“Here’s why: everyone is using a different set of 20 apps. Trillions of combinations,” Scoble writes. “So, to get me off of the iPhone you are going to have to duplicate all my apps.”
Scoble writes, “Let’s say that a Chinese manufacturer ships an Android phone that makes me hot and bothered. Something, say, that’s half the thickness of the iPhone, has a screen that’s sharper, and the battery lasts twice as long, oh, and let’s just say it costs $50 less than buying an iPhone. Would it get me to switch away from my iPhone? Probably not, truth be told… I’m not going to be switching anytime soon, and neither are you.”
It’s all about the apps, Scoble explains in his full article here.
Gawd please don’t quote dear Rob Scoble~~
You’ll regret it. Pretty soon.
Fully agree,always looking for the next iPhone to upgrade to not a different platform. All my friends with iPhones feel the same
True… Very true.
This pretty much “hits the nail on the head”. The ONLY reason to NOT buy an iPhone is:
a) You don’t live in an area with good/any AT&T;coverage
b) You get your cell phone from your company who is with another carrier
c) You can’t afford AT&T;’s rates (or prefer lower rates from others).
Otherwise, there really isn’t a choice.
AT&T;had a 1.3% churn rate – that says it all…
He makes a good point for the consumer point-of-view. Also, Apple makes developing apps easier. The big software app companies will likely support a variety of phone platforms, but smaller developers will only do so if it’s really easy… and then because of constraints, prioritize based on market share, which bodes well for Apple. That first mover advantage creates a snow ball effect. (I actually call it “first winner” advantage… because there’s usually an early loser like WinMo.)
That being said, if iPhone competitors lured the top 200 apps over to their platform, that may work for a good chunk of *casual* app users. I know many iPhone owners who don’t use a lot of apps… but you’d be hard pressed to get them to switch unless the base functionality could match the iPhone.
At one time, the Mac could not get past the Windows only programs in the offices. (No longer) And there were all those Windows only games. (No longer)
Now it is about all those thousands of apps in your mobile device. So, where is the killer app that will turn the people away from the 85,000 apps on their iPhone and iPod touch (and soon their Mac tablet).
Captain Obvious!
PCs, Macs, phones, it has always been about the apps and why most refuse to switch.
Now, if only MDN’s app would stop freezing …
That NASQAQ app he references in his article is really nice.
@ MacMan – there’s always the trusty iPod touch! Love the new 32gb model. much faster that the original touch…
@MacMan
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I live over 2,500 miles away from AT&T;coverage and I have an iPhone and it works great here mate
For a product line not three years old, Apple’s iPhone has proven to be slick and “sticky” at the same time. Once exposed to it, folks “stick” to iPhone. I’ve only got the iPod touch, and can hardly imagine going to a competitive product. Not that there IS a competitive product…
I’ve also been able to use MMS here on O2 since the launch of the iPhone 3G but that’s another conversation
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SCOBLE BLOWS IT!
Says there are only 85000 reasons Apple’s iPhone won’t be disrupted! There are over 85232.4 reasons!
This is why this loser couldn’t even hold his job down at beleaguered Microsoft!
Epic Fail!
You guys blast him with e-mail, let him know how wrong he is!
It’s not the quantity of apps, rather their dependance on the resources (compass, gps, motion sensor, touch sensor, and internet) that provide customer lock-in to the platform.
PC’s still have business lock-in due to adaptations of many apps including MS Office that are not transferable to Macs. MS will never provide those features in Office for the Mac for exactly that reason. However, most Office users have many adequate options including Macs if they become the lowest-cost solution for business.
Does anyone know where to find HARD statistics for iPhone’s in use in North America? There’s plenty of AdMob stats, but those are misleading. How many people have cell phones? Of those, how many people have smartphones? Of those, how many have iPhones?
Spot on analysis.
@Conner MacBook
Have you tried deleting it, doing a hard reboot, and re-installing? That works to correct 95%<—-just made that number up, of App problems.
85,000 apps is right. Ha!
The other 15,000 are pure CRAP.
Then subtract the 25,000 free versions that are really the same app twice.
Hmmm… now it’s only 60,000 apps. And half are just games!!
It’s really more like 30,000 apps that actually matter to anyone (other than gamers, who think a phone is a toy).
But watch Apple keep tossing around the “100,000 apps” number. (Funny how that “fact” keeps changing. They even change it in their commercials!)
“and the battery lasts twice as long, oh, and let’s just say it costs $50 less than buying an iPhone. Would it get me to switch away from my iPhone? Probably not, truth be told”
Enjoy your vendor lock-in my friend !! when the next iPhone will cost twice as much as equivalent hardware on Android/WinMo/Whatever… (like PCs today), you’ll keep saying “yeah but my 1$ facebook app is priceless” lol
Not the best trolling we’ve seen. Too bad equivalent hardware does not in fact cost more with Macs than PCs. Welcome to the 2000s
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” /> Mac, Dell and HP all cost very close to the same for identical specs, and this is very easy to look up.
If you want to pay half what a Mac costs and get the SAME hardware (since of course OS and apps don’t matter!) then you must build your own. Good luck building your own phone.
(Funny how it’s always the future… just out of reach… that competitors will be able to offer better than Apple.)
Sure ha-ha-ha.. you might be right. But remember when people used to say “Windows has WAYY more software than Mac” That may be true too, but how much windows “software” is PURE CRAP…
windows shills even copy our arguments now. How quaint.
Dear “Ha ha ha,” yes, the number of apps does keep changing. This is news?
Today there are 95,946 apps. Tomorrow there will be more. It’s not really that hard to comprehend.
@BlackWolf
Thanks, will give that a try!