Sorry Apple, you’ve lost it.

There was a time when you could divide the world into two distinct types of people. Like two separate species. With diametrically opposed brain wiring and polar opposite tastes. As distinct as Venus and Mars.

One type dominated the Apple universe. The other the PC universe.

Members of the PC universe were left-brain polarised. Rational, analytical, objective, functional, mathematical, impersonal.

Members of the Apple universe were right-brain polarised. Intuitive, creative, artistic, personal, relational.

The PC sub-species was driven by functionality. (They probably invented the word.)

The Apple sub-species was attracted to aesthetics, beauty, order and design. (To them, function was a given, not an end in itself.)

Only one brand, Apple, dominated the Apple universe.

A myriad of brands occupied the PC universe and still do.

Curiously enough, function-driven PC computers were difficult to operate. You needed to be somewhat of a tech-head just to figure out how to turn one on.

Apple, the beauty-driven brand, was a dream to use. You didn’t need a manual – you just followed your instincts and everything flowed logically and seamlessly.

If you were in the PC camp you looked down upon Apple aficionados as impractical aesthetes.

If you were in the Apple camp you looked down upon PC devotees as tasteless troglodytes.

Regardless of where you stand on this great divide, Apple’s right-brain design-led approach saw them become the first trillion dollar company in history.

But all is not rosy in Appleland today.

First, as a point of comparison, let’s spool back in time to 1998.

Steve Jobs has recently been lured back to Apple after running Pixar, while the computer company he founded has slipped into decline.

His first new product is the revolutionary bubble iMac, a translucent egg-shaped computer in an eye-popping range of bubble-gum colours. Blueberry, Grape, Tangerine, Lime and Strawberry.

I remember, as if it was only this morning, lifting my brand new Bondi-Blue iMac out of its box.

It didn’t come with an instruction manual. Or any directions. In fact, apart from the iMac name, I don’t think there was a single word on the box, or inside it.

There was just a card containing three simple graphics. A four-year-old could tell what the graphics meant.

1. Take out of box. 2. Plug into power point. 3. Switch on.

And you know what? It worked. Perfectly. Instantly. Intuitively. No need for further instruction.

Now, spooling forward to 2019, you have to ask yourself, WTF happened?

If you buy a Mac Air today – a truly beautiful piece of sculpture – you’ll discover it has no USB port. To use a USB, as just about everyone does, you need to purchase a clunky ‘dongle’ to attach to your Mac.

Buy the latest Apple keyboard and mouse and you’ll discover the mouse is wireless. Very clever. What an amazing innovation. Only one catch. You get no warning when it’s about to run out of power.

But you can be almost guaranteed, it will be when you’re racing to complete a presentation you need to send off in the next two minutes.

At this point you’ll discover that to power up your beautifully-styled Apple mouse you have to lay it on its side to fit the power jack underneath it.

In other words, you can’t power it and use it at the same time. No walking and chewing gum here.

And I’m sure these aren’t the only examples of – let’s face it – chronically bad design.

This is the sign of a business that has got too big and too puffed up with its own importance for its own good.

A corporation where, perhaps, the CEO doesn’t even try out their new products any more.

I’m reminded of the story of Steve Jobs tossing a new iPhone prototype (probably worth millions of dollars) across the room to smash into the wall because he didn’t like the tone of the click it made when he turned it on.

That’s passion. That’s perfectionism. That’s design-led at its most devotional.

And as a long time member of the Apple sub-species, I’m sorry to say...

Apple, you’ve lost it.

– Anon