The iPhone experience: a (failed!) conduit to sampling Apple’s other products

In the last episode of Macbreak Weekly and TWiT, Leo Laporte, Merlin Mann (congratulations on your paternity leave!), Don Reisinger, Roger Chang, Steve Gibson and the rest of the two panels were discussing how Apple’s iPhone exclusivity fiasco has caused much emotional outrage with both the mainstream consumer and Apple fanatics.

Remember when the iPod became a success? The influx of iPod buying traffic spilled over to conversions to the Macintosh. “Oh yeah,” says Apple, “we know you liked the iPod — why don’t you try out our iMacs?” This was truly apparent as Apple distinguished itself in their website by launching the iMac with the tagline “from the makers of the iPod.”

I say the same can be said for the iPhone. Even here in the Philippines, where the iPhone is officially not yet available, quite a number of stores have stocked unlocked iPhones with a selling price of about USD $450.00. Underground iPhone unlocking businesses are charging USD$50.00 per unlock (that’s the cheapest). It all boils down to the consumer wondering why Apple had initially agreed to enter into an exclusivity deal in the first place. For most “mainstream” consumers, the iPhone is their first (or second – depending whether they own an iPod) encounter with an Apple product and they are greeted with strict rules that give them the impression that this company is bullish with their consumer experience.

If Apple wants to expand their business into consumer electronics and digital life, they should have been more faithful with their Think Different campaign. I guess this is what happens to a company tainted with some form of hubris.