The New iPhone Falls Short of Revolutionary

1:29 am on September 13, 2005 | Category: Business, Cell Phones, Mobile Devices, Multimedia

Although Apple and Motorola’s new iTunes cell phone is a great concept, and probably one that has significant potential, the recently reduced ROKR has, in many ways, failed to live up to the anticipation surrounding its release.

As John Naughton, a reporter from Guardian (UK) says in his article, Why the iPhone Won’t Rock Your World, the new phone is no more than the sum of its parts, and a fairly limited one at that.

It appears that the makers of this phone have deliberately made the song capacity (100 songs) significantly less than that of an ordinary iPod. They have also made it impossible to download music directly on to the phone (it must be transferred via a computer), and to use the downloaded songs as ringtones.

It appears that those who designed the iPhone been very careful not to cannibalize any of their currently established markets, such as computers, and iPods in Apple’s case, and ringtones in Motorola’s. In a way, this strategy is just good business sense, but it also severely limits the potential of the iPhone, and causes it to be so much less than it could have been.

Unfortunately, this is often the case with products created by already-well-established corporations, which are more concerned about preserving their current markets than creating new ones. Sometimes, it can take a completely new company, with a fresh perspective and nothing to lose, before true innovation can take place.

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    1. [...] It is looking more and more likely that Apple will end up manufacturing its own in-house cell phone, and taking up the role of an MVNO, or reseller of wireless service. The company probably wants a shot at managing the production and marketing process itself, after the last attempt at creating an iTunes cell phone, in partnership with Motorola and Cingular, turned out to be less than successful. [...]

      Pingback by Wireless Industry Watches Apple for Signs of New iTunes Cell Phone » Telecommunications Industry News — June 10, 2006 #

    2. [...] Motorola’s first iTunes cell phone, the ROKR E1, was admittedly a bit of a failure. But since then, the company has added iTunes capability to a few of its other phones, and achieved somewhat more positive results. [...]

      Pingback by New ROKR Rumors Surfacing » Telecommunications Industry News — June 10, 2006 #

    3. [...] The new device is reportedly being returned to stores a shocking six times more than is average for a new handset; a clear indication that a lot of customers simply don’t like it. This may well be due to the phone’s lack of exciting features, and the fact that it just isn’t what it was cracked up to be. [...]

      Pingback by The ROKR is off to a Rocky Start » Telecommunications Industry News — June 10, 2006 #

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