Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has criticised brands that focus too heavily on advertising over simply having a good, innovative product.
Speaking at yesterday’s Festival of Marketing in London, Wozniak also had a dig at marketeers during his time at Apple calling them “funny folk who would battle against our ideas”. He even admitted one particular marketer hated the name Apple so much they begged Wozniak and (co-founder) Steve Jobs not to use it.
Wozniak, whose comments were reported on the UK marketing site www.marketingweek.com, said: “Our ad agency said to me and Steve: ‘You’ve got to give up the name Apple as it doesn’t imply the power of the computers. We tried to tell them once our products get into the home and change people’s lives it will make sense as an apple is a good name for a household brand.”
The now-retired tech guru also used his speech to have a dig at rival Google. “Google primarily makes money off advertising, while Apple makes it from good products – there’s a big difference,” Wozniak said.
In regards to Apple, Wozinak believed recent criticism of the tech behemoth was unfair, saying it had innovated the market so much in recent years consumers simply expected it to be revolutionary all the time – something that was not possible. “Maybe we are at an innovation plateau as we now have reached a certain height on cameras, microphones and sensors. But Apple’s role is always to create the very best,” he said.
Wozinak also used his speech to have a dig at rival Samsung and other competitors who pinched its ideas and had enormous problems with their own product (see Samsung’s recent recall of its latest smartphone).
As for Apple’s future, Wozinak (who left Apple to become a primary school teacher) said it was all about education. “I am open for a day where we have one teacher per student who can tailor to every child’s individual needs. Computers aren’t human enough yet but when they are every single student can rise in whatever direction they want to go in. Wouldn’t that be something?” he said.
