Thanks, Marmot.
Here's the reason the new Samsung phone won't be an "iPhone killer" – it's the very fact that they're trying to make one that guarantees they will fail.
Same thing for the several "iPod killers" that have come and gone – ho hum – the main problem is that, no matter what you do, your moves are dictated by the person who made the first one. It's like a game of Tic Tac Toe in reverse: little kids figure out pretty fast that the outcome is dictated from the beginning. Hence, the game gets boring fast.
For as much as iRiver tried to make their little players white, then different colors, and in the end, as much like the iPod as possible without violating patents, the point is, they have lost the game from go.
Same with this Samsung phone. Apple's released a revolutionary new product that has changed the terms of the game. No matter what anti-Apple folks are out there, you can't deny that Apple changed the game for the personal computer (Apple II), changed the game for way we use computers and operate them (Macintosh), changed the face of the music industry and pioneered the way to make $$$ selling music (iPod + iTunes), even as the traditional record industry is trying to take as many people with them as their Titanic sinks (geez, you'd think these guys would go down like the dudes playing violin to the last, rather than crying like beeches).
And let's face it – if you've really looked at the iPhone interface, it's years ahead of anything a Motorola or Samsung or Nokia or anybody else had even bothered to have a wet dream about – seriously, it is. Making a few cute icons on a touch screen does not a revolutionary interface make: you're just Windoze copying, and badly.
And that's as far as the Windoze analagy can go. Apple made its mistakes with the Mac and hence, it never became the industry standard. But the iPod dominates. The iPhone has already sold a MILLION units in these few months (I heard it took the iPod two years to reach a similar level).
And as soon as the iPod Touch gets to market next month, it's going to sweep. And that's laying the groundword for whenever the iPhone gets out here.
In the end, Apple is setting the terms of the game, and is winning handily. And it has done it with talent, design, creativity, and panache – not with the bone-crushing, competitor-digesting, anti-market practices of Microsoft.
Let's review.
People laughed at the Mac. OK, and as it fumbled, they got some good chuckles.
They laughed and laughed at the Ipod. "Apple's gone off the deep end and losing focus!" Ahem.
They laughed at iTunes: "Who's gonna pay for music? They'll just rip it!"
They laughed at iTunes television: "Who's gonna pay for content that's already free?"
No one laughed at the iPhone.
Now, I'm not saying Apple's God or anything – I just respect them as a company, since they make shit that's just better. On top of that, their shit has earned a "cool" factor as well.
Samsung thinks it's gonna win a game that's dictated – nay, been created by the guy who has a stellar track record, crazy smarts, as well as killer good looks? And by trying to be a lesser version of that very guy?
Keep dreamin', Samsung.
