| Home > Of things Mac > Vale the "iPod Killer": we really didn't get to know you, but actually, Good Riddance! |
| Vale the "iPod Killer": we really didn't get to know you, but actually, Good Riddance! | | Date Created: 11 Apr, 2007, 06:20 PM |
 I was reading one of my older blog entries whilst tracking down the keywords used by Google search to throw up my blog in its first page results. This one used the search terms "airline metaphors", and the entry which the searcher clicked on was entitled, "Apple and Airlines - alike in so many ways - Date Created: 17 Oct, 2004, 01:46 AM"
In that rather long blog entry, I looked at the difference between market share, as in how many Macs were sold the last quarter, versus desktop share, as in how many Macs are in daily use. And then I went on to talk about airlines and turbulence and illusions of falling after take-off, and used that as a metaphor for so-called falling market share, in this case, that of Apple's.
Here's what I wrote, and remember it was written in October 2004 soon after the iMac G5 was released:
"Some say that Apple is losing the plot because so much of its earnings come from the iPod (to which I ask "and the problem with that is?"); others are saying it's losing its focus as a hardware company citing flat iMac sales (remember how Apple royally screwed up supply earlier awaiting the G5 iMac); while others predict imminent disaster as Apple makes itself attractive, in a back handed compliment, to virus writers because no "in the wild" variant has yet been found (compared to walking on the wild side for Windows users each time they switch on their PCs). This makes Apple's OS X an attractive target, they say, and Apple users are living in a fool's paradise.
Let's also not forgot how each time Dell, or Creative, or iRiver or Virgin or whomever releases an MP3 player, it is reflexively labelled an "iPod killer" - as if. How so many "experts" failed to see how the iPod would become this century's Walkman (whither Sony in all this? Nowhere.), or how even Mac-oriented commentators cried with dismay that the iPod Mini when released was $50 too expensive and in six months must be reduced in price (it hasn't and go take a trip to Tokyo to see the queues) amuses me."
OK, so the fact I wrote this pre-Nano should give you some opportunity to place the article into historical context.
But something's changed. Where are all the "iPod Killer" stories? Have you noticed how rarely the term is used, in gratuitous preference for the term, iPod Challenger?
Now that Apple has sold its 100 millionth iPod (what was it? a Shuffle? Nano? Video? and who got it?) it seems it's foolish to use the term "killer" in one's writing. It only took five or so years of nagging, and dissing, and hoping, and nay-saying, for tech writers to finally give up the ghost and change their language.
Let's Google "iPod Killer" and see what it turns up, bearing in mind the fluidity of Google's results, so your mileage may vary when you try it out.
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So here are the first five results Google throws up.
The first refers to a Cnet article c.2004 about Microsoft's Janus project, aimed to offer DRM for online music subscription services. Here's some of what was said for your amusement:
"To us, Janus finally provides the platform on which we can build a new type of experience for the consumer," said Zack Zalon, president of Virgin Digital, the British conglomerate's new online-music division. "We believe this is it. This is what consumers are going to want. We want to be big participant in changing consumers' attitude towards what music really is."
Microsoft executives associated with the project declined to confirm details of the technology's release. "As we've said before, enabling access to unlimited downloads on consumer devices will open up all new scenarios for the distribution and enjoyment of digital content," Jason Reindorp, the group manager for Microsoft's digital media division, said in an e-mail statement."
Google result #2 is also a Cnet result, but this time from last week, April 2, 2007 in an article entitled: "Apple's long shadow over mobile music".
It's essentially a discussion of mobile phones and music, and the "iPod Killer" reference is a part of the comments section, and not at all relevant. Bad Google.
Google result #3: This is a Wired opinion piece, entitled "Microsoft IPod 'Killer' is Doomed", dated July 2006, by Eliot Van Buskirk.
The guts of the article, written prior to the release of the Zune when its specs. were not yet officially released, can be summarised in this sentence:
"Microsoft's entry into music-player manufacturing is obviously a last resort, undertaken kicking and screaming."
Google result #4: This is the UK Register publishing an article about a Sony iPod killer, dated May 2004, entitled: "Sony unveils colour 'iPod killer'".
