Inside The Beltway Syndrome
Once upon a time this only referred to the talking heads in Washington, D.C., prognosticating on politics like they really knew what was going on in the rest of the country when they didn’t. Now it applies to all major media, from TV to newspapers, they’re out of touch.
Last week Steve Jobs took to the stage to introduce the new iPhone.
Reports were ho-hum. After all, we already knew what it looked like, due to the Gizmodo fracas. Next!
Isn’t that an interesting concept, Next! Means we’re done with this, on to the next. Kind of like the "Billboard" chart. Album debuts at the top and in a month, no one even talks about it. Doubt me? Have a discussion on "Exile On Main Street" recently? Whereas you carry your phone 24/7, it’s a badge of identity, a badge of cool, akin to a rock and roll t-shirt decades ago.
Yes, overwhelming iPhone demand crashed the system. And that’s poor. We expect Radiohead to fumble when it’s giving away music, that’s not their primary business, no one’s ever done it before, but doesn’t Apple take orders for a living? As for AT&T, the less said the better.
But let’s stay there…
When the ban is lifted, when the restriction is gone, when you can get an iPhone on Verizon, never mind Sprint and T-Mobile, Android will not be the dominant platform, certainly not in overall revenue, including apps and advertising.
All this hoopla about open systems fails to focus on the key element, usability! And so far, Apple has never lost this war, never ever, from the original Mac to OS X to the iPod to the iPhone and iPad. It’s the tight knit between hardware and software. Hell, has anybody else been able to make a dent in music sales? Then why do you think Google can win in the app world? That’s what it comes down to. You’re criticizing Apple for its editorial policy, for being the cultural policeman, and I’m with you on that, it’s kind of scary, but the end result is…functionality.
There are bogus apps in Android-world, that are stealing from you just like phishing attacks on your desktop. But in the iPhone world? Apple reviews every app, there’s almost nothing.
And now, with FaceTime, you want to join the club, you want to chat face to face and you need an iPhone 4 to do this.
End result? 600,000 iPhones sold in a day. Far exceeding any previous Apple product launch. Ten times higher than the demand for the iPhone GS last year. Shouldn’t demand have been less, since people already have an iPhone?
But they don’t have this iPhone, a breakthrough in look, and functionality, from the aforementioned FaceTime to a high-density screen. Sure, AT&T allowed people to re-up and get the new phone early, before their previous contracts expired, but what we’ve got here is raw demand. Which the mainstream media said didn’t exist, as it’s busy trumpeting Android. The guy at Forrester Research said Android is going to catch up
I’ve got to ask you, has Forrester Research ever been right about anything? Especially when it comes to the music business…
We’ve got it backwards in music, we think we’re Apple, a dominant brand of cool. That if we just go on TV, people will buy the featured product forevermore. But really, the music industry is Apple in the late nineties, at its low ebb. And when you’re in this spot, you don’t broadcast to everyone, you start with your core constituency, and build products so good that the core evangelizes them to others. Point being, don’t create a rapper du jour or a pretty face with no real talent and hype it everywhere. You may make money today, but chances are you’re going to be Palm or Windows Mobile down the line. In other words, what’s your long term strategy?
The music industry has none. Everybody’s fighting over the scraps that are left. Meanwhile, the audience is banging AT&T and Apple for iPhones the way fans used to line up overnight to buy concert tickets.
Mmm…
Now I’m gonna tell you, I don’t carry an iPhone. For two reasons. One, and this is the dominant point, I refuse to go back to AT&T, the service just sucks. I know, I’ve been on both, and Verizon is a pleasure, dropouts are minimal. Second, if you’re a power-user and you get a plethora of e-mail, hundreds or more a day, the iPhone is junk unless you’ve got an exchange server, which is great if you work for a big corporation, but I don’t…and I’m not about to switch my e-mail address to get better push e-mail on the iPhone.
In other words, I wasn’t part of the mania yesterday, I wasn’t buying an iPhone. But I knew demand would be through the roof. Because I understand the cult.
Yes, Apple is a cult. Gigantic. One that people believe in the same way they used to believe in bands. Government crackdowns are irrelevant, it’s like your mother telling you to turn down Metallica, the complaint slides right off of you.
To bet against Steve Jobs is to bet against the Beatles.
Sure, the Fab Four eventually imploded. And nobody lives forever. But if you don’t see the appeal of an iPhone, if you don’t see that people want it on the day of delivery to look cool, then you’re at the back of the pack, a naysayer who just doesn’t understand that tech is the new rock and roll, and that online, the "New York Times" is no more powerful than Facebook.
