In tribute to my long time hero, Steve Jobs, I would like to dedicate this blog post to him.

One of the greatest feat that Steve Jobs had achieved was how he recreated the entire ecosystem for the music industry.  While there are some striking similarity between the Music industry with the Travel industry (that they are both old, distribution channel controls most power), there are of course many differences to keep in mind.  So, what would Steve Jobs do, if he was to put his mind into reinventing the travel industry?

What would Steve Jobs have done if he were to recreate the travel industry?

iPod – the End User Device

The music industry change began with the Apple iPod, the first hard-drive based mp3 player that had people asking, “Why do I need to have 6 GB, when 512 MB is enough?”  At that time, the iPod was certainly NOT the first mp3 player – in fact, Apple was quite a late player into the MP3 device manufacturer.  However, their biggest selling point, 6 GB of space, won out many of the hard core music fans who at that time would at most half filled their iPod.

This provided room to grow.

The Travel Industry:

For the travel industry, the current iOS platform (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) provides a hand held device that is very capable of performing any travel-related activities.  From travel booking, researching, to taking photos, to sharing the travel memories, these devices are used.

iTunes - the End User Experience

Along with iPod came iTunes.  It started off as a program that transfers songs from ones’ computer to the iPod.  While it was a buggy program (it still is), it does allow easy synchronization and a way to reliably transfer the contents.  With this device distribution methods ready, people are free to rip out their own CD, as well as download (em hem, Napster) music and put them onto the iPod.

The Travel Industry:

This may be the most crucial piece that is currently missing from Apple’s pipeline, if they do intend to go into travel.  In fact, back in 2010, there was a news story broke out about the iTravel patent.  While it never really made into public eyes, it was nonetheless a very interesting report.

As the app is completely designed in Apple’s hands, designers can make it very user friendly, with performance and data efficiency, as well as practicality in mind.

iTunes Store – The Distribution Channel

The biggest game changer, however, is when Steve Jobs went to each major record label, and ask them to sell their musics PER TRACK and FOR 99 cents.  Both are radical concepts.  A CD typically has 12-18 tracks of songs, and costs around $20.  On a per track cost, it does work out to be about the same price.  The music industry, used to “bundle” a bunch of songs, hit titles, non-hit songs into ONE CD.  Regardless of whether the consumer likes the song or not, he or she will have to buy the entire CD for $20.

The $.99 per track model turned this paradigm upside down.  The hit songs are sold very well, and they are typically charged $0.99.  The not-so-hit songs, however, can even charge higher, some go as high as $1.29.  This caters to “the long tail” and hard core fans of the artists, who would collect every music that has been created by the artist.  By 2010, there were more than 10 Billion tracks available on iTunes, making it the largest single music source, and forever changing not just the music industry, but also media distribution industry such as books, and video shows.

The Travel Industry:

Much like the music industry, the biggest obstacle to recreate the travel industry is to change the mindsets of the distribution channels.  While music industry was entirely consumer focused and hence the mental shift can be purely made from consumer electronics, the travel industry involved a lot more hard cost.

For example, the cost involved to create a music track can range from very little (using a laptop, microphone) to very much (state-of-the-art studio, famous artists, etc) while most of the costs are soft costs.  By contrast, the cost to provide a plane ride is at least the maintenance for the plane, the flight crew, and the fuel.  That’s why for air travel, it is difficult to control.

The opportunity for cheap deals is when the flight / hotel room is almost full, and that the few remaining seats can generate many buzz or to help extract more revenue.

While booking is still mostly done with intermediary (GDS, wholesalers, travel agents, OTAs), or referral sites (Kayak, Google Flights), suppliers are now marketing aggressively to the direct consumers.

The intermediary, at this point, can offer consumers something that direct suppliers can not – the ability to change and modify their itineraries.

Genius – The advisor

Perhaps not many people are familiar with the Genius playlist.  But it really is what a Travel Agent/Advisor do for travel planning.  Genius starts with, “what do you have on your playlist”?  and then go on to suggest songs that are similar in taste.

An experience travel agent/advisor should do just that.

I must also note, that this “advisor” role maybe the weakest of Apple’s offerings in music.  Guessing what people want is never easy, and hence companies like Google build their entire business out of this.  With the reach of reading your email (gmail offering ads), browsing behaviours (google search record will be kept if you are logged in), social interactions (google +), Google has a very good idea of what YOU WANT.

