Switched On: Why Motorola's ROKR plays the humdrum
posted Sep 21st 2005 3:25PM
The once eagerly anticipated Motorola ROKR E1 has attracted more than its share of down beats since its launch. Yet the phone plays music well via its headphones and relatively loudly via its small speakers. Its battery life should allay concerns about MP3 listening cutting too deeply into talk time. And its much-criticized arbitrary song limit and slow USB connections can be worked around with a USB 2.0 card reader and Motorola's music application on the phone. The ROKR may look dated and even unattractive, but that hasn't stopped other rockers from enjoying phenomenal success. Isn't that right, Mick and Keith?
Alas, the ROKR is, according to the Motorola Dictionary of Trendy Abridged Spelling, MEDIOKR. The biggest surprise, though, about the disappointing handset was that anyone was surprised at how disappointing it was. Those who have followed Apple since the ascent of the iPod should have seen that this ROKR was going to hit the rocks for a variety of reasons.
From the launch perspective, it made no sense that Apple would generate a lot of hype around the ROKR, a product that had already been quasi-announced. Sure, rumors swarm around Apple announcements like flies at a picnic, but the notion of an iTunes phone created in (loose) partnership with Motorola had publicly been discussed by executives of both companies. So, one should have been on the lookout for something big, which turned out to be something quite small – the iPod nano.
Not only did Apple�s new fleshless flash player completely upstage its fellow FairPlay-compatible device at its introduction, but the ROKR may be the first product ever undersold by Steve Jobs. Apple�s CEO described it as an iPod Shuffle for your phone. Unlike the Shuffle, though, the ROKR has a screen, multiple playlists, and speakers.
From the development perspective, Apple has always maintained that the secret to the iPod�s � or any of its products� � success lies in its vertical integration or, as the company puts it, making the whole widget. The ROKR, on the other hand, was created using a traditional cell phone model � software by Party A (Apple), hardware by Party B (bat wings), and distribution by Party C (Cingular). It�s no wonder that Apple�s traditional attention to detail and integration are lacking.
Finally, from the market dynamics perspective, the ROKR is simply the offspring of a loveless marriage � or perhaps m?ge-a-trois. Apple wants to avoid fueling any threat to its standalone iPod business by the coming onslaught of digital music phones. Motorola sees a future of Linux-based software and carrier-courting services, neither of which is met by iTunes. Finally, Cingular fails to drive network usage or over-the-air downloads with the ROKR. While its network is probably not up to that task today anyway, this will likely become more of a battleground in the future.
With regards to Cingular�s marketing slogan, the ROKR has not raised the bar, but it has raised the profile of music phones. Music features will continue to factor far down the priority list of how consumers choose their mobile phones. However, should customers embrace the playback capabilities that marginal component costs will soon make a standard feature of their handsets, Apple will need to take a more active role if it wants to preserve the portable digital music experience it has executed so well. I�d write more on the subject, but for some reason Apple�s Pages word processor has capped this column at 600 words.
Ross Rubin is director of industry analysis at NPD Techworld, a division of market research and analysis provider The NPD Group. Views expressed in Switched On, however, are his own. Feedback is welcome at fliptheswitch@gmail.com.
Excellent essay! Couldn't have said it better myself
All very true, well put. I just hope this doesn't put a damper on future mp3/cell phone integration.
honestly i don't think it's all that homely a handset. we've become accustomed to a certain aesthetic (especially from apple) of smooth, translucent plastic, shiny metal where there needn't be any, and fancy shmancy LED's and suchnot. but the ROKR reminds me of the 80's, when all electronics were trying to look like Decepticons.
and since style ebbs and flows in waves, can we expect a new ipod from apple designed to look like Grimlock? that would be so sime.
