The Christmas before the storm

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there's a better reason...

that people don't do this. For transferring files, that's fine - I use
my iPod as a portable firewire drive - including transferrng tunes
- exactly the same way.

But what the "USB drive as MP3 player" guy is missing is
EXACTLY the point here - and it's also the reason that the
iTunes/iPod combo has slaughtered the opposition (and
continues to slaughter the opposition) even though it was more
expensive and later to market.

Effective, no effort functionality - that's the key. I love the way
that I can stick a CD into iTunes - iTunes grabs the track names
and album info off CDDB and all I have to do is click "import". No
messing about with typing 12 variations of "Seven Magnificat
Antiphons (1988, rev. 1991) - O Schlussel 1:57 Arvo P?rt Arvo
Part - De Profundis - Theatre Of Voices - Paul Hillier Classical
13 11/19/05 8:17 PM" into the database.

One click. Music in the format and bit rate I specified. That's the
iPod's "killer app".

And after that, speedy access to the nearly 300 albums on the
iPod with almost zero effort. Try scrolling through 3600 tunes
(and hitting the one you want) with those stupid buttons on the
deceased and unlamented Dell players.

Forget about convergence. Form and functionality rule consumer
electronics. Moto demostrated this just recently. The RAZR
phone is seling faster than they can make them. Why? It's a cool-
looking, bitchin' phone. The ROKR released just afterward
flopped. Why? It's a clunky phone which is also a clunky MP3
player. Well, duh. Convergence only makes sense when it adds
something to a product.

As the slowly dying Creative shows, more features, by
themselves do not sell. As "USB drive as MP3 player" guy shows,
simplicity, by itself does not sell. Long term buzz is all about
function, which *is*the*blending*of*those*two*aspects*.

And short term buzz is all about form. I knew the iPod would be
a hit the first time I tried one. My reaction was: "It's too
expensive (pick it up and start to play with it). Damn. That's
slick. (play with it some more). Hey - I want this!" It was maybe
the 6th MP3 player I had looked at. It was the one I bought.

cheers, Mark

Posted by: markdoc.geo   Posted on: 12/14/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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