Here we go again.
Verizon has started an anti ‘iDevice’ campaign.
There’s a lot of different critiques to be made from this initiative, but I’m keeping this post short – keep your eyes on the road and study the track.
While it’s important to know where your competitors are relative to you in a car race, you’ll rarely see drivers spending the majority of their time looking at the cars to their left and right. They keep their eyes on the track so they don’t crash into the fucking wall.
Novel idea, right?
This is was has happened to the mobile industry since the introduction of the iPhone. Many, but not all, cell phone manufacturers has been busy running around trying to make touchscreen devices and app stores to compete with Apple.
That’s like Ferrari looking over at Lamborghini in order to figure our how to make a better Ferrari. The reason people buy a Ferrari isn’t because it has a lot of Lamborghini-like qualities, it’s because it has something very unique to it, the way it corners, the way the engine sounds, how the seats feel, how it smells, the sound the door makes when it closes and opens.
The reason the Palm Pre is such a great device is because of all the ways it’s unique and not like iPhone. It’s not trying to be something it’s not. It aggregates your social data differently, multi-tasks differently and manages windows and apps differently.
What companies who want to compete with the iPhone need to first figure out is what holes exist in the marketplace. They need to figure out how to make something people with love, not something that will beat Apple.
It’s like that Zen paradox saying, if you really want something, don’t focus on it and you will get it.
Keep your eyes on the road, Verizon …and study the track, or I guarantee you will crash and burn.