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2009-06-02
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2009-06-02
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2009-06-02
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2009-06-02
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2009-06-02
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2009-06-03
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2009-06-03
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2009-06-03
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2009-06-03
, 09:30
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#10
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So, take movies. For my N800, I start with a DVD and run it serially through two apps on my PC and transfer it via a file manager by SSH or a USB connection. I don’t see him wanting to do that. He, instead, opens iTunes, clicks a couple times, and then plugs in his iPod, which automatically synchs.
Admittedly, this survey of the “ecosystem” is heavily entertainment-oriented.*
Nokia, and every other company that isn’t Apple, really has its work cut out for them
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or
It’s the ecosystem, stupid
or
Nokia’s biggest problem
My best friend from college is considering getting an iPod touch or a Nokia Internet Tablet. His work requires that he spend a lot of time on airplanes, and he would like a unit for watching movies and listening to audiobooks and podcasts. eBook reading, music, web browsing and other functions are bonuses. His cellphone is a model provided by his employer, and it’s going to stay that way.
He is very, very smart, but he has never had any interest in tech-tinkering. He, like millions of other people, already has an iPod. He isn’t an Apple fanboy, but he knows how to use iTunes and finds it easy. While he might not be willing to spend a giant chunk on the unit itself, he has no problem with dropping a few bucks at a time to download a movie from iTunes or an audiobook from Amazon. (My guess is that his attitude is common.)
Until I started pondering my friend’s needs, I thought the NIT’s main obstacle to popular success was that it came with limited software and took serious tweaking before it could live up to its potential. I thought that if Nokia had solved those issues “before putting it in the box,” and properly marketed it, that the Tablets would have sold well. Other people on this forum have thought that the biggest problems were that the Tablets were not also phones and were not a readily pocketable size. We were all right. (Yes, even though I’m in the I-want-a-4”-screen-non-phone camp, I agree that there is a bigger market for a pocketable maemo cellphone.) Well, we were right that those were big problems, but I no longer see those as the hardest-to-overcome problems.
Here’s the thing: even though I would set up my friend's unit (say, a new N800) to make it easy and delightful to operate, he would still have to acquire its content on an ongoing basis.
So, take movies. For my N800, I start with a DVD and run it serially through two apps on my PC and transfer it via a file manager by SSH or a USB connection. I don’t see him wanting to do that. He, instead, opens iTunes, clicks a couple times, and then plugs in his iPod, which automatically synchs. With a touch, I think he can just click a couple times and download it directly. He’s used to iTunes; but besides his being accustomed, it is easier. I don’t see him, or many other people, wanting to bother with ripping a DVD.
At this point, he finds the iTunes selection of movies too limited. But that could be remedied any day.
I also can download some movies from my local library, but they are DRMed with something called OverDrive. There’s an iPod client; there isn’t one for the NITs.
Next, he subscribes to audible.com. Apparently it’s very simple for him to acquire audiobooks that way, and there's an iPod client. Audible.com files are not playable on a Tablet. I, on the other hand, have gotten my few audiobooks as downloads from my public library. The library’s audiobooks can be played on an iPod, and probably downloaded directly into a touch. Most of their audiobooks can’t play on the NIT.
(There is, furthermore, a heavy audiobook-user on this forum who finds gPodder/pannuci deficient for the purpose, but I can’t remember why and I couldn’t find his post. If you read this, please tell again what your problem is.)
My friend (Jeff, to make him easier to refer to) has a Kindle, but he doesn’t like it. However, there is a Kindle reader for the iPod touch, so he can easily download ebooks from Amazon and read them on a touch. There’s no Kindle client for the Tablets.
I get most my ebooks from my public library. But they are DRMed and there is no client for the NIT. I have to download the file to my PC, then strip the DRM with a Python script and transfer the file, before I can use it on my Tablet. Do I see my friend willing to bother with this? No. (OK, I possibly could skip the de-DRMing if I were willing to use the MobiPocket Reader in the Palm/Garnet Virtual Machine, but I haven’t tried, and I like FBReader. I sure can’t see Jeff wanting to deal with the MobiPocket/GVM gerryrigging.)
I’m the last person you would think would send a friend to an iPod touch when he has expressed interest in a Nokia Internet Tablet. He jokes that I feel such affection for my N800 you would think it was a dog. Nonetheless, and even though I’d be glad to do all the set-up and ongoing tech support for him, I conclude it would be a mistake for him to get one.
Now, I’d be glad to be told where I’m wrong on all this. Especially if people can tell me, for example, where Jeff, for a price, could download properly pre-formatted movies for a NIT; or that there’s a competitor to audible.com that has an equally large selection and plays well on a NIT; or that OverDrive-protected media, Adobe eBooks, and MobiPocket eBooks actually can be used on a NIT. And while you’re at it, I’d love to know what we have that is comparable in scope and simplicity to the iTunes Podcast selection.
Admittedly, this survey of the “ecosystem” is heavily entertainment-oriented.* (Maybe my friend should be getting an Archos, though I haven’t looked into them and don’t know if they handle eBooks, audiobooks, DRM, etc. well.) But as between an iPod touch and a NIT or N900, it seems to me that Apple has won, and not on the basis of its hardware or its operating system! People may argue that eBooks are a niche, or audiobooks are a niche, but can anyone call ALL mobile entertainment a niche?
Nokia, and every other company that isn’t Apple, really has its work cut out for them. At this point, in addition to matching the simplicity, ubiquity, and breadth of running entertainment on the iPod, these other companies will have to overcome the fact that so many iPod users are accustomed to the iTunes interface.
A great maemo and a great phone (or a great tablet) aren’t going to be enough. It’s the ecosystem, stupid.
*This is all entertainment. But last time Jeff was looking at getting an N800, it was so that he wouldn’t have to lug around his laptop for his limited on-the-road business needs. But that solution was a no-go because the N800 lacked a Citrix client.
Last edited by GeraldKo; 2009-06-02 at 19:19.