Wow. The first article (on applelust) really speaks to a lot of what I've been thinking about for the last couple of days about iPod. It's a little spooky. While I think that the points he made about the danger of becoming Amiga people might be a little (but only a little) exaggerated, he makes a lot of sense. Particularly when it echos some of what I've been thinking about.
On Tuesday, when the iPod was released, I was kinda dumbfounded. I didn't know what to make of it, and I felt a little cheated by Apple by doing the one thing that they knew would generated extreme interest within the Mac community. All they had to do is say "we're releasing something groundbreaking, and it's not a Mac", and we collectively became little kids on Christmas Eve - barely able to stand the wait for morning. Only, when morning came, we thought we'd been given socks.
Later, when I got home, I downloaded the videos of the introduction and the TV spot, and watched them. And watched them again. And again. Especially the intro. Something didn't make sense. I'd been very disappointed by the iPod, but here were Ive, and Moby (!) and friends gushing about this thing, and after a few viewings, it started making some sense:
- That thing is really small. I didn't realize until I started digging around that it was using a microdrive and not a typical 2.5" laptop HD, as so many have done before. Seeing people holding it in their hands, and knowing what the average hand's size is, it really made an impression.
- It's operation, while really simple, has a lot of punch. Seeing it being used, and how clean the interface is was really a kick. And it's all done with 5 buttons and a spin-wheel.
- Never once, did anyone mention Windows. This wasn't about "them". The whole tone of the intro completely ignored the "world outside" - this was about US. About Macintosh.
Of course, the simple elegance of the design (only 2 ports - headphones and FW), and the raw functionality (FW make USB look like a serial port in terms of speed), are something we can all agree on. I actually found myself start thinking that "well, it's
only $400". Hang on a second... ONLY $400??
Surely I was firmly in the grip of Steve's ever-famous Reality Distortion Field.
So, I tried a little experiment. A friend of mine is what I think of as the typical Windows user - he's never used anything else, and although Windows annoys him from time to time, it just never really occured to him (until recently) that there was a different, maybe even better, way to go. I had him sit down and watch the intro video. But before I hit play, I told him that that the spot was for Apple's new MP3 player, and that it costs $400. For the next six minutes and forty-seven seconds, he was completely silent. I saw him grin, look surprised, and totally engaged in the show. When it stopped, his first comment was (and I'm totally serious, no BS) "Well... I guess I shoudn't have bought that new Dell machine. I mean, this thing only works with a Mac, right?"
I got it! If the iPod could make this kind of impact in a six-minute video, what kind of impression is it going to make when folks start carrying it around? It's immediate visual appeal is undenyable. Its functionality, solid. As the article mentions "Not only is it an MP3 player that's guaranteed to work with Macs (wow, what a concept!), it's designed specifically FOR Macs, to give the best Mac music-listening experience on the planet." Oh, and it has the power to sway long-time Windows users??
Still, $400 is a lot of jack. I sat discussing this point (and others) with my friend, and he put it into a bit of perspective. "How much did you spend on your last MP3 player?", he asked.
I placed my (pre)order this afternoon.
