iPod’s Happy 5th
by
Randy Mears
The Apple iPod is turning 5 and, for Apple, that’s worth celebrating. Thanks to the iPod and the “iPod Halo Effect,” Apple’s Mac sales are up 30% over last year. If you doubt the halo effect read on.
I bought my first iPod about two years ago, a 30 GB iPod Photo, so I got into the iPod thing a little late. As a Windows fanatic I didn’t have much use for Apple but, having seen a friend’s iPod, I decided to take a closer look. At the Apple Store the iPod really won me over, it was much easier to use than other music players of the time and it seemed crafted like a Swiss watch. It was one of those gadgets that, once held in your hand, you just had to have. I was also careful on that first visit to the Apple Store. I successfully avoided looking at any of Apple’s other products. I simply purchased my iPod and left.
As I began using the iPod, I became a fast fan. The iPod user experience was so different; it had a user interface so simple and yet so capable that it redefined user friendly. I had never seen a handheld device with a better interface for accessing audio content. It was this demonstration of Apple’s innovation that piqued my curiosity to the point where I had to look at Apple’s other products. Within three months of obtaining my iPod, I found myself back at the Apple Store, first looking, and then buying.
Over the next several months I slowly replaced my Windows home computers with a Mac PowerBook, a Power Mac G5 and a Mac LCD Monitor. I still have one PC left, but I only use it as a file server and for storing backups. I continue to use a Windows laptop for business – that’s still a no-brainer – but all of my non-work related solutions, like personal email, finance, photo processing and assorted hobbies, are on my Macs.
As for my iPod, I keep my original iPod Photo in my car, and I have a new iPod video that is always with me. I plug it into my stereo when at home, I listen to it in the airport and watch videos on the airplane when I travel. Thanks to iTunes I have access to all kinds of reasonably priced content, both audio and video.
So here I am, like millions of other iPod users, happily entertained at home and on the road and content with the technology that makes it possible.
