Imagine, for a moment...

[barr08]

that the iPhone does to cell phones what the iPod did to mp3 players.

In other words, when the iPod came out, it was the huge, sleek technological breakthrough that the music world was looking for. Now, everyone and their grandmother has an iPod, and the little beast we all love dominates the mp3 player market.

Now think about cell phones. Think about 10 specific people from your life. How many of them have the same cell phone? I did that, and I could think of one or two that had repeats, the rest were different. Different carriers, different models, different functions, etc.

Now fast forward to 2 years from June. The iPhone is in its 3rd revision. It's a little smaller, bigger HD, a little cheaper. There are different colors, and a slimmed down version for half the price. For the sake of argument, assume it is still locked to Cingular. My question is: do you think the iPhone, with a few minor changes, can do to cell phones what the iPod did to mp3 players.

Can you picture everyone you know with the same cell phone? Every cell phone on TV or in movies is the same little touch-controlled beauty we saw for the first time yesterday. Every single store that sells electronics has a little section dedicated to peripherals, cases, etc. that only fit this one product.

To me, that seems crazy. I am so used to everyone having different cell phones. It would be like if everyone started driving one car. So many different cell phones exist, and everyone seems to have a different one.

It's just weird to think that if the iPhone does what the iPod did, everyone you know will be talking on the same phone.

 

[uNext]

hmm the UI is there so it can happen.

But overall alot of people love their sidekicks, treo's, blackberrys, Motorola q's etc.

When the ipod came into the scene the mp3 players then where no where near compared to the ipod in both capacity and functionality.
The iPhone is coming into a market already with phones ahead of their time
with hardware twice of the iphone.

All apple is doing with this release is introducing the UI.

Overall apple will have to face nokia,SE, Motorola for share and these 3 companys already have a user base extending to 10+ years.
the mp3 scene was fairly new with a couple of companys but no fan base really.

I was talking t oa couple of school mates about the iPhone and 4 of them said they love the functionality on their sidekicks too much to drop it for an iPhone. Some said they would not mind trying the iPhone but their cdma.

I dont think it will change the market. I love palm treo's i have a 680 and while i like the way the iphone looks i dont see myself dropping my all in one (business-school and personal) handler for a multi-media phone with no other capabilitys.

 

[ftaok]

that the iPhone does to cell phones what the iPod did to mp3 players.

In other words, when the iPod came out, it was the huge, sleek technological breakthrough that the music world was looking for. Now, everyone and their grandmother has an iPod, and the little beast we all love dominates the mp3 player market.

Now think about cell phones. Think about 10 specific people from your life. How many of them have the same cell phone? I did that, and I could think of one or two that had repeats, the rest were different. Different carriers, different models, different functions, etc.

Now fast forward to 2 years from June. The iPhone is in its 3rd revision. It's a little smaller, bigger HD, a little cheaper. There are different colors, and a slimmed down version for half the price. For the sake of argument, assume it is still locked to Cingular. My question is: do you think the iPhone, with a few minor changes, can do to cell phones what the iPod did to mp3 players.

Can you picture everyone you know with the same cell phone? Every cell phone on TV or in movies is the same little touch-controlled beauty we saw for the first time yesterday. Every single store that sells electronics has a little section dedicated to peripherals, cases, etc. that only fit this one product.

To me, that seems crazy. I am so used to everyone having different cell phones. It would be like if everyone started driving one car. So many different cell phones exist, and everyone seems to have a different one.

It's just weird to think that if the iPhone does what the iPod did, everyone you know will be talking on the same phone.

Good question. It would be wierd if everyone had the same cellphone, driving around in the same car, wearing the same clothes. It would be like a surreal episode of Star Trek.

Anyways, I think the the cell phone market (now) and the mp3 market (five years ago) are completely different. 5 years ago, how many people did you know that owned an mp3 (or other kind of digital music player)? I knew one guy with a Sony device. Everyone owns a cell phone now. The market is saturated. I think it's a completely different market.

Hmmm...

Thinking this through a little further, maybe your point is this ... 5 years ago, people had walkmans and portable CD players. Then came the iPod and history is made.

Right now, people have cell phones. In June, the iPhone comes out and changes everything.

You might be onto something here. I'll check back in 2011.

ft

 

[barr08]

Hmmm...

Thinking this through a little further, maybe your point is this ... 5 years ago, people had walkmans and portable CD players. Then came the iPod and history is made.

Right now, people have cell phones. In June, the iPhone comes out and changes everything.

You might be onto something here. I'll check back in 2011.

ft

Yeah this is exactly what I am talking about. While the functionality of the iPhone isn't exactly new, short of the touch screen mechanism apple patented, it still seems sort of revolutionary, like a whole new product. If this product is a good quality phone, along with the decent camera, and the smartphone functionality, with google maps as a gps, and as an iPod, this could replace every peripheral or gadget people use daily. I carry around 3 things (iPod, phone and PDA) to do what this thing can. I know other things are are out there that have all the same functionality, but with the new touchscreen stuff along with the apple charm, this is like a whole new product.

If the price was cheaper and it wasn't locked to cingular, I would see this as the next iPod-like phenomenon changing the world over the next 5 years.