And that’s why Google Flights/Hotel, and the concept of Google Travel is a very scary but potentially lucrative piece of the puzzle.

Related posts:

1. The State of Online Travel Industry (Part 1 of 3): The Typical Booking Experience
2. How the emergence of mobile had changed my travel

Today during our bubbletea meetup, I was thinking about how we can make our subsequent meetups more interesting.

One idea is to have different topics – such as cars, movies, tvs, current events, politics (can be dangerous), etc.

Then, a light bulb went on inside my head – how about an AppSwap?

Most of our members use a smart phone, either iPhone or Android phone (I actually current using a Nokia N8, but I am looking to change very soon).  I think it will be interesting to meet at a physical location, and talk about what their latest / favourite apps to be.

So the idea is this:

1. Each person attending the meetup will pay a $1 fee for the meetup (don’t ask yet, just keep reading)

2. Each person, if they have a favourite app that would like to introduce to others, can speak up.

3. Attendees can learn, discuss, and download the app on the location.

4. Will the pool of entrance fee, the crowd will choose the best Apps for the event, and will be award an Appstore Gift card.

5. App developers who want to promote their apps, can help sponsor the event and we can create a user test group during that time.

What do you think?

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After seeing the new iPhone, I can’t help but noticed there are many great comparisons between the iPhone 4.0, vs the HTC EVO, and also the iOS4, vs Android 2.2  (Froyo).  To me, they both have their pros and cons, so I don’t really want to discuss about them now.

So when will Android close  the gap with iOS4? or a better question is, when will there ever be a Android device that can deliver the level of user experience comparable or better than the iPhone4?

My response is, probably not in the next few years.

Why? Because that is the difference between integrated design, vs component design.

The theory is like this, when the design is separated into hardware and software, made by two different entities, there ought to be compatibility issues.  Both parties will say that they are correct, and it takes time to nail down the source of the problem and fix the problem.

From the economics point of view, it will also take a while before  any Android phone will catch up.  When a company such as HTC, whose main revenue is from selling hardware, they are inclined to create a series of small hardware updates that can bring to the market.  They will simply spend 20% of additional resource, to create the next phone that fits for 80% of their target audience.  That is also why they will never be, Perfect.

Think about during the PC times – x86 computers, Pentium computers, Core2Duo, etc, there was never a “perfect” machine. There were “good enough for my budget” machines.  The Macs are not perfect either.  But it turned to a direction that markets themselves as an “art piece” – much like the Aston Martin that the TechCrunch article refers to.

Having a perfect product (or closed to perfect) will require someone who has the dedication to oversee the entire architecture (think about an architect who is  building the skyscraper), the chief architecture is solely responsible for the overall delivery of the experience.  This is what makes Steve Jobs, one of the best productizer in the history of consumer electronics.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I truly believe that Android will have a much larger user base in the long run – because of falling hardware from China’s manufacturer, who can provide lots of “good enough” devices and an software open platform.  I just think that it will take several years before there is one that matches the iPhone4.

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There has been numerous comparisons between different phones and features, is the Nexus One better than the Droid, or is it better than the iPhone.  Not many comparisons are on the web regarding  the platforms, and the platforms only.  The platforms that I’m considering here are:

• iPhone OS
• Android
• Windows Mobile
• Blackberry
• Symbian OS
• Taiwan-made MTK
• PalmOS

Of course, each of these operating systems has each of its advantages and disadvantages, and we cannot simply look at the platform without considering the devices around them.

However, with the convergence of phone manufacturers jumping  on to different platforms (HTC has WinMo and Android, Ericsson has WinMo, Symbian, and Android), the mobile devices is more and more uniform. Hence we really should be looking at how the different operating systems are like.

First, the low down:

Market Shares of mobile platforms

Second, the breakdown of each of the platforms:

iPhone OS

iPhone has been around since 2007.   Since then, it has been called the “God” phone.  Currently it has sold over 42 Million units all over the world, with the majority in the United States.  I was mesmerized by the sleekness, speed, and the ability to multi-touch when I first saw the phone.  The form factor, user experience has been imitated from then on.  The strongest point of the iPhone has been its applications, with over 150,000 applications in the store.  Of those, all the coolest applications are on it and some businesses would develop in this only.  However, because the App Store  is a closed system, there had been complaints from developers saying their apps cannot pass through due to conflict of interest with Apple and its partners.

