Bet you didn’t know that over the last 12 months, the iPod hasn’t been the best selling mobile electronic device. Bet you thought Bill Gates was a luny when he proclaimed that the cell phone would ultimately be the device that killed the iPod.
Guess what. Since mid-2005, the Moto RAZR has not only outsold the iPod, but has sold at such an explosive rate that it very well may surpass total iPod sales within the next 18 months, despite launching over 2.5 years after America’s darling media player. Current sales rate for the RAZR exceeds iPod and growth continues, while iPod seems to be slowing.
Who would’ve thought, especially back when Motorola was struggling against its main competitor in the cellphone market, Nokia. Then the stylish anodized aluminum RAZR exploded onto the scene and the rest is history…it is a history that confirms what we’ve known all along: most people care just as much about how a thing looks as how it works. Just ask your wife the next time she wants to buy that pretty laptop that sucks or the car that looks cute. $20,000 for form, no function;-)
iPod made us painfully aware of how simple, easy to use functionality mixed with a simple, elegant style, matched with cool-kid marketing dictates the market. Vision is the most powerful and overwhelming sensory modality that human beings have. Catering to the visual impression goes a long way.
But the thing still has to work, of course!