iPod Chief Opposed To Convergent Trend

In an interview with Germany’s Berline Online, Apple’s Senior Vice President and iPod Chief, Jon Rubenstein cited that, “many companies believe in [the convergence theory], but I personally do not,” said Rubinstein. “It’s important to have specialized devices.”

Rubinstein believes the iPod, cell phone, and digital camera will all continue to thrive in their individual markets for at least another decade. “Most people still take photographs with their digital camera rather than their cellphone,” he says. “And there’s a simple reason: digital cameras take better pictures.”

20051010085910772_2Between 1993 to 1999 Apple, produced one of the world’s first PDA’s, the Apple Newton based on the ARM processor and featuring handwriting recognition. Apple’s official name for was MessagePad, the term Newton was the name of its operating system but popular usage has come to regard Newton as a reference to include the hardware and software together.

When asked whether Apple would be re-entering the PDA market, evolving the current iPod into such a device, both Rubinstein and Apple vice president Phil Schiller (who also sat in the interview) seemed strongly opposed.

Rubinstein and Apple appear weary of investing their energies in the cell phone handset market beyond the iTunes phones being made available from Motorola. “It’s a concern,” said Rubinstein, “because the Motorola phone is no replacement for the iPod.” Instead, the company plans to wait out the response to the first iTunes phones to see the market’s reaction.