Dear Steve, iPods Need Wifi.
Dear Steve,
Today I read your Q & A with Newsweek posted on MSNBC. Though it was brief, I very much enjoyed it.
When you were asked about Microsoft’s Zune however, your response didn’t quite sit right with me, even as an avid OSX and iPod fan.
Microsoft has announced its new iPod competitor, Zune. It says that this device is all about building communities. Are you worried?
In a word, no. I’ve seen the demonstrations on the Internet about how you can find another person using a Zune and give them a song they can play three times. It takes forever. By the time you’ve gone through all that, the girl’s got up and left! You’re much better off to take one of your earbuds out and put it in her ear. Then you’re connected with about two feet of headphone cable.
I agree that the first generation versions of the Zune aren’t a threat to the iPod. The iPod and the iTunes Store are great experiences—they are market leaders for a reason—top to bottom sensational lifestyle media products. However, when (note I do not use the word “if”) wireless purchasing is enabled on the Zune, and there are a decent amount of them floating around (C. 2008), the 3×3 try n’ buy scheme will be an appealing feature. (Despite being nastily DRM-laden, which as you know is currently the sad reality we all live in.)
I appreciate that adding wireless purchasing capabilities to the iPod could negatively impact the UI experience. Save the heavy lifting for iTunes, don’t rob Peter to pay Paul, Peter Paul & Mary are still .99c per track on the iTunes Store. Gotcha.
But iPods need WiFi too. You might as well come out and say:
We can’t currently make a larger iPod screen and offer seamless wireless features without disastrously compromising battery life in our current form factor.
Now I know you’d never say that, and I know that battery life and technology is really what’s holding you back, but as an iPod/OSX user I hate to hear you say that headphones are the only good way to connect people around music.
And perhaps being a billionaire allows one a slightly more flexible window of what is deemed socially acceptable today, but I’m pretty sure if I walked up to a strange woman in a coffee shop and asked her, “hey, can I put this in your ear?”
That the answer would be NO.
I pondered the “ipod with wifi” scenerio you described; my first thoughts was along the lines of Steve Jobs’. My second thoughts were that people at Microsoft were probably saying similar things about the ipod back in 2000. A vision of the fully internet capable blackberry popped in my head – the fully integrated ipod/wifi/phone/movie-player. This was probably thought of and designed 5 years ago at Apple; but ye who makes this a functional, affordable reality will be a rich man.
I don’t think WIFI/bluetooth is an essential for an iPod or video player. Obviously Apple’s done fabulous without that kind of connectivity.
But to discount it I think is disingenuous. Even if the wireless connection only facilitates syncing and streaming to an Airport- users have been begging for it for years.
Microsoft’s 3 days 3 plays model isn’t great, but the point is sharing without wires. iTunes already automatically looks for additional iTunes libraries on your network- why not let iPods search too?
I think you’re right, it’s been designed for years, but battery life, and unnecessary complexity means it doesn’t leave Cupertino. Apple is making methodical moves with the iPod, and for good reason- they’re the 800lb. gorilla in the DAP world. But Microsoft doesn’t enter a market frivolously, and this Zune isn’t real competition, but v.3 may be.
I have several comments to add here, as well as a few vents. And we all know there is no better place to vent than on a comment board. First read this:
http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/portable-media/touchscreen-ipod-in-december-zune-slamdunked-208418.php
Second, I JUST sold out and purchased an 80gb 5.5 generation iPod, and I’m pissed after reading this. That being said, I must admit that all in all I love the device and find it “slick”. I am still ashamed that I sold out, but 80gb is 80gb.
iTunes is a joke for a media pirate like me. I’m never buying any music, so why do I need an inferior tool to load music on my device? For you podheads out there, try coughing up $25 and using Redchair Software’s Anapod Explorer. Straight forward interface at a roughly 2mb download (iTunes is getting towards 40mb).
Finally, the Zune will be a total catastrophe in my opinion. This is a saturated market with a clear leader. Unless there is a clear differentiator, it will be impossible to top. The classic example being Microsoft’s own operating system. There are fledgling competitors here and there, but Windows is not going away any time soon.
I think wi-fi is a step in the right direction, but not enough. Eventually Steve will catch on and will add wi-fi and bluetooth, but realizes that he’s selling a pantload of these things right now without them. I honestly don’t understand the timing on Microsoft’s entry into this market without a clearly superior product, or at least an idea that will change the market with some significance.
And yes, I want a Zune too.
Absolutely Ern. For the iPod the widescreen is a much bigger deal than WIFI.
WIFI would be a nice perk for the iPod, but if it were an essential Apple would have done it by now. Microsoft’s implementation of wireless isn’t enough of a differentiator. But by the end of 2008, when they have a solid Zune version two in play for some time, I guarantee they’ll be a firm #2 in the market. Nothing near Apple, but ahead of Samsung, Creative, et. al.
The Zune will offer versatility, where the iPod offers specialization. Look at Apple’s “iTV” device compared to Windows Media Center. Two completely different approaches to technology.