Users are impressed by Apple’s shiny design and interface of its devices. They become familiar with interface accepts storefront condition as norm and before the user knows they have surrendered their freedom and control for a censored, limited, media device.
Let us take a look at what brought Apple to this new strategy. To understand where we are going we must first look back at what brought us here.
History Lesson: How Apple got rich
Macbook- Air, Pro, uni-body, all wonderful devices with a hefty price tag. These accompanied with an extremely intuitive operating system were designed to provide the best user experience. These were designed so that the user could enjoy doing whatever they want simply because of the beauty and simplicity of the interface. Apple just wanted their users to enjoy computing by giving them a great platform, combination of hardware and software to do it.
The evolution of human design- Apple is really good at knowing what you want in an interface but more interested in what you do. Their first target- music.
iPod & iTunes-They created a great product with great hardware and a beautiful design, but this time, they wanted more from their following. They wanted to profit from other people’s work, musicians, artists and you many times over. They created a market place, locked the hardware and used the software to force everyone into using it. No one woke up and said” I want to give up all the various website marketplaces to purchase all my tunes through Apple”. It only requires a rudimentary understanding of economics to know that decreasing supply/options will increase prices and decrease consumer control.
However, we all loved the hardware. It was simple, elegant and worked really well. It Featured a closed device, proprietary formats, restricted hardware use, restricted software use, repeated purchases of previously purchased content in order to be used in other places or on other devices.
iTunes made it difficult to manage music outside of iTunes. They made it more difficult to move legitimately owned music and claimed it was to prevent piracy. The reality is that Apple wanted everyone who listens to music to use their hardware with their store. Due to public pressure and lawsuit filings Apple eventually caved and removed DRM from their music. This of course was after several years of record sales and profits for Apple.
How Apple got rich-er: The iPhone & App Store
Same old story but a new target; smart-phones. Much to the dismay of the fan-boys the iPhone isn’t in a category of its own. It is in fact, a smart-phone. There have been many before it. There are many competing with it. There are a few that arguably even do a better job than it. Apple presented the iPhone and App Store to go with it. They once again used closed devices, proprietary formats, and hid them behind the platform of great design, hardware and software. They locked their users into to making app store purchases the norm and an everyday habit- whether free or paid. They took an extra step with the iPhone App store agenda by trying to eliminate competition from web applications by making sure their device did not support Flash. Flash, at the time, was the primary format used to build web apps.
These extra steps are clearly anti-competitive and unlike their computers, the design of the devices is now infringing on the lives of users rather than focusing on empowering them.
How Apple plans to get even richer-iPad & iBooks
iPad- a 10 inch tablet computer with the iPhone Operating system. The new marketplace target? Books and Print media. The iPad presents media in an Apple proprietary format, a closed device, larger screen to expand on building behaviors with users to subscribe to their model.
The iPod and iPhone came out without real competition. Microsoft was treated like a drug-dealer to many users; we all hated their stuff but were addicted to it. They entered the market with the Zune, and later Zune HD, great design/hardware but no street cred of giving the users what they want. Apple’s street cred seems to have suffered too as it gets called out for pursuing a corporate agenda that betrays its users. And after umpteen generations of the iPod and iPhone, each less revolutionary than the first, I believe consumers might look beyond the hardware, shiny design and question how these devices will empower their lives rather than limit them. The iPad might be a tough sell in this economy.
