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Old BlogI’ve been musing recently about how the cell phone world is split into fairly distinct ecosystems. I know I’m generalizing (I’m trying to do that to draw some generalizations) but I see the following kinds of breakdowns:
iPhone Users: typically young (or want to be young), hip, and very media savvy. They tend to be heavily into music, often with a creative bent (creation or consumption) and seem to be web-browsing folks who are not email power-users. Heavily plugged into the iTunes universe, seem to often have other Apple products. See no problem with things being controlled tightly by Apple. The Apple slogan of “there’s an App for that!” fits to a tee.
Blackberry Users: typically business people or government types. They tend to be email power-users. Often Windows-centric, often Outlook users. There’s a strong Outlook-Blackberry Enterprise Server affinity and it seems to reflect in how these folks use their mobile devices. Function over form, has to be rock solid reliable. The Apps that mean the most after email are navigation, Open Table, LinkedIn, Facebook – things the modern business person needs.
Nexus One/Droid Users: a new group of course, but also seem to be younger, hip, but very Internet savvy. Very much into the Google mind-set (cloud centric, information wants to be free, GMail, GCalendar, etc). My observed Droid/Nexus One audience is primarily techies – I don’t know many non-techies that have an Android phone yet. The underlying mentality of the development community seems to be “There’s an API for that!” From what I see, having more than one app running is a big deal to this crowd.
Nokia Users: it’s just a phone! Sure, they like to send text messages and take pictures and all, but really, other than the new N900 what real meaningful smart phone is in play? I have huge hopes for the N900 but Nokia cannot seem to attract the development community despite years of effort with the N800/810 crowd. There just does not seem to be an ecosystem yet.
Palm Pre Users: thee are users for this phone? Really? I’ve never seen one in the wild. I don’t get where this phone has a play at all. Do you?
Of course I am stereotyping, so please don’t get your dander up about that. I’m trying to! I want to toss these generalizations against the wall and see what sticks, and what kind of thoughts it generates. I don’t know myself where I’m going with this other than to say “gee, that’s interesting.” What do you think?
Greg,
Interesting post. I could readily think of some people I know and the categories they belong to.
I would like to add some comments about Nokia.
> other than the new N900 what real meaningful smart phone is in play?
I’m in the market for a new “smart” phone and since I’m with T-mo, iPhone and Driod are not an option for me.
When I was researching about N900, I came to know about Nokia
5800 and it’s siblings. Here is a review comparing Nokia 5800 with iPhone:
http://www.tube5800.com/category/nokia-tube-vs-apple-iphone/
Now, I know that 5800 is a somewhat older model (based on Symbian S60) and that it uses resistive technology for touch, but it is a very feature rich phone. It appears to be a popular handset in Europe and other parts of the world but I don’t think it was ever heavily marketed in the US. I may be wrong.
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Everyone knows that Apple releases highly polished and sleek products. The point that goes out unnoticed most of the time is that there aren’t too many choices when it come to Apple products.
The message is very crisp and clear. An iPhone is a device you crave for – “neighbors envy, owners pride”.
Now, compare that to the multitude of Andriod or Nokia phones that are out there.
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In a few years time, almost everyone would have a smartphone in their pocket. It would be very interesting to see who would be the leading players then.