The iPhone & the other kind of Apple success

The iPhone is heading for us, and there are some analysts and publications beginning to hedge their bets on the success of the product.

I actually think the iPhone will be a success, but maybe just not as much an Apple success as one might guess.

The iPod has been the most successful product that Apple has ever built.  I don't know that it has been the best product, but it has appealed to the most people.

Certainly Apple has built some fantastic computers that have never reached the success level of the iPod for one reason or another.

We all have our favorite Apple products but mine is the white half moon iMac. It has to be one of Apple's nicer designs.  Still it couldn't come close to the iPod.

If you look back at the history of Apple, Apple has had more success at seeding technology in the rest of the industry than it has had with its own products.

The iPod would be the one exception to that. There are all sorts of innovations that have jumped from Apple to the mainstream computer world, from the 3.5 inch floppy to Intel's USB ports which had little traction until Apple adopted them.

Even CD-ROM drives and wireless connectivity first appeared as standards on Macs and went on to greater success in the Windows world.

Quicktime which was an early key technology at Apple spawned many other media players and formats that likely have more market share.

Some of Apple great technological leaps just go nowhere for some uniquely Apple reasons.  Look at iChat video.  It was fantastic technology, easy to use, reliable, and  yet it has gone almost nowhere.

Then there are things which have grown out of Apple technology like podcasts which have done little for Apple's bottom line.

So while I expect Apple to do well at selling iPhones, the real success of Apple's iPhone will perhaps be in driving change within the industry or in taking it in directions that we might not even guess.

While I watched many of Apple's bet-the-company on this decision moments from the inside or from the position of someone who was pulling for Apple to beat the odds, the iPhone just seems like a lot of buzz among those who get easily excited over buzz.

While I was really pulling for Apple to succeed with the Intel migration, the iPhone is just another fancy phone to me, but it should be interesting to watch.

Paul Thurrott had a link at his Internet Nexus to one of my posts recently. He had linked to me from his iPhone Headline Fun page.  I think he might have suggested that I was headed to obscurity.

I hate to disappoint Paul, but I suspect that I'll hang around and not drop off the map for a while just to help keep Internet "experts" like him in line.

I have also got to help Steve get out of the mess I left him in at my I once was a Mac now I am a PC site.

I think there is definitely a role for someone like me who is willing to give Apple credit when it is due and criticism when they deserve it even when I am reversing myself on a product like the MacBook.

While most of my efforts are on my coastal sites where my work has been well rewarded, I still have an interest in Apple.

My Apple commentary, sometimes from a boat, will continue.  I might worry more about channel markers than user interfaces, but I will still be watching Steve and the boys.

Comments

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