Steve Wozniak wishes Apple was less stubborn sometimes

Oct 12, 2012 11:31 GMT  ·  By

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak doesn’t care much for Apple’s decision to make the iPhone 5’s screen taller, but not wider. The Woz believes diversity is the key to keeping a customer base satisfied, but omits business-related aspects that can poke a hole in his theory.

In an interview with TechCentral, Wozniak lamented on Apple’s decision to keep the width of the iPhone intact for six generations in a row, stating “Part of me wishes Apple had not been so arrogant and feeling like ‘We're the only one with the right clue.’ I wish they had made a wider version [of the iPhone 5]…”

He added, “…I think Apple tricked itself by saying ‘Oh, you can reach everything with one thumb.’ I don't see anybody having trouble using the larger screen.”

“But Apple said that as a defensive move because everyone else had larger screens […] Not all people want the same thing. A lot of people really like big screens,” Wozniak believes.

Editor's note It’s hard to issue an unbiased take on Apple’s tech-related decisions with the iPhone 5. Those who track the company will implicitly know a thing or two about its modus operandi.

The Cupertino giant had quite a few reasons to make such an incremental change to the display and it all boils down to market fragmentation.

Apple is known to take small steps when faced with a lucrative business such as the App Store. One resolution too many would have undoubtedly created some disturbance at this point in time. And Apple already has to tackle a lot of issues as of late.

Perhaps a word of reassurance would be nice on behalf of the technology company at 1 Infinite Loop, but that’s not in their nature either. And, considering how the company thrives on the rumors, it's really not in its best interest to just boast the upcoming features in the iPhone 6.

But something tells us that Apple plans to broaden its horizons next year.