Users want to control their cell phones


A C-Net article finally hits on the appeal of the iPhone
I was happy to see this article. C-net hasn't exactly been kind to Apple or the iPhone. Here is the telling bit.

But perhaps the biggest shift is the notion that in the not-too-distant future, these various groups--which have worked together uneasily so far--could find themselves as competitors as consumers demand more and better access to media and care less about how they get it.

For years, mobile phone carriers like AT&T, Verizon Wireless and Sprint have closely controlled what cell phone users watch, when they watch it, and on what kind of screen they watch it--much the way the networks did with television before new technologies loosened their grip. Many in Hollywood and Silicon Valley hope the iPhone's multimedia features will make it easier for any mobile-crazed consumer to do the same things they do on the Web: watch their favorite television shows, download maps, send e-mail messages to friends and swap videos.

One BIG reason why high end cellphones haven't taken off is because the carriers put what THEY want in the phones rather than what the customers want. Until recently the best example was ringtones. Paying $3.99 for a twenty second clip that would play in your cell phone when you could download the entire original song for $.99 just didn't make sense.

Ever since Jobs came back to Apple, Apple has been selling the user experience.

Now they haven't gotten it perfect yet.

But does the average consumer want to spend hours configuing Linux for their system? Or trying to keep ahead of viruses on a Windows system? Not to mention needing so many patches that the Official Policy from Micro$oft is that one day a week is designated Patch Day?

The average person DOESN'T want a computer, they want an appliance. They want something they can plug in and it just works.

The same goes with a cell phone. They don't want to worry about importing all their addresses. They just want it to work. Every video I have seen so far on the iPhone convinces me that it is an amazing unit that will totally redefine the market because it is so easy to use.

That is what the cell phone carriers have missed.

The customer wants to control the experience.

The sooner the carriers realize that, the more money they can make.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Mon - June 25, 2007 at 12:38 PM  Tag


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