Thread: iPod Touch (threads merged)
View Single Post
Texrat's Avatar
Texrat is offline Texrat
2007-09-05 , 23:06
Posts: 11,700 | Thanked: 10,045 times | Joined on Jun 2006 @ North Texas, USA
#48
Originally Posted by Milhouse View Post
It's not the exact same space, but it's pretty damned close and people that would have considered the N800 because "it's a media player and can browse the internet" now have, arguably, a far far better (and cheaper) choice (I bet the iPod Touch won't corrupt/destroy it's 16GB of built-in flash memory either!)

For those that want *more* than what the iPod Touch offers the Nokia Internet Tablets are still an option but I would wager that Apple will sell *millions* of iPod Touches and, since they offer pretty much the same functionality that Nokia has been offering for the last 9 months, you have to wonder where it went wrong for Nokia. Why is it that Apple get glowing reviews for a $400 audio/video player with web browser, while Nokia were accused of selling "a toy" with "no real purpose" which achieved the same thing? Obviously it's not all about hardware, but software and marketing too in which case it all comes down to overall execution, and Apple will out-execute most firms on the planet. Nokia's own in-fighting, ineptitude (even arrogance) hasn't helped matters - they still have a chance to salvage something, but not very much.

For one, I think it's too early to say what the quality of the Touch will be like. People bashed Nokia for not making RAZRs-- the RAZR has horrible hinge failure rates and ended up actually doing damage to Moto's bottom line (not for that reason though). People bashed Nokia for bad screens on the tablets-- now the iPhone is exhibiting the same problems. So what is to say that the iPod Touch will not have any defects?

For another, I'm still not convinced that anything has really "gone wrong" for Nokia. Granted, there remain disconnects between what some users demand and what the company supports, but even without anyone proving it to me directly I believe that continued tablet development demonstrates the 770 and N800 were "successful enough". Perfect? By no means! But the computerish attributes of the device have the potential of solving the vast majority of current gripes. The main thing that went wrong was in reverse logistics, and that is improving.

Finally, reviews were actually mixed for the N800. Many professional reviews (such as CNET's) were in fact lambasted by users, who ranked it higher. The majority of overall negative reviews I have seen were written by people who were apparently clueless as to the device's nature and potential. Of course, Nokia must take a large amount of blame there for awkward communications (at best).

What Apple out-executes on is HYPE. They have captured only a small segment of the vast consumer electronics market but carry on as if only they exist. Their loud and loyal fans echo the message. But Sony, Nintendo, Dell, HP and Microsoft might quibble a bit with the over-glorified image of Apple. And while the iPod was certainly a success (now losing share to competitors such as Sandisk), it remains to be seen what the future will bring for Apple. And Nokia as well. I think any predictions of the death of the largest cell phone manufacturer on the planet are a little exaggerated (yeah, yeah, hyperbolic ).

Just wait.