartphones. That is the first bit of controversy.
The second bit of controversy comes in the form of the creator of Apple – Steve Jobs himself, The Apple boss famously said in 2007 that pen-style devices were ‘yuck‘ and something ‘nobody would want‘. He went on to say ‘if you see a stylus – they blew it’ – alluding to his belief that a stylus was a sign of failure in a device. This raises the question; would Steve Jobs ever have sanctioned the release of such a product himself?
Fans of Steve are outraged and think that the launch of this product is an insult to both Steve and the ‘core’ (pun very much intended) of Apple.
Could it be possible that Tim Cook believes so passionately in the potential of this product, that he is willing to bulldoze all formerly voiced opinions and bring the much scorned Pencil to market?
However this is not the first time that Apple has changed tack on certain subjects – Jobs once famously said it would be ‘over his dead body’, that Windows users could sync their iPods and iPhones on their computers. We soon saw that change! Since Jobs’s death, Apple has also altered such elements as tablet screen size, even after Jobs famously saying that screen sizes categorically couldn’t be bigger or smaller than 10.9 inches. And yet, after Jobs’s death came the birth of the iPad Mini, with a smaller screen than ever.
My personal views are drawn from what I know of Apple’s past products and my own research into Steve Jobs as an entrepreneur and businessman. It is clear that Apple is no longer the company that Steve Jobs began, but maybe this was a progression felt very much by Steve himself as time passed.
Apple is a cunning, clever beast. It calculates with precision the optimum time to launch new products into the market and predicts how well they will be received. Apple can be innovative and creative with its products, maintaining an air of exclusivity yet treading the fine line between aspirational and accessible technology. This could be the key to their consumer appeal.
The Pencil is associated with the iPad Pro. In my opinion, this product is perfect for entrepreneurs as it allows users to mind map creatively and sketch ideas. This freedom in creativity can be absolutely key in driving and furthering business growth.
So what are your thoughts on the new Pencil? A seed of success or a knife to the very core of the business?
It doesn’t come out until November and isn’t cheap either. Costing more than £60 after already shelling out for the new iPad Pro, you’re definitely looking at an investment piece – so let’s hope it is worth it!
Bradley Keenan 