Originally Posted by
njkayaker
It could be an issue for the "PND guys".
It already is. Go ask them. I have.
But (some) cyclists might not be well served by the "disruption" either.
What cyclists end-up with might actually be more expensive too.
Unfortunately, that's not how markets work.
I haven't argued that the "disruption" won't happen. You just keep seeing "little functional difference", when there are obvious differences (just because they are diffences that you don't care about doesn't make them go away).
I'm looking at the larger picture. By far the majority of bike computer functionality is already available in the cycling apps and smartphones. It's by going upscale and trying to stay ahead of it is the strategy that the PND mfgs are using now. Whether that is sustainable is what you and I are arguing about.
Smartphones are general purpose computers. The cycling-specific stuff is being provided by niche companies who are "marketing" their products in a direct/transparent way. No "guerilla marketing" going on.
It could be more of a steam roller crushing everything to the same level than "sidling".
Disagree. Abvio (Cyclemeter) - for example - is not a company big enough to go head to head with Garmin. So they address it by nibbling away at the market. Multiply Abvio by ten. Go read Reis and Trout, "Marketing Warfare." Shortest and most succinct discussion of this that I know. It's an easy read and it's been true for decades.
What this winds up being is Gulliver being tied down by the Lilliputians. One way out of it is for Garmin and the PND suppliers to buy the little guys up. Apple has done this successfully before. Leaving them to be and to grow is probably not the path to sustainability for the PND suppliers.
J.