From the article:
Microsoft's dominance on the desktop will not be seriously threatened until a technology is introduced that makes the desktop obsolete. Similarly, the iPod and iTunes dominance is not likely be threatened unless a technology happens along that makes its model of buying and listening to music obsolete.I wonder if this is true of all industries, that a specific technology or manufacturer can gain a virtual stranglehold just because they invented the standards and control them. Tivo certainly hasn't proved that, and neither have carmakers. What is it about the tech consumers that makes monopolies so hard to break? Don't get me wrong, I'm not sorry that Apple is on top in this instance, and I don't think MS has a chance of toppling the iPod, but still, even the mighty must fall at some point. I can only hope that Apple, or a company with similarly smart, design-conscious people, will be there to take up the banner for the new paradigm when it arrives. The only thing I'd hate to see is another IBM - soulless, ugly products driven by profits rather than user experience.
1 comments:
Personal experience (replaced the same nano 4 times under warranty) has suggested to me that Apple is struggling a bit to deal with their installed base. This is a weakness, and just as security problems with XP have allowed OSX to gain some market share, these kinds of problems make a dip in market share for iPod likely, in my opinion.
I'll probably be wrong about it, of course, because I am seldom right about such things, but I, personally, will check out this zune because I'm not hip to the whole monopoly status of iPods/ITMS right now. I have to think that some others will do the same, just as they did with Xbox.
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