THE COOLEST THING IS THAT YOUR ENTIRE MUSIC LIBRARY FITS IN YOUR POCKET: Ten years ago today, Steve Jobs introduced the iPod to the world. It stored 5 GB of songs, cost $399.00, and utterly changed the music industry.
That first iPod was unquestionably important, but the real things that mattered were:
1. Platform interoperability (introduced a year later), which allowed folks who owned a Windows PC to use the product. 2. The iTunes store (two years later), which made it easy and legal to download a la carte.
That means that 10 years ago in a month and a half, I was sitting in my high school friend's car while home from college on Thanksgiving eve. He handed me the iPod and I said "how do I work it?" He replied "just start playing with the wheel, you'll figure it out." It took me 20 seconds - which is yet another part of the genuis of Steve Jobs.
Would you trace the death-knell of the album as a unit of purchase (for better and for worse) to the introduction of the iTunes Store, or was it already on life support by that point thanks to the labels' slow reaction to Napster/P2P/etc.?
- Forced me to buy a Firewire card - Had an analog control wheel (meaning it moved, as opposed to the pads they have now) - Made me eligible for an unsanctioned upgrade when it crashed a year later (I had a store-support-plan that couldn't be fulfilled once G2 came out)<span> </span>
My wife and I were watching TV one night, when the first (I think) iPod commercial came on; it was the one with the guy dancing around his apartment. I was just about to say, "I need one of those," when she said, "You really want one of those things, don't you?"
I just kept thinking watching that what the casting notice must have looked like "Must be an ordinary-looking guy who can dance...dancing must include moonwalking"
I just kept thinking watching that what the casting notice must have looked like "Must be an ordinary-looking guy who can dance...dancing must include moonwalking"
That first iPod was unquestionably important, but the real things that mattered were:
ReplyDelete1. Platform interoperability (introduced a year later), which allowed folks who owned a Windows PC to use the product.
2. The iTunes store (two years later), which made it easy and legal to download a la carte.
That means that 10 years ago in a month and a half, I was sitting in my high school friend's car while home from college on Thanksgiving eve. He handed me the iPod and I said "how do I work it?" He replied "just start playing with the wheel, you'll figure it out." It took me 20 seconds - which is yet another part of the genuis of Steve Jobs.
ReplyDeleteAnother legacy of the iPod and iTunes: They got ordinary people talking and thinking in terms of multiple gigabytes.
ReplyDeleteAlso: Great advertising.
ReplyDeleteWould you trace the death-knell of the album as a unit of purchase (for better and for worse) to the introduction of the iTunes Store, or was it already on life support by that point thanks to the labels' slow reaction to Napster/P2P/etc.?
ReplyDeleteI had a first-gen Windows iPod, which:
ReplyDelete- Forced me to buy a Firewire card
- Had an analog control wheel (meaning it moved, as opposed to the pads they have now)
- Made me eligible for an unsanctioned upgrade when it crashed a year later (I had a store-support-plan that couldn't be fulfilled once G2 came out)<span> </span>
That means that 10 years ago was the last time I spent an hour picking CDs for a road trip.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I were watching TV one night, when the first (I think) iPod commercial came on; it was the one with the guy dancing around his apartment. I was just about to say, "I need one of those," when she said, "You really want one of those things, don't you?"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWqj6OQQOHA
I just kept thinking watching that what the casting notice must have looked like "Must be an ordinary-looking guy who can dance...dancing must include moonwalking"
ReplyDeleteI just kept thinking watching that what the casting notice must have looked like "Must be an ordinary-looking guy who can dance...dancing must include moonwalking"
ReplyDeleteThis, from Penny Arcade:
ReplyDeletehttp://penny-arcade.com/comic/2003/05/28