Is the AppleTV the Tommy Herr of Apple’s Lineup?
…Or how Apple’s product line reminds me of the 1985 St. Louis Cardinals batting lineup.
Tommy Herr was the switching hitting second baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals back in the mid-80s. For whatever reason, when I saw the AppleTV in action, I thought of Tommy Herr. Let’s discuss…
The Cardinals of ’85 featured a run-scoring batting lineup starting with Vince Coleman, Willie McGee, and Herr.
But before we get to Tommy Herr, we have to lead off with 1985 Rookie of the Year, speedster Vince Coleman who swiped a league best 110 bases. Vince’s job was to get on base, cause disruption, steal some bases, and score runs. Does Vince’s job remind you of the origin of the iPod?
Apple’s iPod wasn’t the first music player on the market. But once released, it surely caused disruptions in the music player industry. It stole market share and boy, it’s still scoring runs ala its sales figures.
Once Coleman was on base, next up was Willie McGee. The 1985 National League MVP, McGee could do everything. He could hit (.353), steal bases (56), and roam the outfield, but his main task was to advance Coleman on the base path. Sound a little bit like iTunes?
iTunes (and the iTunes Store) does a little bit of everything. Music, videos, television shows, movies, audiobooks, podcasts, and games are all there with iTunes. But the main function of iTunes is to advance the iPod in the marketplace.
Now we come to Tommy Herr batting third for the Cardinals. Herr was not a power hitter, but he sure could drive home the runs. In 1985, Herr hit .302 and drove in 110 runs while only hitting 8 homeruns. Driving runs home but yet not a power hitter… ahhh, the AppleTV…
The AppleTV is not a power hitter in Apple’s lineup but is designed to bring the runs home straight to your living room. Like Herr, the AppleTV makes contact and keeps the iPods and iTunes content moving towards home.
And like the rest of the Cardinals lineup, Apple’s product line is flexible enough to change up the batting order and star different players. Andy Van Slyke, Terry Pendleton, and Ozzie Smith moved around the lineup while Apple’s Macs, MacBooks, iLife, iWork, and Pro apps can get it done as well.
No, I didn’t forget about the cleanup hitter who knocks the ball out of the park, clears the bases, and brings in the runs. Jack Clark had the duty for the Cardinals in ’85, and in Apple’s lineup, the cleanup hitter will be none other than the iPhone.
Technorati Tags: Apple, AppleTV, baseball, iPhone, iPod, MacBook, Macintosh
April 9, 2007 @ 4:38 pm
Pretty good analogy but I would have to disagree with Jack Clark batting clean up. I would have to go with Tabasco Man on that one. Also, I don’t think the iPhone will do that great. I think Apple is moving into territory that they don’t belong in. There are too many phones that are much better than the iPhone that cost less. Only time will tell though…
April 9, 2007 @ 4:38 pm
Pretty good analogy but I would have to disagree with Jack Clark batting clean up. I would have to go with Tabasco Man on that one. Also, I don’t think the iPhone will do that great. I think Apple is moving into territory that they don’t belong in. There are too many phones that are much better than the iPhone that cost less. Only time will tell though…
April 9, 2007 @ 7:38 pm
Ha! That analogy is great! Did you come up with that yourself? Awesome! I’m not even a baseball fan but I recognized most of those names you listed.
April 9, 2007 @ 8:34 pm
Very creative.
Hey WW, Jack Clark might be a good pick for clean up since he struck out a lot. 😉
April 9, 2007 @ 10:15 pm
Myong, thanks. Yeah, I came up with the material but took me awhile to finish it.
April 9, 2007 @ 10:21 pm
WW, you pretty much described all of Apple’s products throughout their history – much better and cost less. The Mac was overpriced, so was the first Apple LaserWriter. Who was going to pay $400 for a white MP3 player?
Apple’s success has been due to their moves into territories they don’t belong in. They are moving up the distribution charts for music and movies but they got no business being there.
Wasn’t there like a million inquiries Cingular had abou the iPhone? Apple even concedes that a small market share for the iPhone is a big number in the global cell phone market. Apple’s not going to win the battle all at once but over the years. Already, you can feel the influence of the iPhone. The BlackJack phone – not so hot after seeing the iPhone in action. I’m sure all the other cell phone makers must have thought, “Oh crap!” when they saw the iPhone demo.
So I think the iPhone will be a solid addition to Apple’s line. Even if it does strikeout, that’s acceptable as the role of the cleanup hitter.
April 11, 2007 @ 1:07 am
how much is my willie mcgee card? i got about ten of those bad boys!
-s
April 11, 2007 @ 8:40 am
McGee’s 86 Topps All Star card is going for $0.10 on eBay. So you might have a whole dollar in your hands!
Maybe this should be part of a future Pulpconnection Prize Pack.