Apples for the masses
The IPod’s got governments and competitors fighting dirty
JEFF JUSTIZ EXCALIBUR (YORK UNIVERSITY)
Time magazine reported Apple had “no future,” and a Forrester Research analyst called Apple “cooked.” In 1997, Microsoft’s chief technology officer even went so far as to say “Apple is already dead.” And the common theme for the future IPod company: Apple is not a hardware company anymore.
Apple did the IPod and did it well, better than anyone’s expectations or wildest dreams. They made it work seamlessly with ITunes, and people knew they could put music on their player without worry. They made it look cool. When it was first released as a Mac-only product in fall of 2001, Windows users were jealous, and cracks were made to have the IPod work on both operating systems.
When Apple released a Windows version, all hell broke loose. The IPod joined the list of Cabbage Patch Kids and Tickle Me Elmos as Christmas presents whose demand far exceeded supply, causing riots wherever they were sold.
Apple wasn’t expecting to create a product that would hold over 75 per cent market share, especially when they had spent over 10 years toiling away with under five per cent in personal computers. Now that supply and demand are barely meeting, Apple is back to facing the criticism again, this time for reasons that — as gratuitous and dated as they are — are probably causing Jobs to laugh all the way to the bank.
Apple wanted to design a product with as few moving parts as possible. They wanted a rugged design that would withstand drops. An admirable cause. To do this, Apple opted to use a battery that couldn’t be removed.
Many people will notice that if they drop an electronic device, the battery cover and batteries tend to come away from the item. Try it with your TV remote on a tile floor. (This publication assumes no responsibility or liability for any permanent damage caused.) Unfortunately, the IPod is a device that people use and recharge constantly and subsequently, the battery has a very limited lifespan.
The anti-Apple advocates cling to this like it’s the true meaning of their entire existence. However, this could also be Apple’s marketing genius. Consider the fact that you must replace your IPod every two to three years. Does anyone else find it ironic that almost three years after their first foray into coloured IPods, and a year after discontinuing them, Apple is reintroducing coloured IPods? Those who own them will notice their batteries are not charging. They’ll have to do something.
More telling is the response from Apple’s competitors. For instance, when Apple released its first flash-based IPod, the Shuffle, Microsoft was quick to respond with a promotional message posted on its website called “Six Tips for Buying an MP3 Player with Flash Memory.”
Among them was the following nugget: “You’ll want a display.” Clever. They also tell you to make sure you get an MP3 player with FM and a voice recorder. In fact, they tell you you’ll want an FM tuner twice. The last suggestion is not to get locked into one music store. I think they mean ITunes.
Creative was on the portable MP3 player scene before Apple, yet they have struggled to catch up to Apple ever since the IPod. However, Creative had somehow won a patent over Apple for an MP3 player’s interface, despite the interface having been programmed by different companies at the exact same time. Creative went and sued Apple for patent infringement, and even went so far as to try and prevent IPods from being imported into the U.S..
Last month, a settlement was reached. Apple paid Creative $100 million for the rights to the software. Creative gets to create accessories for the IPod that carry the “Made for IPod” seal. Basically, they know their products aren’t very good, and want to get in on Apple’s cash cow. Clever!
Even governments are trying to take on Apple. The company only allows customers to buy songs from their own country’s store. This is a measure used to appease record labels that want to restrict the sale of music in certain countries.
However, the U.K. took Apple to the European Union, because the British were paying more per song than their German or French counterparts. Consumer groups argued that the free trade agreement meant that Britons should be able to purchase music for the same price as any other European Union state.
This year, the French government drafted a bill that would force Apple to open up its Digital Rights Management, or DRM, which are technologies used by publishers and copyright owners to control access to and usage of digital data.
Norway is going after Apple’s DRM too, saying conditions of the contract were “unbalanced to disfavour the customer.” All this because Apple wants to appease the record labels.
Apple successfully negotiated a great contract for music: 99 cents per song and $9.99 per album. The ITunes Store had become so successful that record companies wanted to get a larger piece of the pie. Apple wouldn’t budge, but now, movie companies are taking it out on them.
When Apple announced their new movie store, they only had Disney and its subsidiaries signed up. Word came out recently that Wal- Mart was making threats to studios that are considering ITunes, in order to save their DVD sales. Wal-Mart vehemently denies this.
The IPod has taken on a status rarely seen before. It has joined the ranks of Kleenex and Walkman as not just the name of a brand, but as the name of the actual item. Terms like “podcasting” are becoming part of people’s vocabulary. And companies such as Pepsi, Gap, Coca-Cola, 7-Eleven and now Facebook are lining up to be part of the IPod/ITunes craze. It has even sparked sales of Apple’s flagship Macintosh computers, since customers are now looking for computers that match the accessibility and the design of their IPods. The new MacBook line of laptops — “designed for students” — aren’t needed to use the IPod or ITunes, but an August Wired magazine story showed that sales of the MacBooks, supplemented by the popularity of the IPod and Apple’s new “I’m a Mac” commercials, are following the same trajectory that IPod sales were on five years ago.
Ten years ago, Apple was written off as a company that made all the wrong moves and was in palliative care. Today, Apple is the company everyone wishes they could be.
