How much longer do you think Apple can lock an iPod or iPhone by preventing upgrade of the memory size. Flash memory has become so cheap it seems almost criminal that Apple prevents users from upgrading on their own. I know it is a marketing ploy to keep people upgrading iPods/iPhones. But when you can buy an 8GB flash memory card for only $20, it really makes you wonder why the iPod Touch starting entry only has 8GB.
They will need a serious competitor like Sandisk to push this. There music players already allow for upgrades. At some point people will be tired of upgrading their iPod because of this restriction. This may be the reason Sandisk is #2 for music players, albiet only 8% market share.
I just checked amazon and found a 32GB card for $78. But in a year it will probably cost $30. What is the intended life span of the iPhone? I hope more than one year. I would want to keep it for at least 3 years. But with the limited memory, in 3 years 64GB will be the entry level memory card, and I would be far behind.
Could it be that Apple is afraid that they made a product so good, that if they allow for memory expansion, that people might not upgrade in 5 years? They might have a case for that. The only reason I would upgrade my cell phone is if it breaks. I only use it for phone calls.
I believe I have discovered the reason for Apple's forced obscelecence. They make their products too good. So we will be stuck with unreplaceable batteries and non upgradable memory for a long time.
1 comment:
Stitch, is it possible that either (a) Apple uses a high quality flash memory that costs more, or (b) In order for Apple to ensure it has the needed flash memory for the foreseeable future they locked into a contract which has a roughly fixed price that does not vary as the market?
I remember a year or two ago that they did cut some sort of long term deal with the flash memory makers. This could be the reason for the higher prices.
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