The Hivelogic Podcast: Apple Phone Anyone?
Dan Benjamin, the author of Hivelogic, has started his own podcast. His first guest was John Gruber of Daring Fireball. For a first attempt it sounded great, especially Dan Benjamin (I wouldn’t be shocked to learn Mr. Benjamin has some experience in public speaking). The topic was the possible iPod phone. As interested as I am in the topic, it ran long. An editor wouldn’t be a bad idea.
In what was basically an interview, Mr. Gruber seemed to take a pessimistic view of both the appearance of an iPod phone and its success if introduced.
Mr. Gruber seemed stumped as to what Apple could add to a phone that would separate it from other phones while being difficult to copy. I’ve heard this theory before, and don’t buy it. There’s no need for Apple to create a ‘super phone’. Simplicity, intuitiveness, pleasing aesthetics, and most importantly, seamless syncing (it just works) creates a killer package.
Take a look at the iPod for proof. Not only does it do nothing more than any other MP3 player, it actually does less. No recording, no radio, no wifi, nothing that couldn’t be copied, and still the iPod is killing the competition. The reasons? Simplicity, intuitiveness, pleasing aesthetics, and most importantly, seamless syncing. Sound familiar?
But adding a phone to an MP3 player isn’t adding a feature, it changes the nature of the device. Which is why the question isn’t will there be an iPod phone, but when. Apple doesn’t have to develop an iPod phone, they need to. If they can take the iPod and add a passable phone to the package, they’ll stay ahead of the competition (and the Zune).
The nay-sayers are the same people who claimed adding a PDA with a phone was a bad idea. Now as the PDA market is vanishing most of those people are carrying blackberries and smart phones. For most consumers the convenience of carrying one device trumps the superiority of carrying two. It’s not going to be easy, but Apple’s the company best suited to pull it off. If they don’t do it, someone else eventually will.
Bring on the Apple phone.
