>But how real is it? Much of the commentary on American decline these days rests on rather loose analysis, on impressions that the United States has lost its way, that it has abandoned the virtues that made it successful in the past, that it lacks the will to address the problems it faces. Americans look at other nations whose economies are now in better shape than their own, and seem to have the dynamism that America once had, and they lament, as in the title of Thomas Friedman’s latest book, that “that used to be us.”
[1] http://foreignpolicy.com/2012/10/08/declinism-is-america-and...
[2] https://newrepublic.com/article/99521/america-world-power-de...
While you may be right that people are reacting incorrectly, it's significantly easier for a single corporation headed by 1 person to actually decline than it would be for an entire democratic nation.
From 25:45 to 30:39 (5 minutes), discussing the Mac's past. From 30:39 to 35:00 (4 minutes), introducing the new MacBook Pro. From 35:00 to 36:07 (2 minutes), discussing the history of the function keys (on an IBM terminal, not discussing Apple's history). From 36:07 to 73:21 (37 minutes), discussing the new MacBook Pro. From 73:21 to 74:21 (1 minute), showing the new MacBook Pro next to a PowerBook 100. From 74:21 to 79:37 (5 minutes), discussing the new MacBook Pro.
Generously, they spent 8 minutes total referencing the past (3 minutes of that was for framing the new product) and 46 minutes exclusively talking about the new product.
not by a long shot. I see this kind of statement all the time from apple fans about apples oh-so-unique innovations, and it's rarely something that hasnt been done before
I could give several examples of more novel features in the last decade, but that's subjective, and this isnt: the touch bar concept has been done before [0] (and better imo)
0: http://www.pcworld.com/article/3136325/computers/razers-radi...
http://www.wallpaper.com/design/apple-charts-twenty-years-of...