Have an account? Log in to leave your comments!
journal: toy
iPods, Smart Phones, iLife and Word
Like smart phones, Microsoft apps are a Jack of all trades but a master of none.
Note: I am currently on holiday so I will not be able to respond to any comments or emails until I get back on August 9th.
iPod Killer. It’s a title that’s been thrown around for months and months. Many devices have come and gone and yet I don’t see the ground littered with the bloody bodies of dead iPods. Where is this massacre of all things white, silver and Appley? Well this months iPod Killer is yet again the mobile phone. They’re now gonna have HD’s in as well as high quality camera’s, MP3 players, the internet (yes, the whole internet), games, a cure for common cold and the kitchen sink. So why are these damn iPods still here?
Well, the answer to that is that people just don’t want a device that does everything. They constantly complain about the terrible interfaces on phones and how they just aren’t nice to use. I mean, give a man an iPod and he’ll work it out in a few minutes. Give a man a smart phone and you might as well wait for the oceans to dry up before he figures out how to use it. The iPod is designed to play music. That’s what it’s interface was designed for, playing music. And it does one hell of a good job of it. Granted they can now display photo’s but the interface transfers well to that, especially with the implementation Apple has produced.
So where am I going with this? Well basically it is better to have lots of devices that are all designed to do their jobs well, than one that tries to do everything. Apple understands this, many other people do not. Microsoft is one of the companies that apparently doesn’t. Like smart phones, Microsoft apps are a Jack of all trades but a master of none. But it’s just the way Microsoft is, it wants to be everything to everyone. Unfortunately this is it’s biggest problem.
Look at Word. You could easily split it up into several separate programs, each designed to do what they do and that alone. And then you could integrate them. Apple has seen this. Instead of merging iPhoto, iTunes, iDVD, iMovie and GarageBand all into one huge super app it has made them into separate apps that all integrate seamlessly. Apple want’s to make lots of devices that all integrate well.
So until someone realises that they need to release a whole line of products that integrate well with each other, instead of one über product then the iPod will remain king. And by the looks of things, nobody seems to be near there yet.
 |
9 | 1321 |
| comments | views |
thinkback
If you are poor, MP3 playing CD walkmans are really good, you can fit an incredible amount of music on a single disc that costs maybe ten cents if you buy a spindle. If Apple made a reasonably priced iPod CD they could make a(nother) fortune, and an added bonus would be being able to play audio CDs.
| Aug. 04, 2005 | |
| 9:39 pm |
Didn’t something like 700 million cell phones get sold last year? I bet the current “hot” phone sells a lot more than the iPod does. No one is saying that some other device will put an end to Apple’s ability to sell iPods (like you seem to be suggesting) but a cell phone with an integrated MP3 player will outsell an iPod easily if it becomes the next “hot” phone. From what I understand, camera phones outsell digital cameras something like 10 to 1. Since camera companies are always looking for the next gimick it should come as no surprise that the next gen of phones will have mp3 capability and will easily outsell the iPod. First it was internet browsing and sports scores, then it was color screens, then cameras, and next it will be MP3 players.
And you couldn’t resist the Microsoft jab, huh? You have no idea what you’re talking about. I guess you’ve never used Pages because it’s easily Apple’s crappy version of MS Word that tries to be everything to everyone.
iTunes 4.9 already handles pictures and videos in an interface that can’t really support them. It makes WMP10 look well designed by comparison.
hmm. when was the last time that any ms product actually worked well? actually, if we were to get on the topic of microsoft,, then all hell would break loose, and that’s not what we’re talking about..
anyways, currently the ipod is the best selling mp3 player. why is that? because of the way apple markets it. the ipod has a great interface, and a sleek look, but what really sells the ipod is how apple markets it. a good majority of the time the reason why a kid buys an ipod,, is because its the popular thing to do.. you don’t hear anyone talking about owning a rio.
also, you can’t bring up the subject of cell phones, because they don’t count. you need a cell phone. the ipod is a toy not a tool (well, usually). also, a good majority of the people that buy (hot phones) also buy ipods.
by the way.. if you were to look into consumer details you’d realise that the ipod and its accessories are the top selling consumer electronics in the US. you create a good marketing plan and you win. so, i think that even if a cellphone/ mp3 player comes out, consumers won’t just the product they also buy the way its marketed. and right now,, apple is taking over the marketing world. not to mention,, many people are fed up with typical consumer electronics are hungry for something different and that’s what apple has to offer.. something completely different. this is also why a majority of pc users switch to mac. they’re tired of the same old same old,,, and apple knows this. and that’s how they put themselves out.
Your Word analogy is flawed. If Microsoft had instead of making Office a suite had made it into one big app, then it would be valid.
A better app to use in that analogy would be Netscape.
It is a web browser, an email client, and a WYSIWYG HTML editor. So what apps is Word made of that would be better as a suite?
| Aug. 10, 2005 | |
| Liam | 2:08 pm |
A Word Processor, A DTP app and a WYSIWYG HTML editor. The stupid thing is that MS already has Publisher and Freepage (though whether what freepage puts out can be classed as HTML is debatable) yet they try and make Word do the jobs of these as well. MS should try and accept that they can’t be everything to everyone. Sure, they would lose market share rapidly as people look for alternatives suited towards them, but the customers MS does target will be happier because they won’t have loads of bloated apps filled with features they will never use. I never judge an app by it’s feature list but by how those features are implemented. This is why Words feature list is impressive but it’s features aren’t
|
| Aug. 10, 2005 | |
| 2:51 pm |
Very few people “need” a cell phone especially a $300 phone with a camera and mp3 capability. Very few people need to upgrade their phone as much as they do. Nowadays, people’s cell phones (two way pagers, sidekicks etc.) are just as much a toy as anything else.
And what makes you believe that “a good majority” of people buying hot phones buy iPods?
Obviously there’s no data on that but considering that the iPod has 30% overall marketshare it would be fair to say that most people buy other digital audio players although no single one is more popular than the iPod.
http://www.macminute.com/2005/06/21/ipod-ma rket-share/
And no the iPod and it’s accessories are not the best selling consumer electronics devices in the U.S.
Cell Phones, Smart Phones, and PDA sell much better as do their accessories (car chargers, batteries, cases, face plates). Not to mention that Sony has sold someting like 90 million PS2’s in the last 5 years and each one of those has a memory card or two, an extra controller, and a few games sold along with it.
DVD players outsell iPods, PC’s outsell iPods (although Macs don’t) and I bet TV’s outsell iPods too.
Pilky…
You have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t know how else to say that.
First, it’s called Frontpage not “Freepage”.
Second, Microsoft Office (and Word) is targeted towards businesses not consumers. That’s where
Microsoft Works fits in.
People who use Word and Office for business use a lot more of those features you say no one uses. (note that Star Office and Open Office have many of those same features because they are targeted at the same group)
Microsoft Works comes with Works Word Processor which has many less features.
Yes, apple know show to make apps for one purpose.
Look at iTunes. It’s a cd ripper. It’s a music player. It’s a movie player. It a program to load picture onto the iPod. It’s a program to access iTms. It’s a program to manage your music. It’s a program to print cd cases.
What is the purpose of iTunes again? What’s teh single app for one purpose idea again?
1.
I spy, with my little eye, one misplaced apostroph...i.