iTouch Acting as Gateway Drug to iPhone
There’s no doubt that the skeptics who thought that Apple had no chance in theportable music player department hid when Apple’s iPod hit the market and took the mp3 music players by storm. Very few technological innovations make such an impact on our culture and yet Apple redefined what it is to listen, interact, and engage our music. Their style of minimalist design served them well with the generations of iPods to come down the line, but now times have changed.
The market for mp3 players has widened with lots of entrants, but few are capable of toppling the giant, so instead they offer an alternative to those not willing to give into Apple’s tight restriction to the Apple iTunes store. Nevertheless, iPods have had to redefine how they are interacted with and that’s when the iTouch came out. This unique tactile surface mp3 player gave users a unique experience that was unseen in the market for portable music players. Since then Apple has never looked back, and the iTouch has swelled in huge numbers.
From June to November alone, the market share grew 5%, which in Apple’s world is a huge market. Most of this is attributed to the apps that you can install on the mobile device and the bevy of games that Apple is turning to to keep users entertained and constantly in contact with their device.
But is there a deeper agenda then just the one present? Mac Rumors suggests that Apple is quietly turning the iTouch into the gateway device for future iPhone users. Similar to the concept of a gateway drug, it’s opening doors and increasing familiarity that users will appreciate and then look for something more substantial. That’s where the iPhone comes into play.
It’s not surprising that this agenda may or may not have been planned because in the grand scheme of things it’s almost a natural progression. Users may still be carrying around two devices, interacting with their iTouch much more, but in time, the iTouch user will want to carry only one device but still have the access to the vast library of apps they are familiar with on the iTouch. The iPhone then comes into play, so I’m not quite sure if this was the intended plan or just luck that it’s working out that way, but in either case it’s a moot issue. Apple is still taking this concept all the way to the bank.
