Hmmm. This is an interesting one here.

On the one hand, we simply can't dismiss Woz by stating nonsense such as "he hasn't designed UI", "hasn't been involved with Apple since 1987", and "Jobs is the reason for Apple's success." Because that's all simply bullshit. UI, UX, Steve Jobs, him not being involved with Apple since the plane crash - has zero to do with this post and our discussion of it. So some of you need to cut out the Apple fanboy bullshit.

Now, to his thoughts. But first, let's define "creative" because reading some posts in here, I'm alerted to many of you not knowing what that even means.

"Creative" is defined as "Relating to or involving the imagination or original ideas, esp. in the production of an artistic work"

Does Apple have any more original ideas? Of course it does. Perhaps there are some still left in the pipeline from the Jobs era (these companies have long roadmaps). Jony Ive is still there and he's quite creative unless I'm mistaken. So creativity will flow. Albeit from different sources and no, Tim Cook is not creative. He's simply the supply chain guru. Are these "original ideas" good? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe they'll fail. They can still, however, be creative.

Has Apple released any "original ideas" in the past 3-4 years - I'd say no, they haven't. The iPad might have been the last really "original" concept (if you can even call it that, but hell with it, they can have it). The iPod, the iPhone - what else? The GUI, no. They didn't inven the laptop. See - not much originality here. I digress.

Microsoft. They might be considered more "creative" (by Woz) because of their departure from the desktop with Windows 8 - so in essence, they're being more "creative" because the ideas are more original than iOS4>5>6, iPhone 2>3>4>5>5S and iPad 1>2>3>4 (all refreshes). We also have the new voice recognition initiative which, if successful, will be a big game changer for Microsoft. WAY more "creative" than Siri or anything from Cupertino. Can Microsoft's "creative" ideas fail? Of course. And from what I've been reading and personally have experienced, Windows 8 RT is not that good, and confusing.

So, yeah, seems Woz is right so far, doesn't it?

It's a multi-dimensional issue here of creativity and innovation. Apple simply isn't innovating, whether you want to admit it or not. They appeal to the consumer, they're a solid company, huge margins, and that's fine. I've owned most every product they've ever made from XServes to Mac Pro's to Newtons to Powerbooks to the IIe and Peformas, list goes on. I love the company. I wrote my first program in BASIC on a IIe.

Will a flat-screen TV from Apple be considered "innovative" or "creative" maybe a little creative but it's certainly NOT what Woz is talking about.

Remember, Woz is an engineer, so he's not here to market consumer products and sell 5 million of them in a quarter. He's speaking purely on innovation and creativity in technology. He loves technology. You can tell. From the CL9 remote to devices and what not - he loves the craft. So he's right, Apple isn't being creative, they're just constantly refreshing products to stay competitive in an insanely competitive market. They sort of have to. The iPhone 5S is already slated for June! What in the hell will be different about than the current 5?! An A6X and... Unless that phone charges wirelessly, is 1mm thin, and has a new cutting-edge battery for 40 hours of talk time - there's NOTHING creative or innovative about it.

So, maybe Woz is right. Microsoft is taking bolder steps, they're breaking from the norm of Windows desktops, getting into a different space, taking risks, trying innovative concepts such as voice translation. To me and apparently Woz, that's more innovative than "the new iPad"