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It’s showtime
When was the last time someone got excited about itv? No, not that ITV, iTV.
Apple product launches tend to cause a certain amount of hyperventilation amongst the design and technology masses and yesterday’s announcement, adding films, tv shows and games to the iPod was no different.
John Gruber’s reflections on Daring Fireball on what Apple actually announced contrasts with some of the more fevered commentary and is well worth reading - not least for the insight into what a minefield Apple is entering.
Market response is fundamentally changing what Apple is for. The iPod has been such a runaway success for Apple - a case of delivering just what the consumer wants - that it has changed the impact Apple (once a humble hardware niche computer vendor) has on our daily lives. These stats from Gruber’s piece make amazing reading:
- Apple claims 88 percent of non-bootleg music downloads in the U.S.
- 70 percent of 2007 model year cars sold in the U.S. have iPod
connectivity built-in. Not “MP3-player” connectivity. iPod
connectivity. - 450,000 Nike + iPod Sport Kits have been sold in fewer than 90
days. Not Nike + MP3 Player Sport Kits. Nike + iPod. - The iTunes Store is the fifth-largest music reseller in the
U.S., and expects to pass Amazon early next year, at which point
they’ll trail only Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Target. - Apple has sold 1.5 billion total songs to date.
But how big do you think the bootleg market is?
Apple’s doing a great job of making the iPod the player of choice, and making switching costs high for people with iPods. But if a service comes out that charges a lot less for tunes, my guess is that users will switch off iTunes, but stay on the iPod.