3 ms·

They're going to get pushed out by more competitors in hardware But, why? It didn't happen with iPods even though you can build an mp3 player on your desk fro

by seiji 14y ago

They're going to get pushed out by more competitors in hardware But, why? It didn't happen with iPods even though you can build an mp3 player on your desk from parts ordered online. It's not always about hardware-hardware-hardware-nerd-spec-wars -- Apple is a desirable brand and people want to be associated with it.

CoffeeDregs 14y ago
Meh. You're talking about 10 years ago. I was part of a semiconductor team that bid on the processor for the iPod [to the then-blond-haired Tony Fadell). [We lost to PortalPlayer.] I had just been at a Creative Labs office in Scotts Valley and seen their pink Nomad Jukebox Extreme (16GB hard drive!) which was shaped exactly like a portable CD player and thought "what could Tony be pitching?". Tony was very cagey about the project but was unequivocal about the fact that it was revolutionary. He was right. Then Apple vertically integrated the music store (the pukeworthy iTunes) and he was doubly right. >Apple is a desirable brand and people want to be associated with it. That's irrelevant since, if we're talking about iPod and "is", we're talking about 5-10 years ago. Apple produced a great product, but their brand was not great at that time. It was certainly on the mend and they were a small player in a giant market, but it was a PC-ish market and they weren't all that. >>They're going to get pushed out by more competitors in hardware [The grandparent] Completely agree. My wife has a very nice Moto Xyboard and our kids call it an "iPad". It's much like "kleenex" or "xerox". My kids are not more likely to buy an iPad because they say "iPad". They're equally capable and, AFAICT, uncaring about whether they're using an iPad, Xyboard, Verizon Fascinate, Nexus 4, Galaxy Nexus or Ubuntu laptop. Further, a particular friend of mine who is a crazy Apple fanboi can't stop talking about how much he likes his Nexus 4. As the rhyme gets longer, it gets more familiar...
- overcyn 14y ago
  > Meh. You're talking about 10 years ago. Hmmm? Apple still sells iPods. And I wouldn't be surprised if Apple still took the lion's share of the profit in that market. They sold 12.7 million of them last quarter (including Touches). Surely if consumer hardware headed towards commoditization in the fashion you describe, someone would have released a quality 16GB MP3 player for far less than $150 and been able to push Apple out of the market.
angersock 14y ago
Look back over the course of Apple, think back beyond the early 2000s. hardware-hardware-hardware-nerd-spec-wars is a funny reference--for quite some time in the desktop space, Apple was the performance leader, right? And it did not save them. Compaq and other vendors destroyed their market share. Apple is a desirable brand among people that can afford it and aren't concerned with bleeding-edge tech--do not overgeneralize here. Most people (the rest of the market!) bought iPods and iPhones because there wasn't a good competitor at the time; this is no longer the case.

by seiji 14y ago

CoffeeDregs 14y ago

Meh. You're talking about 10 years ago. I was part of a semiconductor team that bid on the processor for the iPod [to the then-blond-haired Tony Fadell). [We lost to PortalPlayer.] I had just been at a Creative Labs office in Scotts Valley and seen their pink Nomad Jukebox Extreme (16GB hard drive!) which was shaped exactly like a portable CD player and thought "what could Tony be pitching?". Tony was very cagey about the project but was unequivocal about the fact that it was revolutionary. He was right. Then Apple vertically integrated the music store (the pukeworthy iTunes) and he was doubly right. >Apple is a desirable brand and people want to be associated with it. That's irrelevant since, if we're talking about iPod and "is", we're talking about 5-10 years ago. Apple produced a great product, but their brand was not great at that time. It was certainly on the mend and they were a small player in a giant market, but it was a PC-ish market and they weren't all that. >>They're going to get pushed out by more competitors in hardware [The grandparent] Completely agree. My wife has a very nice Moto Xyboard and our kids call it an "iPad". It's much like "kleenex" or "xerox". My kids are not more likely to buy an iPad because they say "iPad". They're equally capable and, AFAICT, uncaring about whether they're using an iPad, Xyboard, Verizon Fascinate, Nexus 4, Galaxy Nexus or Ubuntu laptop. Further, a particular friend of mine who is a crazy Apple fanboi can't stop talking about how much he likes his Nexus 4. As the rhyme gets longer, it gets more familiar...

overcyn 14y ago
> Meh. You're talking about 10 years ago. Hmmm? Apple still sells iPods. And I wouldn't be surprised if Apple still took the lion's share of the profit in that market. They sold 12.7 million of them last quarter (including Touches). Surely if consumer hardware headed towards commoditization in the fashion you describe, someone would have released a quality 16GB MP3 player for far less than $150 and been able to push Apple out of the market.

angersock 14y ago

Look back over the course of Apple, think back beyond the early 2000s. hardware-hardware-hardware-nerd-spec-wars is a funny reference--for quite some time in the desktop space, Apple was the performance leader, right? And it did not save them. Compaq and other vendors destroyed their market share. Apple is a desirable brand among people that can afford it and aren't concerned with bleeding-edge tech--do not overgeneralize here. Most people (the rest of the market!) bought iPods and iPhones because there wasn't a good competitor at the time; this is no longer the case.