While Andrew Sullivan worries about alienation via iPod, Robert Cringely and an unnamed correspondent look at convergence (without using the word, which is so last century) and the Mac Mini.
But in the case of Apple, is the iPod a razor or a blade? In other words, is Apple a hardware company or a media company? … To me, it seems that Apple has reversed the relationship of razors and blades, and eliminated the loss leader role entirely. Apple makes very little money from selling songs, but it does make some profit. Apple makes a LOT of profit from selling iPods. So the song is the razor, not the iPod, and that’s because the price sensitivity is currently about the content, not the player. … So Apple isn’t in the content business, they are in the hardware business, and will be for sometime to come. But my friendly reader sees it differently.
You’ll have to hit then link to see the readers view of the future, but I’ll give one more clue – digital content over a net.
And to top it off, the leaders of the future are trending Macintosh — at least those at Harvard (the Stanford of the East Coast) according to the Harvard Crimson (what a blatant rip off of Cardinal) which reports increases in use and sales of Macs on campus.
No wonder my Apple stock is up. Yes, I’m a Mac person. Pity or applaud as you will.
(If I really wanted traffic, I would of course start the food fight with a line like PC sucks, Macs rule! I do, but I won’t.)
