Sunday, October 25, 2009

A Garmin Phone, Are They Serious???

I understand that if you make a product that is very hot and u can get it added to a phone, it can be very profitable because people do almost everything with their phones these days. Apple, primarily a computer and then a super mp3-player maker, broke into the phone business (with a partnership with AT&T) with the iPhone. This made plenty of sense because it eliminates the need to have both an iPod and a phone at the same time. Plus, the brain trust at Mac cooked up the concept of an all touch screen interface, a web browser that looks just like the Web on a computer, and an ever growing list of useful Applications unmatched at the time. They came up with a concept that all other phones have been trying to match or better ever since it hit the market. However, Garmin's specialty is GPS navigation systems. The way phones are made now, they have a lot more similarity to computers than GPS systems. Close ur eyes and try to imagine someone who would want the best part of their phone to be its GPS system. I guess Garmin thinks that the market for old men who don't like talking on the phone or texting but get lost all the time is bigger than I'd estimate that it is. My phone has a Navigation application built in that I could use while driving or walking if I cared to. I'd imagine most new smart phones do. Furthermore, I'd imagine the iPhone (and more me, my iPod touch) network probably has dozens of navigation apps that could do the job when I need it; which I'd estimate to only be a small percent of the time. Much less than I'd use the phone, texting and other messaging, Internet, or music listening features of the phone. With this being said, I could imagine being more interested in an Skype or even AOL phone than a Garmin phone. For those with an iPod or iTouch, I believe the Garmin could make an application that would blow all of the other navigation/GPS apps out of the water, but that's where it should end. I think the Nuvi phone will and should flop and they should talk to all the phone companies about putting their GPS application in new superphones that are coming out. Otherwise, they're overstepping their boundaries and should stick to what they know. I could be wrong. And someone who cooked up this idea to pitch to his boss at Garmin could call me an idiot who has no idea how the market works in these areas. But it's how I feel every time I've seen the commercial. But hey, I've Been Called Worse...

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