iPod vs. Mobile phone. Do carriers have a chance in the mobile entertainment battle?

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Okay, ultimately, no one wants to carry multiple devices. But they will, and they do, when the devices they carry perform significantly better than "converged" devices. If the telcos want to sell me a converged device, they're simply going to have to make a damned good one... that's all. But in the meantime, the heck with the overpriced charges for underperforming services.

Maybe it's because I grew up in the 60s/70s, but I fondly remember the power of components, and think that that's the way we should be going. No boombox ever worked as well as shelf of components, an amp, tuner, record player, tape player, CD, and equalizer, with speakers custom-chosen for your music and space. iPods suck unless you buy better earphones for them. A PDA is lousy for taking serious notes until you buy a fold-up keyboard. Components... that's the future. Convergence is just wasting our time.

[jasonkchapman]

As someone who still thinks of himself as a hi-fi geek, I have to agree.

Convergence only works when the functions being converged aren't quality- or feature-centric, because it generally ends up consisting of low quality or highly limited units shoved into a single device. Convergence always involves trade-offs. In some areas, such as audio quality and features on a DAP, I'm not willing to make any compromises.

There is no way that a converged unit is going to read as well as my Sony Reader and still have the audio quality and format flexibility as a DAP that my Rio Karma has. And people want to shove all of that into a phone? Let the phone be a phone, for cryin' out loud. Dial-talk-hangup. I don't need a PDA. I'm not organized enough to use an organizer. And I prefer to hand-write all of my first drafts anyway.

And there's the problem. Everyone else will have a completely different set of priorities on things like phone, reading, audio, video, and PDA/handheld functions. No one unit will satisfy all of them.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by drc54

If you live outside the US and a country that's "irrelevant" by US standards, the technology and digital content, can really be interesting.

Until recently, mobile (cell) phone technology in the US lagged years behind what's been available to us in the rest of the world precisely because the US used its own CDMA phone system, rather than the global GSM standard that the rest of the world used. It's only now that GSM is becoming more widely available in the US that people there are now getting what we've had for years, and there are still things which we regard as normal that aren't available in the US, such as the ability to send "long" SMS messages.

[sherdavis]

Originally Posted by mobilemonte

It is the strangest thing. The iPod and podcasting have proven that users will gladly overcome complex routines in order to take their entertainment with them when they are on the go. Some of us transfer MP3 files from the PC and enjoy music. Others subscribe to podcasts. Both usages requires a user to actively connect a media device to a PC and transfer content – an action which I personally find technically challenging. Yet people do it. Over 100,000,000 iPods have been sold so far.

On the other hand, the cellular industry has repeatedly tried to get us to use data entertainment services on our phones. Internet became Mobile convergence Internet. Television became Mobile TV. Despite the investment of billions of dollars in data networks, spectrum, devices and marketing campaigns, users have not adopted these services.

Can the mobile phone compete with the iPod as the user's device of choice? For example, can podcasting become a service enjoyed on mobile phones? Clearly, podcasting is very suitable for the mobile phone. First, it is an “on-the-go” experience. Second, audio content is not effected by the handset’s small screen. Third, mobile phones already support video and high-quality audio. Four, content can be delivery directly to the handset with superb user experience.

If podcasting on the mobile fails, the mobile industry will have difficulty explaining why. Indeed, one may argue that such a failure is final proof that the phone is simply not a media devices, and that convergence is just hype.

This series of articles analyzes the critical issues that must be addressed if mobile podcasting is to succeed and prove that the phone has worth as a media device. In this first article, we now address fundamental user issues:

First, is there a clear scenario where users will consume podcasts/content on the mobile phone? The answer is yes. If the service is user friendly, compelling and affordable, people will do what many already do on with iPod. Many of us have clearly definable windows of dead time where we are a captive audience, such as while commuting to and from work. Also, enjoying audio content can be done in parellel to other activities.

Second, will people use their phones for media consumption? The experts say yes. "So the split where the phone world and this Windows PC world have been two separate worlds - that's changing utterly," says Bill Gates. "You'll have the PC and then you'll have your mobile phone. And the mobile phone and that PC will be working together in a rich way."

All of us carry our phones with us everywhere. We like our phones. Phones are getting smarter, with better user experience. The iPod is great, if you have one. Most do not. An iPod also means carrying around two devices. I do not. Given a compelling user experience and fair and clear pricing, many will gladly listen to great audio content during dead-time.

Third, will people pay for a mobile podcast service? After all, most content (including podcasts) is free on the web, with the perception being that content (even if pirated) should remain free.

Whether people will pay for a mobile service depends of factors such as easy of use, content quality, and price. True, Podcasts are available free on-line. But I personally would pay a small premium to receive unique Brand content on my mobile phone rather than buy an iPod and have to bother with transferring podcasts from my computer every day. Sure.

Finally, as will be discussed in the following articles, there is one more critical factor on which the success of mobile podcasting depends. Mobile operator involvement. Issues of easy of use, compelling content and price are all under the operator's control. Major mobile operators are designing and will soon launch podcast applications with great client expereince. As to content, Vodafone, T-Mobile and Orange are closing deals with Brand new media – the recent announcements of Vodafone with YouTube and My Space to name a few. As to price, operators control the cost of data on their networks. Adopting clear flat monthly fees for mobile podcasting services is mandatory to attract the mass-market user.

Will operators commit to mobile podcasting? They must. The success of the iPod is a strategic threat to them for several reasons: (a) If iPod becomes the user's mobile media device of choice, the phone will remain only a voice-only device. (b) iPhone will allow Apple to work one operator against another, such as by entering into an exclusivity deal with Vodafone at the exclusion of others - see Apple and ATT in the US. (c) Once iPod goes WIFI, the operator is out of the loop altogether.

Monte Silver
World Podcast Forum

I definitely think there is a threat due to the iphone. Good post! thanks for the info and ideas!