A couple months ago, I told my girlfriend that the explosion of third-party iPod accessories was an important trend indicator. Apple's iPods have become a hot fashion item, genre-defining gadget, and ideavirus, zooming:
"...right into the sweet spot where a consumer product becomes something much, much more: an icon, a pet, a status indicator and an indispensable part of one's life. To 3 million-plus owners, iPods not only give constant access to their entire collection of songs and CDs, but membership into an implicit society that's transforming the way music will be consumed in the future. "When my students see me on campus with my iPod, they smile," says Professor Katch, whose unit stores everything from Mozart to Dean Martin. "It's sort of a bonding." (Newsweek cover story, July 26)
As a rule, organizations don't reinvent their foundations. iPod, iTunes, and Apple's online music store offer Windows users an eye-opening introduction to Apple ease of use; but Apple has always been a hardware company at heart. As the iPod phenomenon demonstrates, it still is.
Fortunately for Jobs & co., dressing up their traditional approach for a new market and new times is proving to be just the ticket. Welcome to iPod Nation.
UPDATE: Blogger Eric McErlain has an iPod story of his own.
I, for one, welcome our industrial design-friendly masters.
Ditto me! :-)
We can also thank Apple for borrowing (from Xerox Parc) the best elements of a windowing GUI and its associated hardware and bringing it to a personal computer. Also we can be happy they did this well enough that Microsoft copied it (sometimes poorly) into Windows.
Having said that, now its time to reinvent computer interfaces and get rid of these stinking overlaping windows and awkward, unnavigable directory heirarchies. For an example of a better way, look at Google's new image software....
--Fred
Joe,
You are right. In fact, the software on Apple's iPod comes from PortalPlayer, a company that produces cellphone software.
Ingenious iPod software.
I agree that ipod is riding High, but the question is for how long? How long before people begin to understand that what they are downloading is encoded at 128 kbs as opposed to CD quality which is at 1,378 kbs. This is a very noticable difference because at 128 kbs, the music is stripped of everything resembling a an actual instrument. What's even more ironic or rather moronic is the new BMW that connects to the ipod. This is the equivalent of adding an 8 Track player without the songs being interupted while it switches to the next number.
Apple has definately matured in their marketing tactics as well. Look at how they describe the new ipod BMW combination.
With the installation of an integrated adapter developed by Apple and BMW, you can now control your iPod or iPod mini through the existing audio system and multi-function steering wheel. Which means no loss of power. No loss of sound quality. No loss of control.
But if you read a little further down in the "Quality" section that is not in Bold, you discover what they mean by No Loss of Sound Quality.
Quality. Why settle for anything less than the ultimate sound experience behind the wheel of The Ultimate Driving Machine? The glovebox iPod adapter cable lets you enjoy your iPod music without the loss of sound quality that occurs with existing cassette and FM transmitter solutions.
Since when does BMW come with only a cassette player and FM transmitter? Did they forget about that little invention called a CD Player?
Has Apple forgot that they are or were a computer company? I have to ask because the company is shipping the ipod worldwide yet they are out of stock for the imac until September which means that they will loose their once precious back to school sales.
I have nothing against Apple, I even bought a 17" PowerBook PowerPC G4 recently, but all of this makes me wonder about the future of my $3,000 investment. If you go to Apple.com you can hardly tell they sell anything but the ipod.
SBD
I see music stratifying. MP3s as the portable solution, and DVD-audio formats for people playing stuff on stereos over $1000. CDs increasingly squeezed in the middle, but still useful due to installed base and a real market for systems under $1000. In that environment, the iPod has lots of room to thrive.
Apple's problems keeping things in stock at important times go back a long way, actually. That doesn't surprise me, and neither does their determination to ride the fashionista wave on the iPod right now. The portable music market is hitting an inflection point, and if Apple rides it well it will make a huge difference to their business. iPod = iTunes = Apple music store = more drivers for titles to list with them = more iPods = entrenchment of Quicktime too. If they're staked on a computer/media future, this is na big deal.
I do wish they were better at keeping stuff in stock, though.
A huge market for the i pod (and obviously various mp3 players) that doesn't exist for the cd is people like myself that use it during exercise.
I used to use a portable cd player, with the ESP, "no skip" technology, it was clumsy at best no matter what you did with it. If you are a hard enough runner, the cd will skip, period.
The i pod allows me instant touch control, playlists for different types of exercise, and great portability. And you can load all of your current cd's into your i tunes files, so that you don't have to pay again for what you already have. I was skeptical about the worth of having an i pod until I got one. Now I can't imagine not having it.
SBD,
I think you are misunderstanding what Apple is saying. They are referring to the kits that are being sold by third-parties that allow you to play the iPod through the car stereo system. These kits play either through an adapter that attaches to the cassette player, or sends the signal over a pre-selected FM station. Neither of these solutions are optimal, as some signal loss occurs.
Also, re: your point about the iMac. The 2nd generation iMac was never geared towards the 'back to school' market. That is what the eMac and iBook are for. The iMac has been more of a boutique item. That is not to say, however, that the 3rd gen iMac wasn't intended for the back-to-school market; in which case, you are absolutely correct. It's just that no indication has been given that that is one of the target markets.
Time will tell.
-greg
Get a free iPod Mini or the new 4G iPod!
You'll have to sign up for one of the free trials they offer and get 5 others to sign up through your link. Yes this is a pyramid scheme but it seems legit as several people have recieved theirs already.
[JK: We don't do pyramid schemes here, period. I've removed all the URLs. Because you posted this yourself, once, in a relevant thread, you only get a warning. Post this again and you're banned from comments forever.]
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