Google vs Apple (taken from New York Times)

Android

Android began its life as an open-source project and the operating system of the Open Handset Alliance.  In 2005 they were acquired by Google and the popularity just soared.  The project was a branch off the Linux kernel, but since Google acquired them, Google has made many changes to the project without contributing back, hence getting kicked out of the Linux Kernel.  To date, it has over 30,000 applications and equally gathering lots of attention of developers and businesses.  China, who manufactures low cost handsets, is a huge proponent to the Android OS, because it can further reduce the price of the offering to its rural area and for exports.  However, the recent incident between Chinese government and Google may create some road block of the growth for Android.

Windows Mobile

Microsoft has certain been one of the earlier adopters to mobile computing with the WinCE system on PDAs (Also the Apple Newton and Palm Pilots).  However, all through these years, Windows Mobiles had similar looks, and required the use of a stylus.  With phone manufacturers such as HTC, Samsung putting up their own efforts to make the skin more user friendly, there is still no hiding that the operating system is out-dated. In 2010, Microsoft announced that they are releasing Windows Phone 7 Series, with one HUGE problem – none of the previous applications are compatible with this new release.

I can already see how Microsoft will be losing this race, despite having a brand new offering, it  may have already turned their most loyal users away.  To date, there are around 700 applications and they need to figure out a new strategy in order to stay competitive in the smartphone market.

Blackberry

I like RIM –  I used to work in Motorola Canada where I was making software for two-way pagers, and I know the RIM originates from this technology.  Having witnessed how a small company from Waterloo, Ontario grew internationally, I think the “tipping point” moment of its history must have been the United States President Obama being dubbed the “Blackberry President“.  (I swear he was not the first one that used it,  it must have been much much earlier, maybe during Bill Clinton times) Since then, the brand has been associated with power, business and more power.

I truly believe this is the brand image that RIM needs to keep – no more touch screen phones, stop focusing on the consumer.  Just simply do the email and data well. Pay money to developers to create business applications.   If they branch off too much into consumerism and attempt to compete with Apple or Android,  then it may drain away too much of their resources.

Symbian OS

I must admit, I love Nokia phones.  I had a 6230i which lasted me 6 years, and I am currently using a E71. They are great phones, with awesome features and long lasting battery life, unlike the iPhone and other Android phones.  However, Symbian is having image problems.  Being the dominated mobile manufacturer and operating system, Symbian had been around for… TOO LONG. It’s similar to how Hotmail came about and everyone had hotmail at one point, and then, all of a sudden, they were taken over by the sexier, sleeker gmail.   I think  Symbian actually has more applications than the iPhone.  Of how many of them are current and usable, I can’t say.

One of the problems I have heard from an industry leader about Symbian, is that they are very reliable, low cost, and people perceived that it should stay that way.  Nokia would have no problem supplying the new, low cost markets with its low end phones, however, to a Geek or a developer, these markets are not  interesting enough.  So, when someone new looking at the available applications to the platform, there is NO GOOD APPS.  The Ovi Store simply cannot attract new developers as they cannot expect the low cost markets to pay for an app, even if it is being charged $1US.

Taiwan-made MTK

MTK is actually a  chip manufacturer in Taiwan, which supply 99% of all the “Shanzhai” (fake) phones in China. Despite the looks of a fake iPhone that you may have seen on news articles, underneath, they all have the same operating system – the MTK system.  The general specification of the system: Dual SIM, Bluetooth, Calendar, MP3, books, multi-lingual input, microSD input, support QQ  (a very popular IM), WAP/EDGE, touch screen capable, Java capable (sometimes).  The typical cost of a MTK powered phone: less than $100USD – it certainly can be a power to be if it has a proper application platform and better P.R. (no pun intended, means Public Relations here…)

The latest news I heard, is that MTK is intending to use Android as its de-facto operating system.

PalmOS

See Microsoft’s Windows Mobile, except imagine a company running out of cash.  Good luck, Palm.

So, how will the mobile future looks like?

My Bet:

If I have to put in a bet to see where the future in Mobile Smartphone Platforms, I will certainly place it in Android.  iPhone will be always cool, but a  closed system (hardware and software) will once again create an ecosystem of what happened 20 years ago with the MacIntosh vs the PC argument.  Windows Mobile will be interesting as things are too early at this point to judge.  I personally would like Nokia/Symbian to have a better prospect, although turning a large ship, like Symbian, around takes time and money – both of which Nokia can provide given its large lead and its penetration in the low-end market.

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