Should iCare?
Monday, October 1st, 2007A good friend asked:
About the new iPod touch and the iPhone… Do you think that these devices are revolutionary and innovative? Or are they simply just a way to sell more content.
Case in point, the wifi iTunes store is a stripped down store allowing purchase only. No podcast updating. Apple could have easily put iTunes on the phone and touch. This would have allowed syncing podcasts on the go and would have lead to some really innovative uses of RSS. Instead Apple crippled the features.
When considering the iPhone and iPod I do not think of them being innovative. MP3 players and multifunction phones have been around for a while and Apple wasn’t the first to bring these to market much like Henry Ford didn’t invent the automocar. But the way they marketed this and, most importantly, improved and simplified functionality for average users or the “computer illiterate” was revolutionary! And like Henry Ford it has brought them great success.
So how then does this new WiFi iTunes store rate with me? I’d call this a first step. Henry Ford said, “you can have a Model-T in any colour you like - as long as it’s black.” Here - Apple is doing the same: offering just one service and testing the water. This is new ground not just for them but for many users too. Perhaps some of us think of ourselves as advanced users or well ahead of the user ship curve but it’s within that curve that things are most likely possible and profitable. If the masses don’t opt into these services or even find them practical then they are not profitable and can not likely be maintained.
For that reason I’m not surprised that the current WiFi iTunes store offering is so limited. But looking back over the evolution of the iPod, the internet and the way we use technology - I have every faith that this too will change and for the better …and sooner then we think!
By overcoming the lack of understanding around this type of technology we can demonstrate to others that this is more than a fad or novelty and that there are some practical applications for this technology that can assist you in your day to day life.
-Doug Nouwen