The Mighty

Apple should have made this.

Oh, that’s right, they once did, they called it the iPOD SHUFFLE!

Price and convenience, those are the keys today, along with usability.

Next week Apple is going to announce new phones, they’re going to be close to a thousand bucks. That’s why I buy AppleCare, I don’t want to think about breaking my device, repairing the screen, I pay a hundred bucks for peace of mind. Because my iPhone 7 is the most important asset I own, the one I use most, and I don’t want to lay out a grand if I destroy it.

But $89?

That’s a good price point. Like carrying a Walkman instead of your stereo. Something portable that you don’t have to worry about.

This is why Apple Music is doomed to being a second-class citizen. Jimmy Iovine is so busy saving the music business that he hasn’t realized the business has been saved without him, because free Spotify streamers upgrade to premium users at a high rate.

And the Mighty only works with Premium.

You see you can incentivize people to upgrade. Just like Spotify is killing music on YouTube. It’s not CONVENIENT!

Furthermore, the Mighty illustrates an issue that many potential users can’t get through their head. You don’t need a signal to hear your music, you don’t have to incur data charges, if your device has juice, you’re good to go.

And the Mighty bridges the headphone gap for Luddites. In that it illustrates that if you want portability, you want your headphones to be Bluetooth. Because a wire is a pain in the ass. Kudos to Apple for getting rid of the headphone jack, the company doesn’t do everything wrong, but in this case the public needs to be educated, I know so many people who didn’t upgrade to a 7 because of the headphone issue, not knowing there’s a dongle, that you can use your wired headphones, not knowing they’re going to go Bluetooth, it’s just a matter of when.

And having said all this, YOU MUST BUY AN iPHONE!

Because that’s what everybody else has.

And I’m not talking about being a sheep here, I’m talking about features, first and foremost I’m talking about iMESSAGE!

It synchs with your computer, as do phone calls (assuming you’re on a Mac). So when I’m in front of my laptop or desktop, I get my texts. But not if someone’s on a Samsung or a competing device. I may not see your text for hours. Happened to me this week. Someone was offering me a gig, and I didn’t see it, not until I picked up my handset, hours later.

SMS/text uses the traditional cell network.

iMessage is sent via data. So, it works via the cell network, but also via wifi.

The music business runs on Apple. Samsung gave everybody free phones but most switched back. Because you don’t want to be out of the loop. It’s kind of like cars, the exterior may be shiny and cool, but it’s the inside that counts.

So a Mighty is a gift. An ultimately disposable item.

And it burnishes Spotify’s image.

And demonstrates that hardware is not completely dead.

And innovation comes from the outside.

Apple, your move…