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08 Oct 2008
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, better known in the industry as 'Woz', believes that the iPod is on its way out and has revealed his discomfort with some aspects of the iPhone.
Wozniak told The Daily Telegraph that the iPod has had a long time as the world's most popular media player, and that it will fall from grace due to oversupply.
"The iPod has sort of lived a long life at number one. Things like that, if you look back to transistor radios and Walkmans, kind of die out after a while, " he said.
"It's kind of like everyone has got one or two or three. You get to a point when they are on display everywhere, they get real cheap and they are not selling as much."
Wozniak also commented on the iPhone's proprietary nature and locked service provider, and compared it to Google's open Android platform.
"Consumers are not getting all they want when companies are very proprietary and lock their products down," he said. "I would like to write some more powerful apps than what you're allowed."
On the broader front Wozniak said that he could see the technology market being hurt by the worsening economic situation.
He suggested that companies would extend their IT equipment's replacement time and that this would hurt the hardware and software industries.
Wozniak also warned that many Web 2.0 companies are being overvalued and that this could lead to a second technology crash.
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Do you agree?
I predict...
...that Woz will grow 2 more chins before 2015 AND that he will grow his beard to disguise them.
Posted by: AndyP 10 Oct 2008
Congrats
to Woz. He made a guess based on what's been happened to lesser technology. Of course the iPod will eventually die. That's like me saying "the HD tv will eventually die out," or "writing checks will become extinct." They will obviously become unused at some point. He predicts the truth, but he's got no authority to make his claim better than anyone else could.
Posted by: Jacob Pitsch 08 Oct 2008
...
Wow, want a cookie, Nostradamus?
Posted by: Jason H. 08 Oct 2008
?
I don't get it. What is the coming alternative? Do smaller devices get bigger capacity allowing the MP3 format to die giving way to less compression and therefore better quality? Doubtful. Already there is the prediction that the all-in-one phone/player will replace the MP3 player (Gates). Where is the better battery? I wish I were getting paid big bucks for this kind of speculation.
Posted by: joeuser 08 Oct 2008
Wow
Actually, I think this is quite an important message from Wozniak - he is admitting that the iPhone is too restrictive in terms of its flexibility in comparison with alternatives, such as Android. This is true of other Apple products. The all-in-one service of being both the hardware and software provider has always been Apple's philosphy, and has worked well to some extent in creating a wonderful, seamless range of products. As soon as you start allow third-parties to mess around, the seamlessness is diluted. Perhaps Wozniak is warning his co-founder friend that people care more about flexibility, than seamlessness. Personally, I think Apple need to slow up on releasing new models of their products, and release only when there is significant changes - unlike what we have seen with the iPod range where new models seem to pop up every five minutes, without much improvement. People are starting to get a bit wary of having to pay out to keep up, and then realising that their new product offers little more than the previous one.
Posted by: Darren 08 Oct 2008