[Comfy]

There is also the thing that the iPhone will be for phones what the iPod was for mp3 players, or what Apple computers are compared to the rest of computers.

There are loads of nameless, cloned mp3 players, all with the same basic functions and different looks, all with different user interfaces and so on.
And then there is the iPod, which is the reference. You get an iPod, and you get a feeling that you are "there".

There are also countless mobile phone models, each with their own shortcomings and specifications. All major phone manufacturers bringing out new models all the time, making your purchase feel outdated from the moment you walk out of the store. Here too, the iPhone will be a reference.
The next reference will be the next iPhone: smaller, thinner, quicker, with more capacity. But still an iPhone.

It's like the competition were PCs, where you have to fiddle by yourself for ages to get everything working as you want it, while purchasing a Mac gives you all you needed since day 1. Of course, if you love the fiddling part, as some of us here do, then you might want to look at Nokia's offerings. (Hey, I'm a finn, gotta do this for the national economy...)

 

[m_memmory]

I'm not so certain that the iPhone will be to the phone market what the iPod was to the MP3 market. When the iPod came out it was the first product that offered something that just worked and did what we were wanting.

I think that there are many phones out there that do what people want them to do if your willing to look.

I could be wrong and Apple could've found themselves yet another market to enter and dominate but I think the mobile phone market is a bit harder to crack then the MP3 market was. And although they are getting a larger segment of the PC market it's not like they dominate that is it?

 

[st5150]

Quote:

Originally Posted by m_memmory /img/forum/go_quote.gif When the iPod came out it was the first product that offered something that just worked and did what we were wanting.

What??? When was this? When the ipod came out, it was overpriced and only worked with Macs. People laughed at Jobs for thinking people would buy macs just to use an ipod.

 

[Comfy]

Which company sells more PCs than Apple then?

And the main attraction of the iPhone is not the phone, as I've stated above, but it will be the iPod of pocket sized computers and internet devices.

The phone is just one more feature. Personally I think the only added advantage of the phone is that I don't have to carry the RAZR in my other pocket. For me the iPhone means fully operative internet and a wide screen video iPod in one pocket. The perfect portable media device.

 

[m_memmory]

Quote:

Originally Posted by st5150 /img/forum/go_quote.gif What??? When was this? When the ipod came out, it was overpriced and only worked with Macs. People laughed at Jobs for thinking people would buy macs just to use an ipod.

I maybe mistaken but wasn't the iPod the first HDD portable MP3 player? And wasn't it the interaction between the iPod and iTunes that made things all the better then anything else around?

I do remember quite a few people that were buying firewire cards for their PC's so that they could get an iPod when they first supported Windows. In fact I looked at it myself but the added cost of a firewire card decided against it for me (this was when iPods didn't work on USB)

 

[Electric_Mofo]

Apple will NEVER! EVER! dominate the phone market, its just impossible, its far too saturated and they cant with just one phone. Even if it becomes the best selling phone in history it still wont put a dent in SE, Nokia and Motorola's marketshare. If my calculations are correct apple will need to sell at least 2 1/2 billion phones to become market leader. But lets wait and see, also c'mon people calm down abit, In my honest humble opinion its not revolutionary at all. There's phones that do TV, Music, Broadband internet, GPS, Full internet streaming, candybar phones, clamshell phones etc one phone isn't just gonna change people's minds.

 

[m_memmory]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Comfy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Which company sells more PCs than Apple then? And the main attraction of the iPhone is not the phone, as I've stated above, but it will be the iPod of pocket sized computers and internet devices. The phone is just one more feature. Personally I think the only added advantage of the phone is that I don't have to carry the RAZR in my other pocket. For me the iPhone means fully operative internet and a wide screen video iPod in one pocket. The perfect portable media device.

