Bill Gates recently said,"Time's almost up" saying that the success of the iPod can’t continue in the long term, however good Apple may be & adding that "Apple was once extremely strong with its Macintosh and graphic user interface, like with the iPod today, and then lost its position."
WSJ writes, the trendy pick with the potential to dislodge iPod is cellphones,steadily gaining capabilities and possibilities as Moore's Law delivers more functions and memory for less money. Handset makers and wireless carriers think they have one big advantage in competing with Apple's hit digital-music player: Cellphones are already in most pockets and purses. Moreover, companies have successfully added functions to cellphones as in the camera phone. Could a built-in MP3 player become the next gotta-have-it feature?
It may be too early to write off iPod- it has a number of advantages that may prove more formidable than its challengers imagine.
- Brand : Satisfying an image-conscious kid with another digital-music player shall prove to be difficult. Whereas cellphones command little brand loyalty, with users switching willy-nilly as service agreements end and phones die.
- Design : IPods are superb examples of design - navigating between thousands of songs is only easy. Designwise, many cellphones are a lot like icebergs: one function obvious, the rest submerged and navigable only by the brave. It's a big leap of faith to think handset makers can approach the iPod's ease of use with a jack-of-all-trades device
- Transfer Mechanisms : Mechanisms of transfer to an iPod are straightforward. How it would work with a cellphone. Could you transfer music to a PC? Back it up on a CD-ROM? If phone is lost – can it be reclaimed to the new phone.
- And can a service provider match Apple's price of $1 a song? Ringtones command a premium - up to $4 in some cases - but the only connection between ringtones and songs is musical. Ringtones are made for public consumption; songs remain basically private listening experiences.
Given all these questions,users may decide cellphones' musical capabilities are cool but not particularly useful. After all,the iPod is pretty small already. If the standalone device is significantly easier to use than the combination, why not just carry both? But since gadgets keep getting evolved – chances are better for iCellphones to emerge rather than other way around
Category : iPod
|
