AI is the new Smart Phone

Taking time to point out some things we can learn from Apple as Product Managers.

Apple's WWDC was just over a week ago, and I haven't stopped thinking about their latest AI announcement, Apple Intelligence. And yes, the wordplay is obnoxiously obvious but also pretty clever.

I don't write about new or current events; that's not what this newsletter is about, but I felt I should take a few minutes to point out some things we can learn from Apple as Product Managers.

Apple's launch of AI reminded me of that magical day when the iPhone was announced some 17 years ago.

On January 9, 2007, Steve Jobs walked on stage to reveal the first iPhone. It was quite the feat, although I had my doubts, given the lack of a keyboard and stylus. It was a slow rollout, with limited carriers and stock shortages, not to mention that the iPhone wasn't even available in Canada, where I lived until more than a year later. About two years after the launch, I finally saw the iPhone out in the wild and realized how significant it was.

Fast forward just a few more years, and it seemed everyone had a smart phone, Apple or otherwise. It's hard to recall a time when we didn't. Can you imagine not having such a handy device in your pocket with you everywhere you go? How infuriating is it when you leave the house and forget your phone? So many of us don't even carry a wallet or purse anymore. Pretty soon we will feel this way about AI.

Apple was not first to market with a smartphone either; years before, there was the Palm Treo (2001) and pocket PC (2002), with others entering the space soon after. Apple succeeded where others couldn't, thanks to timing, strategy, execution, and luck.

It's been 17 years since that original iPhone launch, and now 8-year-olds and 100-year-olds alike have smartphones. Apple is poised to kick-start the same level of adoption with generative and assistant-based AI as they did with the cell phone.

Some interesting AI awareness stats to consider

SRI (Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society) published a report on May 27, 2024, with some interesting observations about public adoption of AI.

• Only 30% of respondents had any knowledge of deep fakes

• Awareness of ChatGPT was high, at 63% of respondents

• The usage of AI averages 40% of respondents globally

• Only 21% of respondents trust tech companies to self-regulate AI advancements

This time, the speed at which progress is happening is much faster. It was six years between the Palm Treo and the iPhone. In the world of AI devices, the Rabbit R1 and Humane's AI pin came out just this year. Now, at no additional cost to users, Apple will release generative AI and AI assistants for a much broader population.

However, Apple's market share is still just 28.58%, and the Apple Intelligence slogan is, "AI for the rest of us." I believe it will really be up to Android device manufacturers to truly accomplish this “for the rest of us” unless these latest updates garner Apple a lot more of the market share.

Here are my key observations from Apple's announcement:

• Execution triumphs over first to market:

  Apple could have just bolted AI onto iOS with a dedicated app, or replaced Siri. Instead, they made AI an integral part of their operating system and embedded it into several user flows.

• Remember who you are, don't just adopt the next trend:

  Not every product needs to incorporate AI. Apple destroyed dozens of AI products and companies with their announcements at WWDC, products that were merely AI wrappers, were too complicated for the average user, or relied on distribution through Apple's App Store.

• Slow and steady wins the race:

  Take time to figure out your position and strategy before launching into whatever brave new world awaits you. Apple waited 14 years before launching the calculator app for iPad, and now they've released something unique.

• Generative AI and AI assistants are now free:

  You'll need a good reason to charge extra for AI, Apple has set a precedence here, and it will be hard to fight against that.

• AI needs trust:

  Despite all of its issues, Apple has built a reputation of trust with many people, including governments. Many people will trust Apple when they might not trust other providers of AI tools.

• Even your grandparents will use it:

  Get ready for dorky AI photos from Grams and Gramps. You won't need to be on Discord to create Midjourney-like images or have a paid GPT account to create AI imagery.

• AI is going to get markedly better:

  This will happen, and unlike the progress of smartphones, this will happen very fast. In 2 years, we won't know how we lived without this.

Am I an Apple fanboy? Sure, but I won't defend their terrible ideas, like the touch bar on Mack, butterfly keyboards, iPad bend-gate, antenna gate, Magic Mouse (IYKYK), and battery gate. This is not one of those terrible ideas.

This newest update will have me cancelling my paid ChatGPT account, Grammarly, and more. With so many great AI resources rolled right into iOS for free, will I really need anything else?