The Race To Be Your TV

Worry not. This is not the one-more-article reviewing the various TV products launched recently – Apple TV, Google TV and other already out there like TiVo.

A few years back somebody predicted that TV will die. Will it really? I say NO. At least not for the next 2 decades. Just see how much money is being put into TV – tens of billions of dollars. This is just the beginning! And none other is investing this money than Apple and Google just to name a few.

The question should be – Will Cable Die? I would say YES! The evidence is very simple – see the cable companies. Do they provide only TV cable to homes? No. They basically provide a fiber-optic cable, which can do a number of things besides cable TV. Do you sense something – Yes, it is called Transition. This may not be the paradigm shift but definitely it is a shift.

The time in the shift right now is critical, because the next few months or years will decide whether it actually is a shift or not. Lets not play the guessing game. The boom of number of TV products spell like a birth of a new era in TV history. This definitely is going to change the way we watch TV for a time being for sure.

Until now the TV used to define the type of content you viewed on it. If you wanted to watch a high definition, theatre experience movie you needed a TV like that. But now the content will define the type of TV you have. I am talking about the internet based TVs that will spring out in the market in the coming months. And believe me, a lot more companies will jump into this bandwagon shortly, because nobody wants to miss the show.

Think about this – Intel is investing billions for TV chipsets. Sony already has a Google TV Set out in the market that includes a HDTV itself and the Google TV product, which would stream the content from the internet.

The Era of Content

As I said above, the future of TV will be dictated by content. People will not just demand more content but also quality content, which can be tailored, to their needs. The market is too nascent at this stage to predict the right mix of the product. This is the time companies are trying a mix-n-match solution for their products, aiming or rather predicting the future based on their product mix. But definitely Content will be the King.

-iM

The war to be on your hands!

A lot of buzz is going around that Android has been gobbling the market share pie recently and denting a bit Apple’s share (Blackberry and Windows phones are being hit a big time though!). I do not even count the fourth and fifth pie shares holders – Windows and Symbian. Because they are not even close to the top three. Yes, I am not being too optimistic but, at least, in United States Symbian needs a lot of ground to cover before it can even be noticed in the pie chart. Good Luck Nokia! We will come back to Nokia and its strategy some time later, but right now lets emerge ourselves into the ongoing war – fight to grab the share of your hands!

Android and iOS (Apple’s operating system in its mobile devices like iPad, iPod and iPhone) are fighting fiercely to grab the lead in the market share. Blackberry makers RIM is not too far behind. Interestingly the top two spot holders – Android and iOS have been here for not more than three years and considering this they have made a good ground to be the top two.

The future belongs to mobile computing. That is for sure. Consider this – how rapidly the computing form factors have evolved in the last five years. Before 2007 when one mentioned about tablets, others would easily assume that he or she referred to the Windows computers that came with swivel screens and a touch-pen device for input. But iPhone and iPad changed that form factor forever. Others like Android followed the suit. Even people as visionary as the CEOs of Microsoft and Intel have ignored the tablet form factors as recently as yesterday. They went to extent of saying that tablets are not worth investing in R&D.

History Reapeats Itself –
The war to be in your room.

This reminds me of a war in the 1980s between Microsoft and Apple. I can write pages about that saga – Micrsoft vs Apple. But lets focus on Apple and Google right now. This time around Microsoft has been replaced by Google. Lot of things are comparable. First, Apple stays here – It is the constant. Isn’t this a remarkable achievement in itself. The previous war was fought to occupy the top spot in Personal Computing – to occupy the gadget spot on the table in your room. While this one is to be the numero-uno in mobile computing – to occupy the gadget space in your hands. I wonder if the next war is not fought to occupy the spot in your brains!

It is quiet difficult to predict the winner right now. This is just the beginning, this war is destined to last for longer than it predecessor, unless there is a dramatic outcome or one of the player dies prematurely (again, reminds me of the demise of Apple before the bloom in mid 1980s). Instead of predicting the outcome, enjoy the battle with me as I give you the updates.

-iM

iM - The Apple Evangelist

Evangelist: (noun) Any Zealous Advocate of a cause.

Apple Evangelist: Mac(intosh) evangelist, Mac advocate or Apple fanboy: a promoter of the Apple Macintosh platform


Let me tell you outright, this is not a Mac-Windows debate. That is over for a long time now. I call myself an Apple Evangelist and this article is everything about Apple - yes only Apple.


Why should I even bother to write something about Microsoft or Windows or Android. I have been an obstinate fan of Apple products ever since I first started using them. I have read a lot about Apple Inc and how it evolved in the valley. You just cannot replace any other product or any other company with Apple or its products. It's that simple - there is no competition, at least not at where Apple is right now . I wonder why! Why don't people try to make as wonderful products as they do. There is no other consumer electronic manufacturer in the whole world that can even come close to Apple when it comes to product design and usability. Yes, there can be a one distinct match - Bose. But when you talk about Bose, it ends in Music. I do not call Bose a consumer electronic company, because their niche is only music appliances.


I believe, it is the founding principles, that can make the difference about how you think about your products and how people perceive them. This is philosophy. Apple is philosophy. BMW is philosophy. Leika Cameras are philosophy. It is not about making money. It is the happiness you want to see on the faces of people when they use your products. And when you try to earn money by doing so, there's nothing wrong in that. After all every company is responsible to its stake holders, whether its a public or a private company. Eventually that money is again invested in giving back another phenomenal product back to the people who appreciated the earlier one. Just see the list of these products - the product line from Apple in the last 10 years. What is the percentage of Apple products that failed to impress people. Starting from the iMac in 1998 to the most recent iPhone 4.


It is gibberish when people say that Apple products are expensive. In fact I would say that they are a full worth for what they are out there. As I said earlier, my intention is not to compare anything with Apple. In fact, there is very rarely that you can find a company that can even be compared to Apple's stature. When you have something beautiful to offer, every aspect of it has to be so appealing and charming that it would set itself apart from others already out there. If you do not do that it would either be lost in oblivion or it will garnish a negative publicity with people, because the people out there are waiting just for that. The moment you offer something awful, they will lash at it with full force. So when Apple offers something distinctively different so much so that you are awe stuck for the entire time you use the product.


You start loving the product. Did you ever think why you love some appliances and not others? Just ponder over why you like using some products more than others, though appliances are non-living objects. That is because they are faithful! You love your dog and children because they are faithful and will always obey what you desire and command them. The same psychological principal applies to appliances and products too. You will never like to part with these products.


More importantly, if you want to be an entrepreneur some day and sell some kind of product or service to people, you should, before waiting go ahead and buy and use one of the apple products. They are the best teachers on how you should go about conquering the market.


-iM