"Customers are getting tired of being told what to think by Apple."

*points at sales figures*

No they're not. Say what you want about a lot of things, but the hoi polloi want nothing to do with cross-comparing the version of this with the specs of that and determining who supports what, when and why. I’d go so far as to say that in a lot of ways, people are sick of choice – at least in high tech.

Some of us aren’t, but it really is a lot like cars. There will always be a significant chunk of the population who are gear heads. They should not be ignored; indeed, to do so is suicide. These folks know enough about cars to be discriminating. They carefully choose their cars and accessories based on their research, preferences and prejudices. They defend their choices fiercely.

The majority of the buying public cares about what the costs, what colour it is and how much it will cost to keep it fuelled. These “regular folks” however often ask the gear heads about their opinions before buying. They really don’t care what the car /is,/ they only care that it does the job and their gear head friends think it was the “right choice.”

Translated into the mobile arena this effect is the same. Nobody cares what the phone runs, how open it is, how fragmented the platform, how many apps there are or any of the rest of that pap. They care how the phone looks, what their rate plan is and whether their nerd friends think it was the “right choice.”

See a pattern?

Average people love to be told what to think. The question is simply “by whom?” In Apple’s case, they’ve managed to make quite a tidy sum by essentially marketing themselves /as/ the “nerdy friend” who can tell you what techno-widget is the “right choice.” It’s a huge thing; difficult to pull off but highly rewarding.

If you want to combat this, you will never do it by telling the milled masses what to think…Apple (and to a lesser extent, Google) have already established themselves as the “nerdy friend” that RIM, Microsoft or HP will simply /never be/. If you truly want to combat this you need to do it the old fashioned way: you need to earn the custom of the real life, meatspace “nerdy friends.”

It is only once the normals see their RL “nerdy friends” rejecting Apple or Google that they will start to question if they have been led astray. Marketing won’t save you, and neither will pretty speeches. For all the sound bites you could level at Apple, against their marketing department noone has a prayer.

Cease and desist with the lame attempts at damage control. Reach deep into your corporate well of humility and admit that you screwed up. Admit that it’s time to go back to basics and come out fighting. Give up trying to be “just like the other guys” and come out with something unique; an advantage all your own.

Unlike gear heads, nerds are fickle. If you want to win “Nerdy Friends” – and with them the bulk market share of normals – you have to make us fall in love with you all over again. So RIM, Microsoft…everyone else; I’m game. Let’s see what you got. Give me a reason to recommend you over the competition.

Something that’s more than just words.

Well said, Mr Potts

Can Trevor Potts take over writing at El Reg? It's almost a shock to read something here that is coherent, distinctive and engaging...