iPod Considered

- 2001.10.26

All I heard in school on Wednesday was, "Have you heard about the new iPod," or "Did you see that new iPod MP3 player? It's amazing" Same thing on the Internet. All over - links referring to the new Apple iPod.

Yes, the iPod is amazing. An MP3 player that size (it fits in a shirt pocket) with 5 GB of storage for over 1,000 songs and 20 minutes (!) of shock protection, doubling as a fast external FireWire hard drive for transporting documents, applications, and whatever else you want to carry with you. Not to mention the 10 hours of continuous battery life on batteries that charge while it is plugged into the FireWire port on your computer.

Windows XP? "Oh, that's been out for a while," or "Oh, that doesn't come out for a long time." The "Xcitement" over XP is not a big as I thought it would be.

It seems Apple has succeeded in toning down the fanfare involved with the Windows XP launch. However, they haven't done so well in another area: Marketing. The highest quality and most innovative version of a product available will get no attention unless it is marketed properly.

What is Apple selling the iPod as? An MP3 player, right? Yes, unfortunately that's about it. Only some small print on the iPod website tells you that is doubles as an external hard drive. Excuse me, but that's big. An MP3 player that's also an external hard drive so you can carry your documents and MP3s wherever you go? Apple should mention this on their home page, where the rotating iPod is currently featured with the slogan "1,000 songs in your pocket."

Then there's the new ad. While it made me smile the first time I saw it, and, yes, the Propellerheads are great. It does not show that the iPod can double as an external hard drive. Okay, so 5 GB isn't great in terms of size for an external FireWire drive, but remember that it is also an MP3 player. Two functions integrated into one - Apple is good at integrating things, as we all know. From the integrated sound on the original Macintosh (many PCs still need a separate sound card) to the integrated modem, TV tuner, subwoofer, and AV card on the Power Macintosh 6500, Apple has always been good at making one box have many capabilities. Apple has done it again with the iPod, and they really should be showing it off.

Thankfully, Apple has showcased the intuitive interface and controls, the size, as well as the full integration of the iPod into iTunes 2 (another reason that the iPod is great; it automatically checks your hard drive and downloads any new MP3s onto itself). The product design team has done another fabulous job - the new iPod looks wonderful, going along with the iBook (dual USB) theme of case design.

Overall, the iPod is a great new product, but the question is, will it sell? $399 is a lot for an MP3 player alone (most sell for around $200-300), but since the iPod is also useable as an external hard drive, connects via FireWire (instead of USB, like the others), has 20 minutes of shock protection, and has all of its features packed into a small enclosure (2.43 by 4.02 by 0.78 inches) for maximum portability, the $399 price may be fair. Remember, since this is the "first" of its kind (there are no other FireWire MP3 players or MP3 players that can be used as an external hard drive). It is hard to determine what is a good value. Undoubtedly, the price will eventually come down.

One last question that will go unanswered: Will the iPod survive? Even with its extra features, the high price, incompatibility with older Macs (remember, Apple only started including FireWire as a standard on all models at the beginning of this year), as well as incompatibility with IBM compatible systems might make it a hard sell. Hopefully this will not be the case, and PC compatibility will eventually be developed. I am convinced that this product can become absolutely amazing if given another year of development.

Next week I will have the long-promised article up. I think I better not use the "and next week's article will be..." ending anymore. From now on I will use "coming soon."

That said: Coming soon - what to do if you aren't getting the Internet performance you want.