Steve Wozniak: Apple No Longer the 'Cool Guy'

Last week former Microsoft executive Joachim Kempin accused chief executive officer Steve Ballmer and chairman Bill Gates of sucking the cool out of Microsoft. That prompted some critics to wonder if Microsoft had ever been cool in the first place.

However, it's much more shocking when someone accuses industry rival Apple of losing its cool. But that's exactly what Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak suggested in a recent interview.

Apple's Cool: "We Kind of Are Losing That," Wozniak Says

"We used to have these ads, I'm a Mac and I'm a PC, and the Mac was always the cool guy," Wozniak told Bloomberg while in Berlin, before adding that "it's painful ... we kind of are losing that." (Source: businessweek.com)

Wozniak indicated that this could allow the competition to catch up with Apple in the highly-lucrative and intensely competitive mobile market.

In particular, Wozniak suggested that he believes Microsoft's Windows Phone platform will gain "enough critical mass to keep going with their tablets and phones," and that this could present a problem for the company he helped to found.

A solution to the problem, Wozniak suggests: opening up third-party devices to Apple software. For example, products like iTunes might become more popular if they were compatible with hardware products from Microsoft or Google. (Source: pcmag.com)

Apple Stock Continues to Slide

No doubt Wozniak's comments are tied to Apple's sliding stock, as company shares have plunged 34 per cent since September 2012. Many experts see this as some indication that the company needs to introduce a new product to compliment the iPhone, iPad, and iPod.

For many consumers, a new iDevice every year just isn't necessary.

However, while Wozniak gave props to Microsoft, he also indicated that Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and other competitors were continuing to struggle to match Apple when it comes to product innovation.

Those companies "all have great ideas," Wozniak said, "but sometimes you need a critical mass of loyal users that will instantly buy and go this direction ... Apple is really good at setting a standard with a new device. Apple still has its halo in that regard." (Source: businessweek.com)