Tim Barcz

iPhone - an Industry Changer? Yes

It's been a long time since I've last posted.  I've talked myself out of several posts and have been digging in my mind to come up with something worthy of blogging about.  As we enter 2007, I would like to continue the trend of improving my writing muscles by blogging on a regular basis.  I plan to be better about this.

Yesterday Steve Jobs announced the release of the iPhone.  There seems to be a lot of buzz about iPhone, both positive and negative.  My thoughts are that this is going to be a blockbuster.  The cellphone market is huge.  Let me say that again so it can sink in, the cell market is HUGE.  My grandparents, who barely understand their PC and don't understand what an MP3 player is have a cell phone.  My uncle, who's a luddite, has two.  The market to be gained here is amazingly large.

I often hear people say the the cell phone market is mature and that the MP3 market wasn't mature when the iPod was released.  The environment at the time as well as the product itself, led to the huge popularity.  For people who say the cell phone market is mature I simply have a few questions.  Are you happy with you current phone?  Why have people been clammoring for Apple to make a phone if the market is so mature?  Sure phones do a lot now, but phones are still clumsy to me.  In the interest of being completely honest, I have never been a "phone guy".  That's partly been due to phones that have poor reception, grainy photos, small screens, and "too conventional" interfaces. iPhone seems to have solved a lot of those.

Now as the claim that iPhone will only be for uber geeks, I have to disagree.  A few weeks ago my wife was sick and I picked up the movie "The Devil Wears Prada".  Having never understood the fashion industry the part of the movie I found most intresting is where Meryl Streep's character explains to the main character, Andy, how fashion trickles down.  See Andy doesn't feel like the fashion industry where she has found herself doesn't have any relevance.  Streep's character explains that the very sweater that Andy is wearing that day was due to the fact that some top desiginer used that color in a collection and then the color started appearing the other venues and eventually in the bargain bin store where Andy bought it.  In other words, the fashionistas control to some degree what you'll see in Walmarts or Targets around the country in a few years.  The same can be said for iPhone.  With it's buttonless displays, larger screens, and music capabilities you'll see the trickle occur somewhat rapidly as phone manufacturers try to keep up.  You won't see it right away, but it will come.

Sure it won't happen tomorrow, but the shift will happen quickly.  iPhone is an industry changer.  The buzz surrounding it before it was announced was immense.  The announcement yesterday only heightened the buzz.  An knowing Apple and the knack they have for user experience, buzz will grow after the release, which will all feed the industry shifting more towards an iPhone-like world.  It happened with MP3 players, and will happen here too.