iPod - learning from history

[smueboy]

I was just browsing through THIS old thread, and some of the responses to the release of the original iPod are very interesting:

"Great just what the world needs, another freaking MP3 player."
"I still can't believe this! All this hype for something so ridiculous! Who cares about an MP3 player? I want something new! I want them to think differently!"
and plenty of: "this really isn't that revolutionary of a product"
And so on...
These are just the negative responses, but there were plenty of positive ones too.

My point, if i have one, is the comparison with the iPhone. Many are touting it as not being revolutionary etc (though certainly many more are loving it). Personally, when the iPod came out i was drooling, and shelled out over $AU1000 for it immediately.

Will we look back on the iPhone as reverently as the iPod?


Edit: i just noticed that Wildcowboy was on this from the beginning, but i'm still interested to hear opinions.

 

[killmoms]

Good ol' thread 500 has often been cited whenever negative discussion of a new Apple product comes up. I have a feeling the iPhone will be more of a success than most of the nay-sayers on this board.

If Apple was run by MRF members they'd be out of business in a week.

 

[BoyBach]

If Apple was run by MRF members they'd be out of business in a week.

You think Apple would last that long?

 

[pianoman]

some people will and some people won't. there are already products out there similar to the iPhone (just not as nice looking or with all the features... but similar). the iPod was not the first portable music player so some might say it wasn't that revolutionary. some say it is because of the impact it's had on the music industry and the way people interact with their music and computers.

 

[clevin]

what do u mean by "revolutionary"? OP?

 

[smueboy]

The iPod wasn't the first of its kind, but it revolutionised the mp3 player market. Equally, the iPhone is not the first phone of its kind; but Apples history suggests that the iphone may do better than it's specs alone suggest.

 

[EdwardG87]

I think it's really interesting that so many people were so pissed off when the ipod was announced and they thought it was junk. Hah, look at it now. I can see the same trend with the iPhone. It's not the first phone out there, but I do see it revolutionizing the market, seeing that many other phone producers will follow in iPhones footsteps. I just hope that the iPhone will have much succes and then we'll look back on all the naysayers(sp?).

 

[clevin]

revolutionary market? lol, then lets wait for history to tell.

the similarity of negative comments doesn't in a second erase the huge difference between iphone and ipod in the sense they are facing totally different market.

if u think about it, negative comments are essentially all similar, "useless, too expensive, old is good enough", etc, they apply to all products, really can't tell u anything imho.

 

[Cult Follower]

The iPhone is already changing the way we think about phones.

 

[plunar]

the iphone's greatest impact is going to be on the US carriers and subscription models. it's about breaking the tradition of carrier-branded phones - this is going to prove a lesson most difficult for verizon in particular.

 

[blueflame]

i agree but...

the iphone's greatest impact is going to be on the US carriers and subscription models. it's about breaking the tradition of carrier-branded phones - this is going to prove a lesson most difficult for verizon in particular.

I think that what made the ipod revolutionary is that it matched the computer and software with the Mp3 player hardware. What is apple doing with the iphone to change the cellular industry? other than just the hardware side of it. the ipod did this, it did change the face of the music industry, I think Apple has certainly made a winning "product" with the iphone, but locking it to cingular I think is maybe a big mistake.

I do not know what apple's long term strategy with the iphone is, so they may have something planned for after the cingular deal is over, All in all, the iphone will be a sucsess, and in the end, i do see the iphone actually replacing the ipod entirely (in time) but I do not think they will revolutionize the industry as they did with the ipod.

 

[nagromme]

I think it's amusing how Apple's "fans" have a reputation for "bending over for Steve" and praising Apple, who can "do no wrong" no matter WHAT product Apple "shoves down their throats." And yet, in reality, Apple's "fans" are VERY often impossible to please, nitpicking at the slightest hint of anything less than magic perfection, and downright furious when their dreams aren't brought to life for half price six months ago

So which is it? Are Apple's "brainwashed" users unable to criticize Apple products, or not? It's almost as though simple stereotypes are too... simple.

And my vote: this will be bigger than the iPod, and will grow in more directions. (Though you could say THIS is a direction the iPod grew in.)