Quote:
Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward
You seem to be missing my point. In that time period Sony produced those things but also -
The consumer VCR. (from which then entire concept of personal video libraries derive from - everything from over-the-air recording and timeshifting (think DVR) to things like Video disks and streaming (think media libraries and Netflix).
The Walkman (from which all portable media players afterwards derived their reason for existence.)
These were as seminal as the personal computer. Both created entire categories of consumer level devices. Both of which were later displaced by cheaper variants of the same technology, because Sony tried to keep a hammerlock on the I.P. involved. Sound familiar? (The Beta/VHS wars, anyone?)
And to my viewpoint, Apple is having the same "follow through" problems. Content is king, but the king is no longer willing to pay Apple's toll. And Apple's latest attempt to force the King to pay the toll, has been (at least so far) shut down by the court system. No toll, and Apple will, over time, go back to being a niche player. Just like it always has...
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Possibly, but I don't think that I've missed it. I was pointing out that Sony has continued to produce quality hardware, that the product development didn't suddenly stop after the VCR and Walkman.
As much as we don't want to admit it, the ebook industry is a very minor player in the entertainment field. The ebook is just one piece of the content puzzle for the iPad. The iPad still totally dominates the tablet market. I'm don't think that Apple is having a follow through issue. To a great extent, they are the antithesis of Sony, in that they wait until they have enough of the pieces in place before moving. The exceptions to that were products like the iPod and AppleTV, products that were basically an interesting niche product when they were introduced. The iPod eventually took off when the iTunes store came into being. We will see if Apple can make the content deals that might make the AppleTV a hit or if they use the AppleTV as a spring board to something totally different.
I get that people predict that Apple is going to fall. It probably will eventually, most companies do. However, it's way to soon to say that it will fall soon. I simply don't see the ossification yet.