Inside Hardware Design - Competing Against the iPod

ihatewinXP writes "FastCompany.com has a behind the scenes article detailing Rio's (and others) attempts to differentiate hardware and compete in the digital music market against the iPod juggernaught. From the article: "We decided that we had to be radically different from Apple. Where Apple was sort of the ivory tower, we were going to be the dark rebel. Where Apple was very geometric, we were going to be smooth and curvy. Apple was so enamored with absolute pure, minimalist design that some designers may argue that ergonomics were compromised.""

Comments

Technology Vs. Lifestyle.

[jellomizer]

The problem is you can have the best product in all fronts vs. your competor and still loose out. Why? Becuase people just don't care about technology espectilly for things like iPods. iPods and other MP3 players are more of Status Symboles then entertainment. Why do people perfer a Catalic vs. a Toyota, The toyota is much more reliable and often has better gas milage, but the Catalic is considered nicers for our lifestyles ideas of luxery. The same with iPods. Sure other Mp3 players are just as good but it will not impress other people. Having an other companies copy of an iPod although it may be completely different, still feels like a cheap ripoff. Technology is more about emotions then most techs think. You need to make the person feel good about the product more then make them know that they have a good product.