Missing at Apple: Where's the Vision?

A lot has been made, and will continue to be made about the lack of new products and jaw-dropping moments at this year's Macworld Keynote. It's the not the lack of a new Mac Mini, or new iMac that worries me. It's not that the iPhone nano still hasn't materialized. It's that the over-arching vision for the company doesn't seem to exist anymore.

Probably the most distinct, singular vision from Apple came when Steve Jobs proclaimed the Mac would serve as a digital hub. With this vision, everything from iTunes to iPhoto and even drivers were designed. The digital hub vision guided each part of the company. Jobs' proclamation of the digital hub though was nearly eight years ago now. Two years ago we were first introduced to the iPhone, Apple's most innovative product in quite some time. When you make a product that's cool, intuitive, and groundbreaking, you can get a great response. The problem is, at some point if you're a maker of more than one device, each item needs to work together, and form the core of what the company's overall strategy will be over the next several years.

What is Apple's strategy now? All indications are to take the products they're already making, and make them incrementally better. Other electronics companies have been doing this for years, but this isn't what we expect from Apple. There should be a clear vision of where we go from here. With the capabilities of the iPhone and iPod, the Mac as a digital hub is dated. What's the new vision? Is it everything in "the cloud?" Is it everything you need in life, to go? While Apple has slowly, dipped a toe into both of these visions, you can't push a cloud strategy while overcharging for MobileMe and soon charging for iWork.com , You can't push a take-your-life-with-you strategy when people can't even copy and paste.

Tell us where you're going Apple. What's it all about?