I had lunch today with four business executives.  One lawyer, two CEOs, and a CIO.  All from different firms.  One year ago, we were all lifelong Wintel users, but I had just switched and mentioned it to them.

What a difference a year makes.  The lawyer bought a Mac this past sping, the CIO picked up his first Mac a month ago; one CEO announced he is swithcing next month; one CEO is a holdout.

I wish it was the same over here: IÒ‘m the only one using Mac on Architecture at my comunity (ArchiCAD)

Re: Annecdotal Evidence

[quote author=“capablanca”]I had lunch today with four business executives.  One lawyer, two CEOs, and a CIO.  All from different firms.  One year ago, we were all lifelong Wintel users, but I had just switched and mentioned it to them.

What a difference a year makes.  The lawyer bought a Mac this past sping, the CIO picked up his first Mac a month ago; one CEO announced he is swithcing next month; one CEO is a holdout.

These kinds of stories are among the reasons we could see 3 million Mac units ship this quarter.

Re: Annecdotal Evidence

[quote author=“capablanca”]I had lunch today with four business executives.  One lawyer, two CEOs, and a CIO.  All from different firms.  One year ago, we were all lifelong Wintel users, but I had just switched and mentioned it to them.

What a difference a year makes.  The lawyer bought a Mac this past sping, the CIO picked up his first Mac a month ago; one CEO announced he is swithcing next month; one CEO is a holdout.

Thanks Capablanca. These kind of stories are worth more than all the WS analysts put together

Something fitting for this thread:
I was sitting at a library, when a girl took out her cellphone, a Nokia which integrates a 2GB MP3 player and a camera for less than $200.

Then, she took out an iPod nano (1st generation), which was probably as expensive as her phone (2 or 4GB), but without all the features.
This is the 2nd or 3rd time I see this exact combination: a fully capable music phone (it even has dedicated buttons for music), besides an iPod.

(Sorry for the bad quality, my old generation nokia needs to be replaced )

Two things:
- Do customers want to pay up for quality products? Most certainly, but this really isn’t news. It’s not capacity (full-features, memory size, etc…) that matters, it’s usability.
From an objective point of view, it does not make sense to buy a music phone AND an iPod, but to the customer it certainly does (!)

- Want to guess which device is going to be replaced first (and by what)?
I hear the iPhone sirens singing…

Well, I’ve got my iPhone, but I’m not dumping my 1st gen Nano.

perhaps just relegating it to reduced usage (for instance with a Nike+iPod kit)?

My three daughters all have music capable phones (EDGE’s and a Samsung dual flip) and they all have iPods for thier music listening.  ‘Nuff said.

Leaving aside the obvious advantage of iTunes, I like to think of the music phone versus iPod argument like this: smokers rarely use a car’s in-built cigarette lighter. They invariably use a stand-alone lighter.

Why?

The in-car lighter is inconvenient because it takes a few seconds to heat up, and it isn’t satisfying to use because its not tactile the way even a disposable Bic lighter is when you flick the flint. And its not cool.

If Nokia et al are wondering why people still use iPods when almost every phone on the planet these days is “music capable,” then they need look no further than the cigarette lighter in their car.

Additionally:

- Getting music in/out is a pain
- Sound quality is typically lacking
- Cumbersome controls
- Limited storage capacity

Most phone can play music but most do not do it well.

[quote author=“incorrigible”]Additionally:

- Getting music in/out is a pain
- Sound quality is typically lacking
- Cumbersome controls
- Limited storage capacity

Most phone can play music but most do not do it well.

I hear this one is quite good…

[quote author=“rattyuk”][quote author=“incorrigible”]Additionally:

- Getting music in/out is a pain
- Sound quality is typically lacking
- Cumbersome controls
- Limited storage capacity

Most phone can play music but most do not do it well.

I hear this one is quite good…

It’s a Crackberry killer.     

[quote author=“MaCroissant”]
Two things:
- Do customers want to pay up for quality products? Most certainly, but this really isn’t news. It’s not capacity (full-features, memory size, etc…) that matters, it’s usability.
From an objective point of view, it does not make sense to buy a music phone AND an iPod, but to the customer it certainly does (!)

- Want to guess which device is going to be replaced first (and by what)?
I hear the iPhone sirens singing…

I believe that people will pay more for quality.  I am the child of a father who grew up during the Great Depression.  I was ALWAYS taught that you buy something that is of higher quality, even if it costs more so that you don’t have to buy that thing again later on.  As a result, I was never the kid with the latest “fad” anything (boy did THAT suck as a teenager) but in the end I learned to be patient in making purchases.

[quote author=“incorrigible”]My three daughters all have music capable phones (EDGE’s and a Samsung dual flip) and they all have iPods for thier music listening.  ‘Nuff said.

As I understand it, North America is a bit of a holdout as far as this sort of thing. We seem to like seperate products for each function whereas the Japanese (from what I’ve been reading on the web) prefer combined functions in their phones. They can’t understand why Americans carry around so many seperate devices.

Personally I want a phone to be a phone, a music player to be a music player and a camera to be a camera. I know I have no wish to surf from my phone or use my iPod as a flashlight, or do sums with my camera, (OK the last two are a bit much but you see what I’m getting at).

[quote author=“rattyuk”][quote author=“incorrigible”]Additionally:

- Getting music in/out is a pain
- Sound quality is typically lacking
- Cumbersome controls
- Limited storage capacity

Most phone can play music but most do not do it well.

I hear this one is quite good…

Ironically - I have the exact same phone and still bought the 160 gb iPod Classic.  The other day, I had to park my car in an open air lot in NYC, which meant I had to remove the 60gb iPod Photo that’s a permanent fixture and the 2g Nano I use for updated podcasts.  In my shoulder bag, I had my 80gb iPod and my iPhone.

[quote author=“MaCroissant”]It’s not capacity (full-features, memory size, etc…) that matters, it’s usability.

You got that right. I don’t think you can really sell someone on a convergence device unless it’s really good. Really, really good.