Archive for September, 2005
ROKR boss in petulant rage…
So Ed Zander, CEO of Motorola, has lost his head because the Ipod Nano has taken the attention away from the ROKR. There’s a lesson here…
The ROKR had been trailed extensively, in a way that Apple on their own tend not to about a new piece of technology. The trailing got so well informed that most people knew it would underwhelm, which took quite a bit of the sheen off the launch before they’d even launched.
The Nano, by contrast, was a complete surprise, and a gorgeous little one it was to. So lesson one is a simple one: unless your product is truly amazing, you’re going to disappoint quite a few people, particularly if you’re sharing the stage with a chap like Steve Jobs, who so happens to have in his hand a sleek little product no one was expecting.
However there’s another lesson here. What seems to really rile Zander is that people could be blown away by a gadget that does just one thing:
"People are going to want devices that do more than just play music, something that can be seen in many other countries with more advanced mobile phone networks and savvy users"
Imagine a gadget that only did one thing - how ridiculous would that be? Think kettles, cameras…
Surely what Motorola and the other phone manufacturers should take out of this is that the Ipod is successful because it doesn’t try to be all things to all people, nor do too much. Apple have (so far) chosen not to add a radio, voice recorder or any other frills to the iPod, when many of their competitors are trying to cram as much in as they can. Phone manufacturers from the very start seem to have got it into their heads that a phone would never be enough on its own. My phones over the years have included stopwatches, radios (that you can only listen to with a special headset), thermometers, Real players, VPN… it’s as bizarre as airlines having to offer everyone food, even on tiny flights, when it adds to the cost of the ticket, and tastes foul. Odd stuff indeed.