With the upcoming release of Apple's "iTV" product expected to be at Macworld in January, a lot of talk is going around about the usefulness of it, whether there is a market for it, and whether it is just a glorified iPod. I've said, based on past experience, that I feel it is a good move for Apple - it is a product that people are going to want. And if there is one thing I've learned in the past five years, its that as long as people want a product, it will sell.
Thinking more about it, though, I couldn't help but remember a time, not so long ago, when Apple launched another odd, obscure little device that left the critics csratchinng their heads. And, thanks to the magic of the Internets, I've been able to dig up
what we said in regards to the launch of the iPod, in October 2001.
I know I wasn't expecting it to do well. The price was too high, the capabilities too small. At the time we were on iTunes 1, and Mac OS X 10.0, and while the underlying technology was starting to take shape there were few offerings to get people excited about Apple at all, unless they were Unix fans.
And so, what did we say when the
iPod was launched?
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Originally Posted by ScottW Apple introduces iPod, a digital audio player (MP3, MP2) with a 5GB hard drive (1000 songs). 20 minute skip protection. FireWire-equipped, first such music player.
10 hour battery, lithium-polymar ("most advanced battery; more advanced than laptop batteries"), takes 1 hour to charge.
Size of a deck of cards: 2.4" wide, 4" tall, 3/4" thick.
Backlit LCD display, playlist support, ID3 tag support, very fast and easy to go through list of songs and playlist. Interfaces with iTunes.
Backlit LCD display, playlist support, ID3 tag support, very fast and easy to go through list of songs and playlist. Interfaces with iTunes. |
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Originally Posted by Uoba Godammit...
And my girlfriend has just bought me an mp3 player which is bound to be cheaper!
Classic woman move there, should've seen it coming |
Don't be so hard on yourself, Uoba, nobody really saw it coming.
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Originally Posted by Faruvius How on earth is this a <b>"breakthrough digital device?"</b>
I certainly hope there is more to it than this. |
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Originally Posted by ScottW I think its a neat idea... not sure why Apple had to be the first with this... I think we can say that our expectations was not meant. Of course... I'm sure we will all want one needless to say.
Now... if it had a broadcaster in it that I can turn it to a certain channel on my stereo (home or car) and it broadcasted through that, now that would be awesome. |
Prophetic, ScottW. There are now hundreds of FM-transmitters and wireless accessories for the iPod. And the Airport Express. And in car integration from most car and car audio manufacturers.
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Originally Posted by RhinoG3 iTunes 2 announced. MP3 CD burning (doesn't convert to AIFF audio CD format), cross fading, equalizer are the three main new features. Free download, available in early November |
I had forgotten how far iTunes had come.
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Originally Posted by Fryke I guess you all have to rethink. 400$ might seem too much. But this is really the high end thing. It's all I ever wanted in a MP3 player. Handling the lists in iTunes is great. The display is great. The size of the device is *much* better than any of the harddrive based players Creative Labs has put out. The design is perfect. I love it. I'll buy one. Period. |
Fryke saw the potential in it...