Introducing Clubline, music sharing done right.
Do you see what this is?
It's not an iPod, it's an iPhone. It contains the same features and tools, even the same telephone functionality as the iPhone.
It is not real. It's a mockup.
That phoney feeling
The problem with iPhone is that it feels like a phone and computer. It feels
- complex
- computery
- unstable
- bloated
- like a smartphone
That's not what Apple is about and that's definitely not the way to enter the phone market. The company would be better off selling something that doesn't feel like a phone. That is the Apple way and that's what people yearn for.
Guide to designing a better iPhone
There's a really simple way to design a better iPhone. Just take away everything that makes people think or feel "telephone".
That's it really, the rest is just details.
1. Pick another name, something that doesn't remind you of a phone
I brainstormed for a while until I had a word that sounded ok and didn't have an aura of telephone.
Apple shouldn't have a problem coming up with something better than Clubline. iPhone really isn't a bad name, it just feels like... a phone.
2. 95% of all mobile phones are black
Pick a color that doesn't feel like "telephone". Ok maybe 95 percent of all mobile phones aren't black but like, very many are. White is a natural choice for Apple.
3. Don't use icons or lists of names as a default view
Skip icons, lists of names and portrait photos. They all signal "mobile phone".
Here are a couple of things Apple could have as default view (no not should have, could have)
- serif fonts
- a name cloud
- an artist cloud
- news feed image
- some cool web page
- a movie
4. Present the device horisontally
Rotating the device 90 degrees would convince some people that whatever it is they're holding in their hands isn't a phone.
Line extension
There are problems with Clubline. Most important is the fact that it rides on the wave of the iPod. That's a mistake. It should be a separate entity that people doesn't associate with Apple's music player. Why? Because people will think "why did Apple make a cluttered iPod", not "hey the iPod is good so Clubline is probably also good". A combination waters down the iPod brand without improving the Clubline brand.
So Apple will have to do a
bit of marketing and design work on their own:-) 
This image shows the default Clubline view. 3 things to note
- Tap a name, "Ansley" for example, to see what music she has been listening to lately (for example White Stripes as you can see in the mockup in the beginning of the article).
- Press "Ansley" a little longer and Clubline calls her up. That's the real killer feature, one-click calling.
- Your contacts are sized according to how often you call them.
Don't tell people about the killer feature. We don't want them thinking Clubline is a telephone.