Has Apple Lost Its Simplicity without Steve Jobs?

One thing Apple has mastered is the art of simplicity. Few would know how the company achieved this better than Ken Segall, a creative director at Apple for twelve years who was personally responsible for introducing the lowercase-i into Apple’s product line: iMac, iPod, iPad, etc. Simplicity permeates all aspects of Apple, perhaps most crucially — for the bottom line, at least — the buyer’s shopping experience.

Shopping for a PC can involve going over hundreds of different models while the customer must compare each one to what they want, what they could want, and what all the differences mean for their future use. Choice is a good thing, and having a computer that fits perfectly to your needs is fantastic, but too many choices can give a person what is known as “decision paralysis.”

This is where Apple comes in. The iPod had just four different versions, from the Shuffle to the iPod Video. Giving people four choices catered to their needs and made decision making a lot easier in the long run. As a result, people feel that Apple understands them, understands what they want and need. Those wants and needs are shown in these few products, and as people feel more understood by a company, they become loyal to that company.

Ken Segall’s newest book is Think Simple: How Smart Leaders Defeat Complexity.