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My Turn is Low End Mac's column for reader-submitted
articles. It's your turn to share your thoughts on all things
Mac (or iPhone, iPod, etc.) and write for the Mac web. Email your
submission to Dan Knight
.
With the launch of the iPod, commentators have concentrated on
whether the high cost of the MP3 player is justified by the feature
set
But should the iPod have been presented to the Press as a state of
the art MP3 player?
Lets look at some alternatives, as iPod is a state of the art
FireWire backup device. How many of us would like to leave behind the
Zip disks for regular backups of important files and taking files to
friends and customers?
How many camcorder users would like to be able to download an
hours footage to a device the size of a pack of cards and keep
filming? What is the professional market in CNN and the networks for
such a device?
Digital still cameras with FireWire are still concentrated at the
professional end of the market where a $399 device that saves time
will be snapped up. iPod could even create a virtuous circle here as
more professionals buy the cameras because of the ease and speed of
downloading.
In the next couple of years FireWire cameras should move to
consumer pricing. At that stage many others will come on board. For
example, if I go on more than a days hike, I need to pack a
traditional 35mm camera so that I can take enough photos. Similarly,
any time I want to shoot more than a reel of reasonable quality then
its back to film with no editing in the camera and shooting at least
4 to 1.
So professional and amateur camera users have good reason to use
iPod. But how much media coverage would iPod receive if it was a
camera users backup device? If it made the national papers, it would
be buried in the hobbyist section of the weekend issue. Apple would
be condemned again as only serving the graphics community,
reinforcing its position as an irrelevant niche player, etc. However
it won't be too long before we see iPod with new programs being
lauded by the camera magazines.
And is Apple really missing out on the Windows market? Only a
small proportion of Windows computers have true FireWire ports, and
the Wintel world has just about managed to include USB on every
computer after many years of ignoring Intel's standard because of the
extra cost. If in the future Dell and the other battered survivors of
the PC price wars are prepared to add to their costs with a new port,
downloading to the iPod will be crippled by Microsoft's XP Digital
Rights Management software.
With the costs of porting a cut down version of iTunes and the
support issues, it would be difficult to make a profit. Instead why
not offer a voucher scheme where Windows users could come into the
Apple store where they bought iPod and rip their disks for say 20
minutes for free? By getting them to use Macs and iTunes, it would
show them easy the Mac world is to enter and how great it can be.
In addition, the target market for MP3 players is mainly teenagers
and young adults. With Apple's long-standing success in education,
many of those who otherwise use Windows will have access to a Mac. So
it shouldn't be too long before the notices go up about unauthorised
use! In these age groups peer popularity is important. Think how
popular teenage Mac users could become! Think how many would ask
their parents for a Mac (after having forced them to buy an iPod)!
This could really help Apple in the college market.
For Apple the most important market outside of the USA is Japan.
Lately - along with nearly everyone else - Apple has been hurting.
If iPod starts to take off there, as the iMac and iBook did, it will
really revive their fortunes and start to pull back the front-runner,
Sony, whose powerless version of FireWire will be a handicap.
And remember, if Mac users only evaluated on price, the world
would be 100% Windows. Obviously we want value for money, and given
that the PC card with this drive is $399, clearly this is. It still
needs a belt buckle so that everyone can see that Apple designer
logo, and, yes, I would like 10 GB, but Christmas is coming, and my
wife wants one too.
There will always be failures, but with so many potential uses I
don't see iPod in that category. It strongly promotes FireWire, it
will help Apple's professional users while potentially grabbing a new
audience, and if Apple can sell enough to rapidly cut prices and make
iPod the 21st Century Walkman, Apple will again be a major
player.
Share your perspective on the Mac by emailing with "My Turn" as your subject.
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