The important piece to remember: "Like Sony's other digital music players, the Pocket will only play songs encoded in the company's own ATRAC 3 format." Yeah, right, another piece of evidence of how Sony just didn't get it.
Couple of things to learn from this exercise: Google is lousy for this kind of search, throwing up often referenced articles which are woefully out of date, and more useful as an archive of the history of technology.
But really, the most informative and most humorous of the Google results is the fifth in the screenshot above, result #5, entitled: "iPod Killers for Christmas, 2005", a three part massive collection of defunct and funky mp3 players from mp3newswire.com.
Here's a sampling of names of some "iPod Killers" long lost in the mists of time:
Creative Zen Sleek
Creative Zen Micro Photo
Sony Walkman Bean
Samsung NeXus XM
Sirius S50
Philips Active PSA612 Blue (4GB) and PSA232 Red (512MB)
Archos Gmini 402
Archos AV500
Sorell SF3000
Sony Walkman NW-A1000 and NW-A3000
iRiver U10
Alienware CE-IV
Adamond XK1
Philips GoGear HDD1630 and HDD6330
Qoolqee i
(Yes, the Qoolqee! Here's what the writer has to say about it:
"Warning, the following is not suitable for young children. It is one thing to concoct an iPod killer through unique styling, but somehow this one may have gone too far. For those who haven't figured it out, yes Virginia, it is shaped like an erect penis right down to the...um...body curve. Ahhh, I can see the commercials now with a beautiful young girl holding the unit firmly in her hands as she changes tracks by rubbing the...er...round...nib...ok, ok, you get the point.
Otherwise it is an average flash player with MP3, WMA, and OGG support, a monochrome screen, and runs 20 hours on one AAA battery. The unit also has an FM tuner and other stuff, which at the moment I can't seem to...recall...hmmm.
Mothers, if your daughters ask for one of these make sure you give them the talk first.") |
 Well, at least if you're going to produce an iPod Killer have a sense of humour about it.
Shall we go on, because Richard Menta's article is in three parts! Here's the roundup from part 2 (go see of for yourself the pictures of these units and the writeup):
Creative Zen Vision
Epson P-4000 Photo Fine
Samsung YP-U1
Dell DJ Ditty
JVC XA-HD500
Creative Muvo Vidz
Dell DJ Satellite and Pocket DJ Satellite
Toshiba Gigabeat X30
Sanyo HDP-M3000
iRiver N11
UMAX Vega 203
Oregon Scientific Waterproof
Disney Digital Mix Sticks
Samsung YM-PD1 Satellite
Minox DMP-1
And in part 3:
Panasonic SVMP710VW
Sanyo DMP-M600 and DMP-M700
SanDisk Sansa m200
Oakley Thump 2
Archos Gmini 402 Camcorder
Douglas.J Presidential.
Douglas.J X2
Panasonic D-snap
Elecom’s PLC-2, PLP-P01
Neuros 442 PMP
Stormblue A9 Bluetooth
Transcend T.Sonic 310
So there you have it, the equivalent of the line up on Technology Boot Hill, where the likes of Rio were already resting in peace.
My guess is that no self-respecting tech writer will ever again use the term "iPod Killer" lest they be laughed out of Silicon Valley. No, they'll soften their approach, and prefer to use the term "iPod Challenger" (try that in Google for some interesting results).
In fact, the only company who can truly claim to be the only authentic user of the expression "iPod Killer" is Apple itself, as we witnessed with the death of the much-loved iPod mini (which still is seen hanging around young women's necks and achieving good resale on eBay.)
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Maybe one of these days the Challengers will realise that even with better sonic qualities, FM radio, WMA, and whatever else, it's not just the hardware that makes the iPod range a success. It's that darn silo Apple wants us to keep playing in, where with one click of the button, we can sample its wares, and with another begin the transfer process for our portable listening experience. Slick and sexy.
Something the iPhone will no doubt embrace and extend, rather than embrace and extinguish, a technique of monopoly maintenance utilised by those who brought us the Zune.
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