Neither AirPods nor Apple Watch come off as impressive? That's pretty pessimistic. I'd say both were highly innovative and impressive -- further pushing miniaturization both of the physical hardware and the user interface.

Again.. optimization ( done well )

Except that neither of which were invented by Apple?

Apple didn't invent the smart phone or the mp3 player either.

You mean a watch you can't use to see the time as frequently as a normal mechanical watch or the battery would die?

Not just that but also refinement. When I bought my first MacBook around 2008 it wasn't innovative, but it had a lot of small things that other laptops lacked. The touchpad and MagSafe connector was superior. When you closed your laptop it went to sleep and it actually worked. Also, a lot of other things. Now you get touchbar and memojis and other gimmicks.

The only thing I want that Apple currently makes is a UK phone charger[1]. Its folding mechanism is far superior to any other charger. These things are what I really miss.

[1]https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/product/MU7W2B/A/18w-usb-c-pow...

I don't think making an observation about a company's lack of innovation comes off the wrong way at all. Apple hasn't done anything new and noteworthy in some time. That's fine. Pointing it out is fine too.

I definitely noticed that the removed the esc key :)

Apple Watch is a joy to use. Helps you be more active, tracks your cardio, remote controls the TV, timers alarms flashlight messages EKG, I use it a ton and love it. Made under Tim Cook

In what way was the Apple watch innovative over the Pebble?

Edit: I realize that might be very direct, I have no knowledge of the smart watch market, only remember that Pebble seemed to be first in the space.

The Pebble, as a black and white e-ink Watch, was more of a niche offering. Apple created a sleek, colorful product with mass market appeal that was also deeply integrated with the phone. So basically it was innovative in every way and also not in any way, as a matter of interpretation?

Android Wear was introduced a year ahead(2014) of Apple Watch(2015) with everything you stated. It was still great but not as innovative as the iPhone or the iPod was.

Thanks! I don't wear a watch so a smart watch doesn't appeal to me, so I never followed the product releases but you miss some of the nuanced history if you try and read what happened after the fact.

Apple has never invented anything truly innovative.

All they do (and all they have ever done) was reinvent the wheel. They do, however, consistently reinvent the wheel better than anyone else.

Case in point: In literally the year 2000, I owned an HP Jornada 548 pocket pc, complete with a wireless modem that worked on cell phone networks. It ran Windows CE, and I was able to surf the web, use AOL instant messenger, ICQ, do voice recordings (even transcription), handwriting recognition, play games, and yes, even make phone calls. But it was clunky, and it wasn't something that I would even dream of recommending to my grandmother (because the UI was terrible and slow, and it required a lot of fiddling with things to get it dialed in the way I liked it).

Contrast that with the iPhone (which was released a full 7 years later). Was it the first smart phone? Obviously not. But it was the first smart phone that I could honestly recommend to my grandmother.

While I mostly agree with you, the iPad Pro is the exception. It's really one of my favorite purchases ever.

Which products, services, whatever have impressed you?

What about AirPods?