Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Gets Steve Wozniak’s Respect

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has been a long-term-planning company, really working to not just produce products, but to design truly innovative platforms, software and devices that set the company apart from many competitors, including longtime rival Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL). In a recent interview with tech site TechCrunch, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak gave his old company’s longtime rival some respect for the work i t has been doing in the tech sector, while at the same time expressing concern that his former company could be falling behind in innovation when it produces “improved” devices every few months.

You can see the interview clip here, in which Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is the subject of one of about five questions Wozniak fielded after giving a talk to attendees at the TEDx Conference in Brussels.

When asked about whether Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) is more innovative than Apple Inc (AAPL), Wozniak said, “I have really seen some of that innovation where, ‘Whoa, they have really changed things drastically;’ ‘Whoa, they’re not even going in the same direction as everyone else,’ meaning in terms of the iPhone and iPad and the Android operating systems. … I feel that Microsoft has been sitting in their laps, trying to innovate, with a formula.  That they’re thinking, ‘How do we come up with new ideas? Let’s not keep doing the same things as before, just newer versions of them.’ They might have been doing that for three years while Apple was used to cranking out the new iPhone and falling behind a little bit, and that worries me greatly.”

Why does that worry Wozniak so much? He doesn’t see Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) being Apple. “Improving is not Apple-style innovation,” he said.

Do you agree with what Wozniak is saying? Has Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) lost its innovative edge, and has Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) advanced in innovation with is current services, software and Windows OS? Does this affect how you see Microsoft as a company if you were an investor like billionaire Seth Klarman of Baupost Group? We’d love to know your thoughts!