Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPod Family, Apple
Can Nokia kill the iPod?
Conventional tech wisdom tells us that convergence will conquer all. People don't want to lug around multiple devices when they can have one device that does it well. Sadly, this isn't as easy as it sounds.Take, for example, two pieces of tech that seem pretty standard issue now a days: the cell phone and the iPod. Motorola tried to combine the two with the ROKR and it didn't work out all that well (they were even working with Apple). The trick is that you can't just combine a crappy phone and a crappy MP3 player and hope for the best. This is why the iPhone rumors are so persistent; Apple is known as a company that 'gets it' therefore, so goes the thinking, an über-phone from Apple will solve all of our problems.
The Nokia Music Manager which allows you to transfer songs from iTunes to your phone.
So, will customers clamor for all in ones and leave Apple behind? I can't predict the future, but at this point I wouldn't bet against Apple, though the N91 does look pretty slick.
Thanks, Mikek.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Thomas Jorgensen said 8:13PM on 10-25-2006
Can Apple iPhone/iPod kill Nokia?
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rob said 8:17PM on 10-25-2006
Having a Nokia E61, I can say with quite confidence that Nokia has an awful lot to learn about UI design before they will even come close to even hurting iPod sales.
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Rom said 8:21PM on 10-25-2006
Wait for the iPhone. :D
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Patrick Walker said 10:23PM on 10-25-2006
Didn't Nokia try to "kill" the Gameboy?
Anyways, there is one huge reason why these items will never kill the iPod. Battery life. 10+ hours on an iPod versus 2 or 3 hours on a phone?
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rdas7 said 8:46PM on 10-25-2006
You need to include a picture from here in this article, showing just how friggin' enormous the N91 is, even compared to an iPod let alone a regular phone:
http://images.google.com/images?q=ipod%20vs.%20N91&sa=N&tab=wi
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Varun Seth said 8:46PM on 10-25-2006
Until Nokia (or anyone else for that matter) has a music store that works as seamlessly as the itunes store, I don't think they are much of a threat to apple.
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Mackid said 9:11PM on 10-25-2006
why only Nokia ? Sony Ericsson has a better looking Walkman phone, and also lighter and slimmer, that is 4GB and uses flash memory:
http://www.sonyericsson.com/spg.jsp?cc=gb&lc=en&ver=4000&template=pp1_loader&php=php1_10391&zone=pp&lm=pp1&pid=10391
i think you should give it an honorable mention !
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Charles said 6:47PM on 10-26-2006
"Nokia has a software to transfer music"...
Yeah I saw that statement when the N91 came out, and at that time I considered convergence...
until I tried the said software, that is.
This software is a piece of crap.
When will analyst/commentators start understanding that the first stone to beat the ipod is the Software (Computer and device) / Hardware integration?
Nokia's application is not better (dare I say worse?) that a simple drag and drop.
Where are smart playlists that synchronise and autoupdate?
Phone as MP3 players will have a tough time beating the iPod because of battery requirements: try combining a vga screen, HSDPA/EVDO and 15 hours of playback *together* (for the moment phone manufacturers allow us to play music for x hours, as long as you don't make phone calls).
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Danny Gorog said 9:07PM on 10-25-2006
This N91 is one of the worst phones I have ever tested. It is big, slow and cumbersome. Apple's first gen iPod is still 10 times better than this phone.
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Pilotzen said 9:09PM on 10-25-2006
Reseonable comparison with the N91,Sony ericsson 950i and a 5g ipod!
http://www.mobile88.com/news/read.asp?file=/2006/6/12/20060612031857&sec=cover%20story
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Scott Stevenson said 9:19PM on 10-25-2006
Video? Scrollwheel? iTunes?
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A. Layne said 9:26PM on 10-25-2006
I personally am looking forward to the Nokia N95.
IT.
DOES/IS.
EVERYTHING.
http://youtube.com/results?search_query=nokia+n95&search=Search
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Stretch said 9:48PM on 10-25-2006
I think i'll stick with two seperate devices, even if it involves "lugging" them around.
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richard said 9:55PM on 10-25-2006
i've given the n91 a go, and it has nothing on the ipod, audio player-wise. nokia makes the best mobile phones out there though.
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diulei said 10:07PM on 10-25-2006
My friend bought an N91. I have an N80. The operation is the same on the N91 as the N80, but I felt it was much more cumbersome, the display was much less sharp, and as a phone, it was slow. Same with the music player.
So I'd say, as a combination, it succeeds. Picking them apart, it fails miserably.
Give it some time.
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Threnody said 4:19PM on 10-26-2006
I don't know about this one, but my Sony Ericsson W810i has replaced my iPod for me. The interface is pretty good, and I LOVE only having to carry one device around. It actually makes a decent camera too! It only came with 1 GB of storage but if I had the cash I'd shell out for a 4 GB Memory Stick for it. The only downside is that when your phone and your MP3 player are a single device you have to charge it A LOT. But I definitely think Apple should be concerned, because I'm quite the Apple fanboy and now I'm an ex-iPod user.
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Mephistophelian said 10:47PM on 10-25-2006
Nokia has one of the worst user interfaces after Motorola. I cant beleive Nokia's marketshare (in phones) considering how horrible an experience it is to use them.
Sony Ericsson is the one to watch out for. Nice phones, great UI and reliable.
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jbelkin said 11:01PM on 10-25-2006
battery life important. sound important. actual navigation important but also, looks - by the photo, it doesn't even look as nice as the Nokia 5100 from 8 years ago and it's not a clamshell ... so until you deliver all that, it's exactly like Buick trying to covince people it's really as good as a BMW ...
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Mitchell Craver said 12:14AM on 10-26-2006
I heard this discussion on NPR yesterday about phone companies releasing iPod killers.. Please. Yes, phones can play music, but not as much, and most definitely not as long!
I have a sidekick3 that can play music, but I choose my ipod over it, hands down!
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Bangalore Bytes said 2:55AM on 10-26-2006
I've been using an N91 for a few months. The initial software revisions were buggy but it's rock steady now. It has a super easy interface for music and a familiar Nokia one for the phone. I understand that Nokia isn't as familiar a name in the US and hence the interface looks odd but for the rest of the world, it's the only one we're used to. It plays video too, at 208x176, 350kbps and 30fps. Yes, they could have gone with flash memory but it would have been more expensive. And at a list price, in India, of under $500, it's an awesome deal.
Apple better beware. And if they make theirs for CDMA, they are screwed. GSM is where it's at.
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