Steve Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box yesterday — and had a few things to say about the state of the high tech nation.

Isaacson — who is currently crowdsourcing editorial comments for his new book on digital innovators throughout history — claimed that Google is outgunning Apple when it comes to innovation.

Describing Google’s purchase of Tony Fadell’s Nest Labs as a bigger development than Apple selling iPhones on the China Mobile network, Isaacson talked about Apple like it was, in some ways, an empire past its prime.

“Fadell was one of the team that created the iPod,” Isaacson noted. “He was very deep into the Apple culture… when Apple was so innovative.”

Isaacson also had some thoughts on what Apple’s late CEO would have done about the situation:

“I think Steve Jobs would have wanted as the next disruptive thing to either have wearable-like watches or TV, an easy TV that you can walk into the room and say ‘put on Squawk Box‘ … or disrupt the digital camera industry or disrupt textbooks.”

The biographer and former Time magazine editor suggested that Tim Cook needs to seize control of Apple in the way that Jobs did in the past — and to plot his next big play.
“In the late February shareholders meeting, they probably have to start thinking about who should be on the board next,” Isaacson said. “This board is all Steve Jobs’ people. They aren’t exactly the Tim Cook fan club.””We ought to see in 2014, Apple do something huge,” he concluded.

• SourceCNBC