I agree no one should have been surprised by the mediocrity of the ROKR, but Engadget was one of the primary hype mongers. Feh.
beautiful. I completely agree with this essay. I have to suggest that Apple just suck it up and build their own phone so they can have control over both the hardware and software aspects of the product. Asking them to start their own wireless carrier is a little crazy (wasn't there a rumor about T Mobile going up for sale or something?). Anyways, it's only the first generation of an iTunes phone. Wait for the 4th or 5th generation. Things will get better or so i hope.
Ok, good column and all of that.
But the real question is how long can Apple undercut the cellphone industry before it eats into the standalone mp3 player market?
I am a firm believer that the cell phone will be the center of all (digital) communication and entertainment in about 5 yrs. Apple has the power now, they can deter the market with shitty iPhones, but soon they will have to make a real iPhone.
Granted there will always be a market for stand alone MP3 players, but it will become like the standalone PDA market. Small.
In 2010, a phone can have a good 4MP camera/ video playback/recording abilities and a built-in 8 GB flash drive. Like a beefed up Nokia N90/91.
The world would have gotten over Jobs' conflict with wireless headphones...
and then what?
The iPod will be a fashion item or a mass storage 80GB and up speciality item.
Where does the future take the iPod?
@hkid
phones are the only future for the ipod
Please... cellphones as the center of everything? Come on... Either you would have a very s***ty interface or you would need a touchscreen to accomidate for all those different possible interfaces. Which means PDA or DS.
What is it with all this whining about that bl***y ROKR handset???? As far as I'm concerned it is technologically inferior to say.... a SE K750i??????
I just picked one of these up round here in Belgium for a mere 300 euros and it sports a nice and dandy mp3/media player that just gets the job done. Also a nice 2MP camera and a whopping 1 GB of memory for my MP3's. The battery life is very, very good and you don't have to put up with any of that senseless get-the-record-industry-ritch DRM...
The only downside I see is the Memorystick DUO standard for the memorycard slot.
Why doesn't anybody else seem to notice this?
Cell phones are the only gadget you will need in the future. Remember the once popular pager...it is in the cell phone now. Remember the PDA... it is in the cell phone now. Current developments is targeting the digital camera and the handheld game console. Music is touted as the next big integration. Heck, it will even replace the portable TV.
Apple in my opinion will need to re-invent itself once that day come.
Don't dis the menage a trois by comparing it with the ROKR. If it was a true menage, the iTunes phone would be in the RAZR and Cingular wouldn't be the only carrier offering the phone in the US (that means T-Mobile also carrying it). Oh, and you could use your iTunes purchased songs as ringtones. Its even more offensive that you have to pay $250 for it and still get trapped in a 2 year contract here in the States. I will pass.
Yes. I completely agree. I'm so glad at least some1 had something good to say about this. I now own a ROKR and I have been transfering the songs directly to the phone. In this column, you said you can use a SD adapter? How do you use this with iTunes? If you really can, please tell me how! Thanks
I don't mind ROKR if it's on the same price as let's say my Nokia 6600 when it was new, fully equipped with 1 GB of memory.
when will people start going crazy about the Sony Ericsson W800, which is much much better than this phone?
oh hang on... if its not widely available in America, nobody cares. silly me.
MEDIOCR? More like a STINKR.
Seems like more than a little of the iPod family's success is due to the intuitive click-wheel interface. So, why wouldn't they have factored that into the ROKR? As it stands, it seems like this is just a cell with MP3/AAC capabilities - not really an iPod merged with a phone.
My Audiovoxx SMT 5600 I have over one year now and it does the same. Loud speaker, good battery life, play mps/rss cast via windows media mobile.
I am an egregious comment spammer: meggyloo@gmail.com
You missed the point. Apple has a virtual monopoly on the distribution and consumption of digital music. Cell companies and phone manufacturers are about to release phones that would try to upset Apple's lead by offering their own stores and more compatibility. Apple preempts them by releasing a phone that shares the namesake of iTunes, thus guaranteeing its popularity. And this is the first iTunes phone, not *the* iTunes phone. As in, it's a platform now. As in, Apple gives up some control of the hardware and network in order to dominate the market.
Get used to it.