Apple Co-founder Wozniak Touts ‘Beautiful’ Windows Phone

Apple has been the subject of a number of provocative comments of late, including the Forrester CEO’s prophecy that Apple is doomed to fall into decline following the passing of the company’s co-founder and former head Steve Jobs.

The latest statements however come from Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who told the technology news blog aNewDomain that he thinks the interface for Apple archrival Microsoft’s Windows Phone is more beautiful than that of Apple’s best-selling and much-lauded iPhone.

More Beautiful

“I’m shocked, every screen is much more beautiful than the same apps on Android and iPhone,” he said. “The iPhone has a lot of beauty and simplicity, and you don’t get lost as much in it, but it is more awkward to use (than Windows Phone 7.5 Mango). I’ll be carrying the Windows Phone with me almost everywhere.”

The comments kicked off an intense debate in the technology community, as gadget aficionados prepare for the impending release of the Windows 8 operating system and the expected launch of the iPhone 5 sometime this year. Wozniak later clarified his comments with a post about the interview that added a new dimension to the controversy, giving love to Apple and at the same time adding more provocative comments as to how the Windows Phone operating system came to be so polished.

“iPhone is my favourite phone. I did give my opinion that the Windows Phone had superior visual appearance and operation cues that were also more attractive. In my opinion, it sets the mark for user interface. I would recommend it over my Android phones, given that it doesn’t yet have the breadth of apps,” he wrote. “I surmise that Microsoft hired someone from Apple and put money into having a role in the UI and appearance of some key apps. I also surmised that Steve Jobs might have been reincarnated at MS due to a lot of what I see and feel with this phone, making me think of a lot of great Apple things.”

Apple Decline?

The comments come on the heels of a blog post by Forrester’s CEO George Colony, who compared Apple’s future to that of Sony, a tech giant that struggled to find a clear vision following the end of co-founder Akio Morita’s run at the company’s helm.

Colony’s 25 April blog post titled “Apple=Sony,” concluded that without Jobs’ “singular charismatic leadership,” risk-taking prowess and “unparalleled ability to envision and design products,” the company was likely to coast for a period of 24 to 48 months, and then fall into decline.

Colony’s comments are in stark contrast to his view last year when in March he predicted that  Apple would eclipse HP and IBM (although of course, it’s logically possible for both to come true).

Colony’s latest blog, as well as Wozniak’s comments, have generated a serious online response, with many technology observers attacking its premise and its conclusions about Apple in the post-Jobs era.

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