Summary: The core thesis of this article is that while Apple
remains committed to cultivating its position in the legacy desktop /portable
segment via the Mac, they understand that they will never be the leader of the
PC market. That recognition, in tandem with their dominance in mobile computing
platforms, will lead Apple to expand upon their iPhone strategy by attacking an
"undefended hill" (an HP axiom)
that's less hospitable to desktops/portables; namely, the 'Bag-Carrying Consumer' (think: purses, backpacks, briefcases, and the like).
Excerpt: In the past 25 years, the personal computing revolution has evolved from tethered (desktop) to luggable (portable) to joined-at-the-hip (mobile).
Via the iPhone Platform (including iPod Touch), Apple has set the bar for mobile computing by seamlessly integrating computation, communications, and media across hardware, software, and service layers.
No less integral, Apple has significantly evolved ecosystem development models by cobbling together developer tools, media relationships, marketplace/e-wallet functions, one-click software distribution, explicit platform governance, and a simple, but compelling, approach to sharing revenue with developers.
Read the full article HERE.
UPDATE: In no small part aided by a friendly tweet by Tim O'Reilly (CEO of O'Reilly Media), this article has now been read over 7,100 times (according to Bit.ly) and re-tweeted over 110 times (according to Tweetmeme).
UPDATE #2: CNN Money has an article today touting the Apple Tablet as a killer of other device categories (e.g., standalone e-book readers). One side note is that CNN Money has an obligatory analyst quote playing the skeptic, in this case Zeus Keravalla of the Yankee Group, citing a study they did showing that only 3% of the mobile device owners with a cell phone that has music playing capabilities uses the music functions as their primary media device. This data is intended to support the premise that no device with multi-function capabilities is likely to have any one function be compelling (and thus, a category killer). But the use of industry composite data (i.e., an aggregate reflection of the entire market across all vendors) is a total pet peeve of mine, inasmuch as it's wholly disconnected from the specific strategy of the vendor being talked about (Apple). This is Apple, and they don't shovel useless functionality in for self-indulgence or feature checklists. Quite the contrary. If anything, I would hearken to guess that for iPhone users, the iPod functionality is core/primary in at least 70% of the cases.
Related Posts:
- Rebooting the Book: One Apple iPad
Tablet at a Time
- Apple, the 'Boomer' Tablet and the Matrix
- Touch Traveler: London, Paris and only an iPod Touch