Maybe Apple sells more physical PC's then any other company ... but if looking at the operating system how many use Windows? How many run some version of Linux? And then how many use Apples OS? I know many many people who own PC's (seeing as almost every household I know have at least 1) but I only know one person running OS X while everyone else is running some version of Windows on their system. This doesn't show me that Apple is dominating this market. In fact if I take the 70-80 or so people that I know (I know - way too small a sample and in no way indicative of the world as a whole) then Dell are outselling Apple quite well.

Personally I think the phone looks brilliant and I really want more companies to follow Apples lead and create good user interfaces with a screen that looks that good.

However it's going to take something really special for me to give up my HTC phone. It runs Windows Mobile 5 (which many don't like but it works fine for me) so I'm able to easily sync with WinXP and it runs the fully operational internet and can run wide screen video on it (although personally I don't want portable video) The big plus for me is that it has a slide out full QWERTY keyboard which, when creating Word documents or emails on the move, is a very big help.

 

[LFC_SL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by m_memmory /img/forum/go_quote.gif I maybe mistaken but wasn't the iPod the first HDD portable MP3 player? And wasn't it the interaction between the iPod and iTunes that made things all the better then anything else around?

Off topic, but some obscure company was first, followed by Creative I think. That's moot. iPod made it due to implementation. iTunes and style

As for the iPhone, unless they're willing to offer it at great contract deals in line with competition in the higher range outside of America, it will not sell enough. But that's not their plan. 1 billion phones sold last year? They only wanna sell 10 million, or 1% of the market share by 2008. I think Apple understand in the mobile phone market, a phone lasts maybe 3 months. They've put out a product that they want people to think is light years ahead. Their target of 1 million in the first year is realism on their part. They're not looking to soak everyone. Just make a splash to be noticed

 

[rhymesgalore]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Comfy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Which company sells more PCs than Apple then?

Apple is VERY far from being the company that sells the most PCs worldwide.
The top leading brands are HP, Dell, Acer, Lenovo and Toshiba.
According to studies from IDC, they hold not more than 5% market share in worldwide computer sales. Dell and HP on the other side hold about 30% each...

Only in the US itself, Apple is on place 4, but the market share there is not over 6% as well. (In the last quarter of 2006 it was 5.8%, whereas Dell and HP had 31% each)

 

[swmtnbiker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Comfy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Which company sells more PCs than Apple then?

Dell and HP to name two, but the sales figures for individual PC companies are irrelevant. Apple products represent a only very small niche in the overall personal computer market. There are scores of companies that sell Wintel systems, and they outnumber Apple computers by the millions and millions. Only Apple sells Apple.

 

[MdRex]

Something that I would actually want! too bad that it is probably out of my affordability range.

 

[Comfy]

I was just asking a question... please notice the question mark at the end of the phrase...

Ok, so there are four companies that sell more PCs than Apple.
Doesn't change the fact that Apple is still some sort of a reference when talking about easy to use, problem free, good looking PCs. For some reason most image editing professionals and sound technicians choose Apple.

Anyway, what I was trying to do was to establish an analogy between the gizmo cluttered worlds of mp3-players, mobile phones and computers, as opposed to the almost zen-like simplicity of Apple products in all these fronts.

I believe that the iPhone will be the iPod of PDAs, smartphones and internet devices for this reason.

Please keep in mind that "being the iPod of something" doesn't mean that everybody and their mother will have one. It is still a niche product. Albeit an extremely cool one. The iPod didn't break the bank until 5G or so. Until then it was just for some weirdos willing to pay some extra for great looks and ease of use and technological breakthrough.

The iPhone will be the iPod of smartphones and watchamacallits of the sort.

 

[LFC_SL]

If they do something similar to the iPhone minus the telephony stuff, camera and internet things in the autumn I'd be tempted. Come on Stevie boy!

 

[rhymesgalore]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Comfy /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was just asking a question...

and you just recieved an answer

 

[Comfy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhymesgalore /img/forum/go_quote.gif and you just recieved an answer

Lots of answers...

Seems that the only way to get some responses here is to make a factual mistake, no matter how unrelated or unimportant that fact might be to the original topic. Thanks for your attention.