Geeks, users and why we won't see an iPhone killer in the foreseeable future

Article by user kiosov , who can not publish it for some reason. Thanks to him.

The world of information technology is an iceberg, which is divided into two parts: developers and users. Users, in turn, are also divided into two parts: geeks and ... ordinary users. The latter are the majority of the iceberg, hidden under the water and imperceptible. The first is an extremely small part of users, but the loudest. Because the hobbies and abilities of these people allow them to convey their own thoughts to others with the help of various services: websites, forums, blogs, communities and so on. All this, in general, is of little interest to ordinary users, and if they are interested in new technologies to some extent, then they do it in silence, without getting into discussions. Because of this, geeks communicate with their own kind, stew in their own juice. What makes them feel that all users are the same as they are. And they cease to feel and notice the very hidden part of users hidden under water. With all their interests and desires. Namely, this part of users is trivial due to the fact that they are orders of magnitude larger by the market.

The difference between these two categories of users lies not simply in the degree of enthusiasm for gadgets and all other information technology products. The difference is in how these users use all these devices. If a simple user solves some of his own problems with the help of this device, then any geek does not use this device, - he challenges him, trying to work with him as if under normal conditions no one would have thought.

Take all the same iPhone. The main complaint that geeks impose on this device is the closeness of the platform. Because of which, as geeks believe, all users will certainly hack into the system with the help of Jailbreak. For example, the default user does not have access to the iPhone MacOS file system. Let's ask ourselves now: why? Why should I, a simple user, access the OS file system? I do not work with the system directly - I work with the utilities I need, which themselves themselves put all the files in the system as needed. An example of another claim is the absence of the possibility of displaying a list of planned cases on the phone’s screen. You can ask yourself the same question again: why? Do you constantly look at the lock screen of the phone so that you don’t miss anything? Is it true? Or maybe you constantly remember that you need to look at the phone once in a while so as not to forget about your own plans? It’s not for me to remind myself that I need to check the schedule - this is the phone that should remind me that I need to do something. I do not need a lock screen for this. I need the phone to kick me at the scheduled time - with a sound signal, for example, and the corresponding message. All this he does and so - with a simple calendar, which comes by default with the device.
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And precisely because geeks do not use the device, but challenge it, they are not able to understand either the necessity of certain functions or the tasks that a simple user usually sets himself, for whom information technology is a tool, not the meaning of life.

Analysts then grow out of these blind and self-contained geeks. Who until blue in the face can discuss trees without seeing the rest of the forest behind them. Without noticing the hardware, neither users, nor their tasks, nor the market with its trends. At the same time, they voice some figures, draw graphs, tables and draw some conclusions.

And where does the iPhone and his killer? Moreover, this is a wonderful illustration of the misunderstanding of the most vociferous part of the users of the reality that surrounds them. As a complete newcomer to the market of mobile devices (and before the iPhone there was a mass of phones, including touchscreen, as there were plenty of mp3 players and up to the iPod) can take the lead, even though its devices are more expensive, and technically nothing special don't stand out? From time to time they compare the iPhone phone with its counterparts (or the iPod player with its counterparts), each time they say: “That's it! Announced a new model of the company XXX - now the position of Apple is shaken! ”- and every time this does not happen. From time to time, iron producers spit out the next stillborn analogue of the iPhone and each time the geeks joyfully begin their mantra: “Here it is! Apple has come pi kapets! And every time one thing happens: Apple's revenue grows, its competitors' income falls. How so?!

At one time, when the market was saturated with goods so that they were no longer bought, manufacturers had to rethink something. They realized that no one would buy their goods, because next to them is exactly the same, almost no different. They began to sell emotions, style, mood. Thus began the era of brands. Nike does not sell sportswear - it sells a sense of familiarity with the sport. Land Rover does not sell SUVs (which confirms many stories) - it sells the feeling that you conquer not traffic jams and asphalt, but deserts or tundra, even if you never get past your own summer cottage in your life.

Now the same understanding should occur in information technology. Technologies have grown to the point that they have ceased to be a thing in themselves. And that is why it is meaningless to compare one phone with another in isolation from the rest - just as a device. Technology has long ceased to be a luxury, and have become a tool. A tool to get what people really need is information, content.

And Apple realized this before others. While all manufacturers of iron continued to produce phones with the same characteristics, Apple partisans 2 years and released ... no, not the phone. She has released an offer. From which it was impossible to refuse in terms of content hunger from a simple user. And the user had everything: the throughput capacity of modern channels (including wireless ones), quite smart mobile devices, there was not only one thing - convenient access to the content.

And Apple offered exactly that. And the only thing you needed for convenient work with this mobile - iPhone or iPod. Apple didn't just release another piece of hardware. She locked the content. We need movies, music, books, TV shows, podcasts - please! All this conveniently lies on the AppStore - buy and use. Have fun, learn, create and meet the whole world with your creativity. Many of you, before talking about such a phenomenon as the iPhone, went to an integral part of it - the American AppStore (and the American market for Apple is the main one)? The fact that the content access tool can still make and receive calls is just a bonus for extra money, not an end in itself. If you don’t need this bonus, iPod Touch is at your service. But the main product here is content.

“We are software company” are the words of Steve Jobs, to which geeks and grief analysts do not pay any attention without seeing anything but a piece of iron. And he says these words for a reason. They do not sell the device with its TTH. They sell content, software, zeroes with units.

Why does a company, which has a market share of no more than 3-5%, has the second place in terms of revenues, which make up 45% of the income of a company that occupies almost the entire market (Microsoft)? Because of the glands with multitouch, which are no different from the products of competitors in their performance characteristics, and sometimes even worse? Yes, do not make me laugh.

And we will not see an iPhone killer in the near future, because companies competing with Apple in the mobile device market are the same blind geeks who live in their own little world. They do not understand what exactly users need and what exactly Apple sells. And they continue to saturate the market with one-type glands, which differ from each other only by the name of the manufacturer. And there are already so many that nobody needs this amount - another is needed, into which these glands will fit. And this is another at the moment (about) gives only Apple.

PS I'm not against analysts. And I sincerely believe that somewhere, far away, there are very good analysts of the mobile device market, which can be taken seriously. But what is happening with us, and with what we regularly encounter under this mask is the most natural profanation and disgrace of the profession. They are absolutely meaningless people, unable to either detach themselves from their own ideas about anything, nor to see the forest behind the three trees. They are not needed. All that is needed is to be sober in judgments and not close on yourself. It can everyone. Perhaps some just need to practice a little.