iPod vs Mobile/Cell Phones

[Quicksilver]

Bill gates recently said these words to a German news paper.

"As good as Apple may be, I don't believe the success of the iPod is sustainable in the long run," he said in an interview published in Thursday's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung."

Source: macrumors.com | cnn.com

While I personally believe this is true, I believe that Apple is only cashing in on as much of what the market can handle at this moment in time. I also believe that once there is a significant change because of mobile devices overtaking iPod sales and market share that apple will have a plan in place to rectify this issue. I HOPE.

I am happy for what apple has achieved with the iPod so far. Though, It would be a real shame if it was lost because of trying to pull over the market to somewhere it may not go.

[Ceroc Addict]

I partly agree with what Gates says and I partly think he's full of crap.

On the one hand, it seems that phones are eventually going to replace iPods/mp3 players because of the convenience factor of having an "all-in-one" device.

On the other hand:

• There are a number of situations in which I just want an mp3 player and not a phone. e.g. While jogging.

• I can think of a number of reasons (the big one being battery life) why I'd want both a phone and an mp3 player (whether the phone played mp3s or not).

• Who says that the iPod is just going to remain as an mp3 player? Apple has significantly updated the iPod line almost every year. i.e. They haven't been resting on their laurels and there's plenty of room to develop. (e.g. Video iPod)
  • First model just played mp3s
  • Second model played audiobooks (Mac version)
  • Third model could be used on either Mac or Windows and was backed by an online music store
  • iPod photo stored/viewed photos

i.e. I think the iPod has a lot of life left in it yet - way too early to be predicting it's demise.

Kap

[kainjow]

Originally Posted by Ceroc Addict

I partly agree with what Gates says and I partly think he's full of crap.

On the one hand, it seems that phones are eventually going to replace iPods/mp3 players because of the convenience factor of having an "all-in-one" device.

On the other hand:

• There are a number of situations in which I just want an mp3 player and not a phone. e.g. While jogging.

• I can think of a number of reasons (the big one being battery life) why I'd want both a phone and an mp3 player (whether the phone played mp3s or not).

• Who says that the iPod is just going to remain as an mp3 player? Apple has significantly updated the iPod line almost every year. i.e. They haven't been resting on their laurels and there's plenty of room to develop. (e.g. Video iPod)
  • First model just played mp3s
  • Second model played audiobooks (Mac version)
  • Third model could be used on either Mac or Windows and was backed by an online music store
  • iPod photo stored/viewed photos

i.e. I think the iPod has a lot of life left in it yet - way too early to be predicting it's demise.

Kap

Don't forget Notes, Contacts, Calendars, To-Dos too! It definitely is evolving into more then just a musical device.

[Reality]

Well Gates also says the Cell phones will replace the Gameboy in the future.

[f_h_petrone]

nobody thought of an iCell or an iPhone?
I was just the other day talking with a friend about this.....
a cell phone designed by Apple with all the capabilities of a current iPod and perhaps more.... PDA, Tablet..... who knows!

[fryke]

A few thousand have thought about the iPhone rumour since it began - and possibly earlier...

And Apple already has teamed up with Motorola on iTunes enabled phones. Maybe in the future we'll see more such partnerships - although Nokia already has partnered with MS for music. (Too bad for Apple, I think.)
I think Apple is thinking about these things whether Bill Gates says them or not. So we shouldn't really worry...

[Ceroc Addict]

Originally Posted by fryke

And Apple already has teamed up with Motorola on iTunes enabled phones.

Which I don't really understand at all.

For such a phone to make any sense, to my way of thinking, it would have to have a hard drive (or at least 1 Gb of flash memory) and a thumb board (for iTunes searching, which is half the power of iTunes in the first place).

I haven't heard anything to suggest that the Motorola phone(s) has either of these, so what's the point of them? There are already lots of phones that play mp3s.

Kap