Here’s a little bit on how to corner a market…

I was playing with my iPod Nano, and I started thinking, “why is it that I always buy an iPod? Why wouldn’t I consider anything else?”

I first discounted looks. That’s a category open for easy debate… I like the looks, but 80% of the market doesn’t spend money just on looks alone (a significant portion does, but not the whole market).

Then I got to thinking about other mp3 players I’ve seen and used, and realized the magic formula any competitor is going to have to deliver, and consistently doesn’t.

Let’s first look at functionality. My iPod has a very nice color screen (at Target today, I looked for others at the $149 price point my Nano is at, and couldn’t find too much). But more than the screen, it’s what is on it.

I can see album art, I can see the lyrics to my songs (all at the press of the centre button), and I can also see the content from enhanced podcasts (which are great for business purposes) right on my screen. I can’t on the other devices – and as I am someone who likes liner notes, album art, etc. I really appreciate having the digital version in my hands at all times.

Take this against the Sony product at this price point. Beyond looks, the Sony unit is not well-built and plasticky… not to mention, it’s LCD screen has only two lines of information.

The Sony has 70 hours of battery life on one AAA battery. But I don’t care. It means I have to buy batteries. I hate buying batteries. I’ll take my 14 hours on a Nano, and just remember to charge it, since I’m updating my Nano anyway with podcasts and the like daily.

Both of these products are at a $149 price point. One lets me do almost everything I want, gives me my whole music experience with me wherever I go (and I use it at the office quite a bit, since I don’t want my laptop carrying my whole music library); the other is just feature deficient… and that is even before we start talking about how bad Windows DRM, and how poor (in general) the subscription content user experience is (not to mention, if 80% are using the iTunes buy-it way, then it shows me that it’s the preference. There are many services and players out there that are functional).

Yes, Apple uses DRM. But it stays out of my way. It doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb every time I want to experience digital music.

So when Microsoft, Sony, and everyone else decide to get serious about a music player, actually listen to customers and deliver them what they want, they’ll start eroding market share. Until then, digital music will continue to Think Different ™.