

Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable Music Player (2001) - Firebrand
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/24/business/technology-apple-introduces-what-it-calls-an-easier-to-use-portable-music-player.html

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pkulak
I think there's a law now that you have to post this as well:

[http://slashdot.org/story/01/10/23/1816257/apple-releases-
ip...](http://slashdot.org/story/01/10/23/1816257/apple-releases-ipod)

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inmygarage
"[Jobs] predicted that the improvement in technology he said the iPod
represented would inspire consumers to buy Macintosh computers so they could
use an iPod."

While the "so they could use an iPod" part is off, he was so right about the
significance of the iPod and its ability to inspire/convince people to
purchase Macs, and what that meant for Apple in the decade that followed.

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Samuel_Michon
Well, the first generation iPod wasn't compatible with Windows and a FireWire
port was required. The second gen iPod came in two versions: one for Mac, and
one for Windows. iTunes for Windows came a year after that. It wasn't until
the third gen that iPods became compatible with USB. In the fifth ten iPod
(end 2005) that became the only way to connect an iPod to a computer. By then,
the iPod provided more revenue than the sales of Macs did, but those saw
enormous growth as well -- which is largely attributed to 'the halo effect'.
[1]

[1] <http://www.asymco.com/2011/07/26/apple-has-moved-on/>

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greyish_water
Wolfram Alpha tells me that $399 in 2001 is $498.06 today.

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macrael
That is pretty crazy, to think that the iPod was initially introduced at the
same price as the iPad today.

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InclinedPlane
If you think that's crazy, consider than an original Apple II computer cost
$4600 in today's dollars.

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ibrow
Interesting to compare the prediction of sales made in the article with the
actual sales: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ipod_sales_per_quarter.svg>

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macrael
I did the same thing! To save the reader the work:

IDC predicted in 2001 that the mp3 player market in 2005 would be around 18M
devices. In 2005, Apple alone sold 31M iPods.

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jcc80
''It's a nice feature for Macintosh users,'' said P. J. McNealy, a senior
analyst for Gartner G2, an e-commerce research group. ''But to the rest of the
Windows world, it doesn't make any difference.''

Who is this Gartner research group? Ok, I do know who they are but it feels
like whenever I read one of these "blasts from the past" articles they have an
analyst in there making some statement that is way off mixed with terribly
inaccurate predictions.

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Permit
I wouldn't be so quick to condemn him as the line that preceded your quote
was, "Apple said it had not yet decided whether to introduce a version of the
music player for computers with the Windows operating system, which is used by
more than 90 percent of personal computer users."

If Apple hadn't made iTunes available for Windows machines, there's a very
likely possibility that the iPod wouldn't have taken off the way it did.

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ben1040
And as I remember it, it was just a matter of _months_ after iTunes was
released for Windows that the iPod really took off.

iTunes for Windows came out in October 2003, and then the iPod Mini was
released in January 2004. By even that February I recall the iPod Mini being a
grand slam seller. The combination of Windows availability and the Mini being
an option at a lower price point were when the stars seemed to have aligned
for the iPod.

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bdr
"A hard drive with a headphone jack." -Bill Gates

