TomTom iPhone Dock, anyone? (1 Viewer)

[DaveF]

I realized I do have one caveat on a phone-based GPS: sharing. I have a regular GPS that my wife and I share, as needed. But If I pay $100+ for a GPS on my phone, then it's mine and mine along. No more sharing. So I'd have to buy two, so she can have one as needed. And that's wasteful, since we don't need GPS's normally.

So for me, the GPS app may need to be twice as good or half the price of the comparable hardware to make it worth buying.

 

[Ted Todorov]

Originally Posted by DaveF /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I realized I do have one caveat on a phone-based GPS: sharing. I have a regular GPS that my wife and I share, as needed. But If I pay $100+ for a GPS on my phone, then it's mine and mine along. No more sharing. So I'd have to buy two, so she can have one as needed. And that's wasteful, since we don't need GPS's normally.
So for me, the GPS app may need to be twice as good or half the price of the comparable hardware to make it worth buying.

You do realize you just need to buy one copy and you can -- legitimately -- run it on two iPhones? As you know, iTunes authorization for DRMed stuff works thus: up to 5 Macs or PCs and unlimited number of iPods/iPhones that synch with one of those Macs/PCs. This most certainly works for Apps -- so this is indeed an advantage for families over a stand alone GPS.

 

[DaveF]

I had no idea that iPhone apps were a "family pack" licensing. I'll have to learn more when the time comes; we wouldn't synch off the same computer so that might be an obstacle. And for apps that do data-synching, I don't know how a shared synch works.

But that's definitely worth learning more about.

 

[Ted Todorov]

Originally Posted by DaveF /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I had no idea that iPhone apps were a "family pack" licensing. I'll have to learn more when the time comes; we wouldn't synch off the same computer so that might be an obstacle. And for apps that do data-synching, I don't know how a shared synch works.
But that's definitely worth learning more about.

You don't have to synch from the same computer -- my wife and I certainly don't. Data can be separate as well. We just both use the same iTunes account to purchase the apps with -- although you could use multiple iTunes accounts and permission computers for more then one account.

 

[DaveF]

Thanks for the tip. I need to learn more. Since my wife and I would be buying a handful of the same apps, like the SplashData line, that would save us $50 or more.

I just have to make sure I understand how to explain that it's wholly legit to my wife. She's a stickler for licensing issues and ignores me on my occaisional hand-waving of such details.

Edited by DaveF - 8/18/2009 at 02:19 pm GMT

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

[COLOR= rgb(24, 24, 24)]Yes, I see this killing the stand alone GPS industry. If you can buy an iPhone ($99) plus Tom-Tom ($99) (other brands start as low as $29) for the same price as a stand alone Tom-Tom or Garmin, why would you even consider a stand alone GPS?? [/COLOR]

Maybe to avoid the $65-70 per month cost of ownership that an iPhone is going to set you back.

 

[DaveF]

Originally Posted by Ted Todorov /forum/thread/288862/tomtom-iphone-dock-anyone#post_3596768
Yes, I see this killing the stand alone GPS industry.

Absolutely! Since the only people who buy and use GPS units also have AT&T and have an iPhone. Noone in the other 70% of the cellphone market has a GPS. None of the AT&T customers using non-data phones or Blackberries have GPS units. And every single iPhone owner will prefer a hyper-integrated solution over a GPS that works by itself or can be shared with spouse and kids.
The standalone GPS market is dead in the water.
/img/vbsmilies/htf/biggrin.gif

 

[Ted Todorov]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael_K_Sr /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Maybe to avoid the $65-70 per month cost of ownership that an iPhone is going to set you back.

So you think that there are people out there who don't have a cell phone, but do have a stand alone GPS in their car? Sorry, I don't think such creatures exist. So if they already paying for a phone (my T-Mobile dumb phone was $40 a month plus tax) the difference to upgrade is suddenly not so big considering all you get. And of course there is always the iPod touch -- no monthly contract, rumored to work with forthcoming Tom-Tom dock (which has its own built in GPS).
Dave, I know you're kidding but a couple of fallacies in the joke: this won't happen overnight, so by the time it does, iPhone (and other "good enough" Android etc. phones) will be on every carrier. By then there probably will be a contract free iPod Touch or iTablet with built in GPS as well (and no monthly contract).
The second fallacy: of course Blackberries and WinMo's and Nokias have had GPS for a long time. But this goes back to the original iPhone, where a bunch of people who weren't grokking it started saying --but WinMO has had features A -F for years, plus it can do XYZ which the iPhone can't, the iPhone is worthless. Of course the answer is that features A-F + XYZ were unusable, thus the iPhone's success and WinMo's failure. GPS: Blackberry screens are too small and I'll bet the apps are too hard to use (and the Storm is simply a joke -- too lazy to write the story, but we had dinner with Storm wielding friends recently, and they were not pleased). Thus the iPhone is the first phone out there with GPS that is not just usable, but EASIER to use than the dedicated GPS devices.

 

[DaveF]

I'm not sure what you're saying. That GPS standalone units are a deadend in the long run, several or many years from now? Possibly; eventually all phones could be "smartphones" with integrated GPS voice navigation.

