Don't think the iPhone is a game changer?

[one1]

Hm, that's weird. I just wrote an opposite post. I have a, I dunno, 1999 or 2000 Axim X5. The predecessor to your X51. What an awful, horribly outdated thing I remember it being.

Correct and a completely different PDA that has no business being compared to the X51. The HX4700 is the X51's direct competition in terms of features and performance, which is one heck of a competitor.

 

[kdarling]

Is Apple a competition driven company? I think that's a topic worth discussing. My opinion is that they are not.

Perhaps not in many areas, but smartphones are not a business-as-usual arena. Too personal, too relied-upon, lots of serious competition, too much churn.

Without competition, Apple would not have agreed to an SDK. They were totally against it in the beginning. After Android, they realized they needed lots of third party apps.

Without competition, I don't think Apple would feel the need to release a 3G phone so soon.

Your thoughts?

 

[DaffyDuck]

Perhaps not in many areas, but smartphones are not a business-as-usual arena. Too personal, too relied-upon, lots of serious competition, too much churn.

Without competition, Apple would not have agreed to an SDK. They were totally against it in the beginning. After Android, they realized they needed lots of third party apps.

Without competition, I don't think Apple would feel the need to release a 3G phone so soon.

Your thoughts?

"Without competition, Apple would not have agreed to an SDK."

Perhaps I am naive but I think on occasion Apple actually does listen to its customers and that's why they decided to create a SDK. They realized people were not happy with web apps and at the same time they saw the potential the underground iPhone development community was showing. You may argue then why didn't the phone ship open to 3rd party software in the first place. I think it was simply because security was a concern and they wanted to hurry up and get the phone into the marketplace without having to worry too much about security.

Apple already has all the motivation they need to improve the iPhone. It's a HUGE market and despite promising sales they are still the underdog.

 

[JCastro]

I think they are absolutely a competitive company. Any company is. If they are not as good or better than the competition then they won't sell their product. If they don't sell their product they go out of business then there is no company.

Apple has always been a niche company. The numbers show that they are the "underdog" but they have an intensely dedicated following. I think the iPhone may have turned to tide though. I think the iPhone has the entire mobile market playing catch up and/or copycat. I also see more and more MB's and MBP's on TV and in movies.

So yeah, they have to compete. Whether they are leading or following they have to compete to survive.