Monty Solomon (monty@roscom.com) Sat, 30 Jul 2005 23:41:18 -0400

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By Jonny Evans LONDON -- The iPod may face challenges from music-playing cell phones and online subscription services but will likely reign supreme because it taps into the way consumers enjoy music, experts say. At a panel discussion in London on Tuesday called "I Came, I Saw, IPod -- What's Next?," several digital-music experts were asked to identify a likely successor to Apple Computer's market-leading device. "After the iPod -- isn't that like asking what's after the book?" asked journalist and keynote speaker Charles Arthur, who argued that music will not necessarily flow to cell phones. User interfaces and usage patterns matter, said Arthur. For mobile music to succeed, "cell phones need to be as easy to use as a BlackBerry," he said. Arthur observed that handsets still suffer from unreliable connection speeds and security issues. For example, today's handsets don't offer elegant backup options for purchased songs, leaving consumers at the mercy of network operators to replace their collections if handsets are lost or damaged. At least computers let users burn CDs of their purchases to guard against loss, Arthur said. The cost of music download services and devices is also a barrier to mass-market acceptance, said Michael Bull, a Sussex University lecturer known as "Professor iPod." http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,68261,00.html

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