Or that they're dead in the next 12 months? If so, not a chance, for all the reasons I gave. The iPhone and GPS markets are not a complete overlap.

But I think you underestimate the number of frugal / cheap people out there who will buy a fixed-cost product and will avoid premium monthly services for as long as possible.

 

[Ted Todorov]

Originally Posted by DaveF /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I'm not sure what you're saying. That GPS standalone units are a deadend in the long run, several or many years from now? Possibly; eventually all phones could be "smartphones" with integrated GPS voice navigation.
Or that they're dead in the next 12 months? If so, not a chance, for all the reasons I gave. The iPhone and GPS markets are not a complete overlap.
But I think you underestimate the number of frugal / cheap people out there who will buy a fixed-cost product and will avoid premium monthly services for as long as possible.

Yes, I am saying that in several years they will be obsolete. I claim that the frugal people will not purchase GPS units in the first place unless they come built into their car as standard equipment. (And if you want to say: "But I'm a frugal person, and I bought a stand alone GPS" -- you did so before the iPhone etc. option was available and known. If you are considering buying iPhones, you don't enter into mine (or even yours) definition of a frugal person).
I additionally claim that iPod Touch type devices will be available with GPS but without a data contract for those who don't want to pay a monthly contract. If Apple doesn't do it, Android will, but I'm sure Apple will eventually do it themselves.

 

[DaveF]

Originally Posted by Ted Todorov
Yes, I am saying that in several years they will be obsolete.

I claim that the frugal people will not purchase GPS units in the first place unless they come built into their car as standard equipment.

Frugal people buy standalone GPS units because they're affordable. Car-integrated devices are expensive ($1000 - $2000) and only available in a new car; definitely not for the frugal or even "normal" person. They'll continue to buy standalone devices for a while because, being frugal, they avoid premium monthly charges like the iPhone.
You seem to be arguing that broadcast TV will go away because everyone can get cable / satellite, and why would anyone balk at paying an extra $30 - $100 per month? Well, because there's a spectrum of people, some of whom will refrain from buying higher-end services; and there's enough of them to support a low-end, even obsolete, market for a while to come.
So will GPS disappear as standalone units in the next 5 to 50 years? That's a possibility. But I think it's going to be past the 5-year mark.

 

[Sam Posten]

looks like SiriusXM may launch an interesting dock adapter next week:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/21/sirius-xm-readying-skydock-iphone-ipod-touch-accessory-and-mor/

 

[DaveF]

Originally Posted by Ted Todorov /forum/thread/288862/tomtom-iphone-dock-anyone#post_3598032
So if they already paying for a phone (my T-Mobile dumb phone was $40 a month plus tax) the difference to upgrade is suddenly not so big considering all you get.

We have very different views of frugal people I'll concede that the GPS standalone market is doomed; but I think we disagree on the time frame.
Interesting note about the Sirius dock. My car had built-in XM. I subscribed for 6 months. While I enjoyed it, I was annoyed that the subscription was tied to the radio and not to me; so I could only enjoy it during my short commutes and not inside the house or at the gym or etc. And the standalone radios were clunky and seemed silly to mount one in my car when the car has it built in; it seemed doubly silly to double subscribe to listen in multiple locations. An iPhone system might reduce that pain.

 

[Sam Posten]

http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/22/tomtoms-iphone-car-kit-promo-video-is-enticing-but-still-no-me/

 

[DaveF]

Wow.

Gut reaction: knocks every other GPS unit on its rear. And I'm a Garmin owner.

 

[Sam Posten]

For the price it better be,

 

[DaveF]

Originally Posted by Sam Posten /forum/thread/288862/tomtom-iphone-dock-anyone/30#post_3598546
For the price it better be,

Why? It's priced like a mid / low range unit at $200; much less than top-of-the-line standalone GPS's which are as much as $800.
Given that quality GPS devices cost $150 - $250, I don't understand why iPhone users expect class-beating GPS software and hardware for $0.99.

 

[Sam Posten]

Because all the guts are in the thing they already own.

EXCEPT.... The Dock ALSO has a bluetooth connection of its own which I did not realize. I was kinda worried that it would be weird dealing with the head unit of my car when it came to calls, but since the dock is also designed to work with Bluetooth that takes care of it for me...

http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/28/tomtoms-car-kit-for-iphone-hits-the-fcc/

It got FCC approval this week, should ship soon I hope.

 

[DaveF]

I assume you don't want to pay for the $29 Snow Leopard upgrade, since that CD and box only have about $0.10 worth of stuff in them?

The price of a product has nothing to do with its cost to manufacture. Its soley its perceived value and what people will pay. I see turn-by-turn directions and a GPS system that rivals even the $700 standalone units. In comparison, that seems not unreasonable for $199. I don't care if that $199 simply buys me the Emperor's New Clothes, so long as it works as promised.

 

[Sam Posten]

I'm saying the brains and display are already in the iTouch/phone

The Dock is a glorified cable. Assume the software is $100 but you should get a discount for buying a bundle. That's all I'm saying. The software is ridiculously overpriced, we all know that.