Heeeeey you - a loyal reader of this blog. You have stuck with me this far and I've got a treat for you - my thoughts and speculations on the mighty Apple corporation. Even though u might have expect me to pick Google I purposefully decided not to transcend their monopoly in the real world into my blog. Plus, I think Apple is an interesting company to discuss.
All in all company has a bright future in my opinion and I'd like to discuss two (currently three) product lines.
The first and most prominent at the moment is the line of iPods. Apple has done a tremendous job in infiltrating and taking over CD and mp3 players with their portable players. In fact, iPod nano is the most popular player that has ever been sold. You can see white headphones all over the city now - in fact I have 3 iPods myself. Despite their current success I believe that iPods as they are right now are going to be fading away and giving way to musical phones. Cell phone manufacturers are building better phones that integrate everything from cameras to music/video players to personal computers into cell phone. They are making phones with bigger memory capacity, better video quality and convenience ways to download music. That is why I think it is just a matter of time that people won't be using a separate device to play their music. I personally am not an early adopter but I go with the flow and common sense. Why carry around an phone and an iPod when I can have an iPhone (or smth similar). [probability of this happening is around 85% - just to be safe]
That brings me to the second product line, soon to replace the ipods in my opinion. The new iPhone offers all of the entertainment features that users are looking for and combines them with sleek design. And Apple introduced the product just at the right time. Thus it was swept from the stores in no time. I think that with a few modifications this product holds great potential. However, cell phone market is very tough because of tremendous competition. Apple is not experience in cell phone industry - this is in fact their first phone. With Google phone coming out and HTC, Nokia perfecting their product lines it will surely be a tough game. [ehh i'm not sure about probability for this one. I guess I can tie it in with Apple completely switching to iPhone and eliminating ipods at 85%].
To clarify, by eliminating ipods I do not mean that there will not be a product that Apple sells called and ipod that looks like smth what we have right now. I mean switching the role of an ipod as a "walkman" player and handing it over to iPhone.
Another reason I think that Apple will succeed and be around for a while is because they have a loyal customer base. Apple has a very distinct style and they are always looking for innovations and approaching things from a different angle and perspective. And hey - what do you know! - the third product line, Mac Computers, comes into play. Recently Apple has made a brilliant move - offering Windows as an option for operating system of Mac computers. I think this is a great idea because Microsoft does dominate software and OS market right now and the only way Mac can push their computers is if they offer Windows as an operating system as well. Also, I really like their iMac - a sleek computer where all of the components are inside the monitor. That's right - no more annoying Desktop towers. while it offers limited flexibility this computer is an excellent option for consumers willing to pay top price for top of the line product.
As I'm getting tired and losing concentration i think it's time to end this post. True, there is much to say about Apple but I am confident that this company will thrive even if it encounters drawbacks and obstacles.
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5 comments:
Do you really think they would eliminate the ipod and all versions of it entirely? I mean yea the iphone is great, but not everyone can afford it and not everyone even wants it. If they did that, I think it would definitely be a future threat to the company.
I don't know if they're going to do this right now. I am talking about down the line in 5-10 years. Remember how cd's and vhs god phased out in a matter of a few years? Well I think with current developments in cellphone industry advanced cell phones will become much more available and even now u see that every phone has a camera and music player. Imagine if you can get an iphone or a similar device for $100-150 with your contract - wouldn't u go for it instead of spending the same amount of money on ipod?
Hey, I m not sure that iPhone would eliminate iPod completely, because as I m finding out some people dont like the touch screen for some reason. I ve purchased the iPhone myself a couple of weeks ago, and I think it is great. First, i dont have to carry an mp3 player and a phone in my small bag, which is usually overstuffed anyway. Also, the price is not that bad. With the contract I paid a very low price( i cannot say it here, ask me in a class and I ll tell you:), but even with a regular price of $ 400 (with a contract) for a phone and mp3 player, i think it is a great deal!
Hey nice post!
However... I honestly don't think phones post a threat to the iPod. If anything music capable phones pose a threat to the iPhone. The reason why I think that iPods don't face a challenge from musical phones, is that phones don't have enough "stand-out" features to actually combat the iPod. They don't have the magnificent LCD screens that Apple has implemented into the Fall 2007 generation of iPods. The ease of use is greater with an iPod with its touch wheel and simple clicking buttons. With a phone, you'd have to go to different menus and so on. Also, even if you can access the music from the external part of the phone, it isn't as functional as the iPod. Sure you can seek, rewind, pause, and play, but you can't go to the menu or seek a nice display of different feature like Apple's iPod can offer. Besides, who wants to waste their phone battery listening to music? To me making calls are more important, so I'd rather save the battery for that.
Again, with the iPhone eliminating the iPod, i'm not so sure. The iPhone is great, but has it's fair share of problems. Main problem being that the battery has to be shared for the music player and the phone, so playing music and making tons of calls would cause a problem for a user. The iPod Touch taking over the market makes sense, as long as they improve the storage to more than a measly few GB -- at least more than what the Nanos offer.
I 100% agree with your final statement on how nice Apple computers are. They ROCK!
--- Karup
PS: An Apple a day, keeps the doctor away.
My version was: An Apple (product) a day keeps your wallet afraid (expensive products drain your wallet of its money)
=)
to Karup,
think 10-15 years from now. Do you really think battery life will be as much of an issue as it is right now? Also, if you listen to the music/browse through videos on the phone the whole day and talk the battery lasts for the whole day.
Also, in terms of the iPod functionality. iPhone offers better and more interesting functionality in terms of playback. Coverflow is a great feature and when you are on the phone music fades out to allow you to pick up. With different mods iPod navigation is easily available from the menu.
Therefore, I refuse to back down on my statements and stand by my crazy apocalypse scenario for mp3 players and iPod - muhahahahaha
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