Ipod

Thesis:

The dictionary defines the iPod as a brand of portable media player designed and marketed by Apple, but ever since the iPod's debut in 2001; it has made its way from obscure mp3 player to cultural icon, and digital music revolutionist.

1. The word iPod has only been around since 2001, totaling a mere six years in the English dictionary, however it has become a label, a fashion statement, and a trigger for a revolution. The actual origin of the word has been disputed; the most anyone's ever learned is that CEO Steve Jobs came in one morning and said to the iPod team, Ð''I have a theory.' The most promising idea for how the word arose is that the word pod by itself meant a streamlined enclosure. The iPod strategy was to streamline digital music, since existing players were Ð''big and clunky or small and useless'. In order to sell this idea as Apple's, the team simply added the characteristic lower-case i, used to market Apple products since 1998.

2. The iPod developed when Apple was on the verge of bankruptcy after several failed projects such as the PowerMac Cube, and the Newton. Steve Jobs was called in after his exile from Apple, and saw the company's dismal finance, and their need to produce something new. Jobs recognized that companies like Sony's Walkman, still dominated the CD player, and tape market, while existing mp3 players were simply awful. In light of this observation, the iPod is introduced promising to fit "1000 Songs in Your Pocket".

3. The word iPod at its most basic level is a synonym for an mp3 player; however in truth there is really nothing close to what the iPod represents. The iPod is something different. Its seamless integration with iTunes, revolutionary click wheel control system, and pure aesthetic appeal, are all advantages over the Ð''unbelievably awful' digital players that came before. But these are mere physical differences. Stories fueled by the little white device have popped up all over the world, turning the iPod into something between a cult and a music player. Online forums popping up to discuss situations like making the iPod compatible to the PC side of the computer world, marketing the device with Volkswagen in a cross-promotional effort, and simply Ð''What did you name your iPod?'. Colleges issuing freshman iPods as a study tool, to help students interact with audio books and interactive lectures. Stories about college seniors buying headphones of various colors so they could distinguish themselves from the white ear-budded underclassmen. The sky-rocketing success story of the once unknown 3% of the computer industry becoming the hot topic literally over night and selling one million iPods in less than six weeks. The iPod now dominates over 70% of the digital music market and despite improvements to the once large, sluggish devices, Ð''people just want the iPod'.

4. Of course the iPod as a device has subsets such as the various generations in the iPod family, but perhaps there is more to the iPod subset than where the buttons are placed. Perhaps we can trace how the iPod became not only a technological marvel, but how it affected industry, popular culture, and American culture. When the first iPod was released it caught the world by surprise. There was no press conference; there wasn't even the annual Mac Convention. But when the iPod was released in October 2001, it dealt tremendous damage to the music world, and the world in general. The iPod + iTunes pairing blended the capabilities of Napster with Tower Records. It was the first fully online music store that sparked a slew of companies to start the great trek towards the Web. Two years after its launch Apple sells 1,000,000 songs, and pioneers the concept of selling not only songs, but entire albums, and latter videos, and television programs. The iPod is the only digital music player to sell over 100 million units world wide. If you ever take a walk down Broadway, NY, it is clear that the iPod has met global acceptance. Stuck up on the walls are colorful iPod posters, depicting dancers with the trademarked white headphones. Turn around and you can see the people, the millions of residents in New York City with iPods in hand, the white headphones protruding from long hair, snaking out of purses, and pockets. People fiddling with the volume controls as they wait for the street lights to turn green. Vendors selling iPod accessories, anything to make the i an I. Belt buckles with slots for hold iPods, jackets with iPod controls, iPod wristbands, and T-shirts. The iPod has become something much more than just a gadget, its' subsets extend all the way down to popular culture.

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