[LINK] Fwd: vip-l: Fwd: Article: Why the iPod is losing its cool

Mon Sep 11 10:20:41 AEST 2006

Agreed that it's an interesting walk down memory lane, but the whole  
article is based on FUD, and FUD of technology to boot. Typical  
Observer claptrap, IMHO, and timed to coincide with technology  
announcements by Apple to be made this week.

All of the cited gadgets have been usurped by displacement or  
replacement technologies - the new technology has been better in  
every way, and the old was inconvenient.

However, I'd argue that British rates of technology adoption have  
been spectacularly poor in the past (as someone who lived there in  
the 80s), and that their judgements on what is good or not good,  
popular or unpopular, have been jaded by their generally much-slower  
uptake.

Funny that the article made no reference to the upcoming Apple mobile  
phone...

iT

On 11/09/2006, at 8:56 AM, Jan Whitaker wrote:

> interesting alert and walk down memory lane of consumer technologies
>
>>> The Observer [UK]
>>> <snip>
>>>
>>>     Tomi Ahonen, a technology brand expert and author, said: 'For  
>>> the
>>> first time the iPod has had two consecutive falls after 17  
>>> quarters of
>>> growth. If I were the manager, I would be wanting my people to  
>>> explain
>>> what is going on. The iPod is wilting away before our eyes.'
<snip>
>>>     Ahonen, author of Communities Dominate Brands, predicted that  
>>> in the
>>> long term the iPod will have only a narrow audience. 'It will  
>>> continue to
>>> dominate a niche at the top end: if you're a musician or a DJ  
>>> you'll use
>>> it because it's the best, like a photographer with his Nikon  
>>> camera. But
>>> the average mobile phone user gets a new handset every 18 months,  
>>> and a
>>> quarter of mobile phones sold this year will have an MP3 player.  
>>> In the
>>> same way as camera phones have pushed cameras to one side, this  
>>> is an
>>> automatic replacement.'
>>>
>>>     Apple is famously tight-lipped about plans, but its  
>>> invitations to
>>> Tuesday's event show an Apple logo in front of crossed  
>>> searchlights and
>>> the slogan 'It's Showtime'. Sources in Hollywood, where Jobs sits  
>>> on the
>>> board of Walt Disney, suggest Apple has been trying to secure  
>>> deals to
>>> sell films through iTunes for around £8 each. Apple added video  
>>> downloads
>>> of television shows such as Lost and sporting events to its  
>>> iTunes service
>>> last October.
>>>
>>>     The company is facing growing competition on every front.  
>>> Last week
>>> Amazon launched a digital TV and film download service in the US,  
>>> and the
>>> supermarket giant Wal-Mart is in talks with Hollywood studios  
>>> about a
>>> similar website. Later this year a new online music store,  
>>> SpiralFrog,
>>> will undercut iTunes by offering a huge catalogue of music for  
>>> free while
>>> relying on advertising for its income. MySpace, the immensely  
>>> popular
>>> social networking site, also poses a threat.
>>>
>>>     Three out of every four MP3 players sold are iPods, but the  
>>> device
>>> could be challenged later this year by Zune, the contender from  
>>> Microsoft,
>>> whose billionaire founder Bill Gates is not used to losing.  
>>> Samsung is
>>> also betting heavily on its new K5, which has the option of built-in
>>> loudspeakers.
>>>
>>>     But commentators argue that the iPod's status as a 21st-century
>>> fashion symbol is assured. Leander Kahney, author of The Cult of  
>>> Mac,
>>> said: 'I thought they would become passé last year but they  
>>> haven't, and I
>>> don't see much sign that they will."
>>>
>>>     James Beechinor-Collins, editor-in-chief of T3 consumer gadgets
>>> magazine, added: 'It's cool across the board: everyone from my
>>> seven-year-old niece to my 60-year-old uncle has one. But as the  
>>> leader
>>> Apple needs to keep innovating, not resting on its laurels. We  
>>> haven't
>>> seen a new product for a year, so Tuesday's announcement had  
>>> better be
>>> bloody good.'
>>>
>>>     Iconic electronics that reached their sell-by date
>>>
>>>     Sony Walkman
>>>
>>>     Launched: 1979
>>>
>>>     What is it? Portable music cassette player with headphones.  
>>> Sales fell
>>> in the Nineties when portable CD and minidisc players arrived;  
>>> iPod nailed
>>> the coffin shut in 2001. Sony launched an MP3 version last year.
>>>
>>>     Sales: 60 million sold by 1992, 4 million in the UK.
>>>
>>>     Sinclair Spectrum
>>>
>>>     Launched: 1982
>>>
>>>     What is it? Early personal computer with up to 48K memory and  
>>> built-in
>>> tape recorder/disk drive; games included Jet Set Willy and  
>>> Chuckie Egg.
>>> Fell to competition from other models, particularly the Commodore  
>>> 64;
>>> obsolete by the Nineties.
>>>
>>>     Sales: ZX model sold 2 million worldwide. By 1985 Sinclair was
>>> producing 200,000 units a month, with 57 per cent market share.
>>>
>>>     Psion personal organiser
>>>
>>>     Launched: 1984
>>>
>>>     What is it? Looked like a calculator with an alphabetic  
>>> keyboard and
>>> was essentially an electronic diary for yuppies. Competition from  
>>> Japanese
>>> companies and advanced laptop and mobile phone technology, plus the
>>> executives' must-have Blackberry, made it redundant, but Psion is  
>>> still
>>> producing 'mobile computers'.
>>>
>>>     Sales: Sold 1 million in first decade, but sales tailed off  
>>> as it was
>>> superseded.
>>>
>>>     VHS cassettes
>>>
>>>     Launched: 1976
>>>
>>>     What is it? JVC's Video Home System, for viewing and  
>>> recording films
>>> and television. Eclipsed Sony's short-lived Betamax video format  
>>> in the
>>> Eighties but, since DVDs were launched in the late Nineties,  
>>> sales have
>>> collapsed.
>>
>> Jan Whitaker
>> JLWhitaker Associates, Melbourne Victoria
>> jwhit at janwhitaker.com
>> business: http://www.janwhitaker.com
>> personal: http://www.janwhitaker.com/personal/
>> commentary: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
>>
>> 'Seed planting is often the most important step. Without the seed,  
>> there is no plant.' - JW, April 2005
>> _ __________________ _
>
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Ivan Trundle
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