Silkroad Online Forums

Why do you think iPods are so famous? Because of their display? Or what? I mean, now it makes sense because they have phones and games and videos and photos and a buttload of storage, but how did they get famous to begin with? I remember they were pretty famous in 2003~ish, but they came out in 2001 I think. How are they so famous now?

Hype.

one of the cool kids got one.
then it took off.

yep... its because mostly its one of the most expensive mp3 players in stock... which makes it cool...

dunno tbh i only got one cus i use itunes made sense to me so i just got one

Why the hell would you voluntarily use iTunes?

It was small, Could hold alot of songs.

People didn't have to carry CD's and those big MP2(?)'s around...

'Cause it doesn't look like shit.

Its all hype, the folks at Apple are pros and making a bunch of hype over not so amazing products.

Because you look at your music player while listening to music? Besides, foobar and winamp look fine with skins.

You should only use iTunes out of necessity as that shit eats up resources like crazy.

ever added because i like it, its nice and simple iv got all my music easily sorted out, i dont like how windows media player looks or works, winamp i cba to go into untreaded water i stick with what i like and now iv got an ipod im def not changed so stfu its a good media player

It's a terrible media player if the only reason you don't use another one is because you're afraid of change.

I only want a touch because it looks so badass and you can jail brake it

Its called marketing.

why is it so terrible seriously? iv never had a problem with it ever so tell me why is it so bad

i had problems with windows media player

Basically, it takes up a lot of system resources and quite a bit of hard drive space for a media player, and the startup time is terrible compared to others (winamp, foobar2k).

dont care about start up time for one

system resources maybe but steam, firefox, hell msn and xfire use more are they shit too, close behind is my security

and disc space it only usues up a load because all my music is in its library

ipod sucks ass... own 3 and all failed within a year. i use a samsung yp-t10 and it's the best. very cheap, very small, the best LCD resolution and screen, and WIRELESS bluetooth so u can transfer music without wires.

and did i said it's cheaper and has FM/AM radio and voice recording?

i had two ipods, one lasted 1 year and went through the wash twice and the other was 3 years old when it broke and had gone through the wash 3 times
i <3 ipods but i dont need them anymore because my phone has music

Yeah but the iTouch has youtube and GAMES. and weather, like theres a shitload of features for it including the dreaded iTunes

because its an iPod.
The i makes all the difference, and the hype about the iPhone and the Apple shop in AUS.

Advertisements and very handy.

The first Ipods weren't exactly better then any of there competitors.

They got famous by heavily marketing they're design, and later a bit off the scroll-weel. That's all there is to it.

Later they had to live up to expectations, and they invented features and storagespace that actually made it worth buying.

Marketing and the instant recognition when you have one - white earphones! Hell, there's probably people out there who buy white earphones just to look like they have iPods.

Got my iPod vid back in 05 and I still have it. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Has nothing to do with hype or marketing. Stop the teenage rebellious phase please.

ipods became popular through word of mouth, and after a while apple decided to start marketing them at large. At the time the first ones came out, your alternative was a gigantic cd walkman that took 4 AA batteries that would run for about 6 hours.

I remember when everyone used to download songs on napster, then burn their songs on disks. Back then burners were just coming out, and it was the thing to have.

It's normal ipods became popular. The storage, battery, and functionality were unmatched. Usable mp3 players came out later, but they were expensive and could only hold a handful of songs (128-256mb).

The ipod mini was the first one that was marketed and sold like they are now. Before the reinvention macs didn't have the reputation they have now - they were the ones used in schools and offices, the boring serious computers.

These days there are a lot of alternative products, some work fine while others don't. No matter how much people talk shit about apple and ipods they were the first good music players and most people have developed brand loyalty.

It's 7 years ago. These are your options:


or












Yeah. Eventually most of us bought ipods.

Your very wrong dom.

There were mp3 players before the ipod. My good mate had one of the earliest ones, 256 MB capacity for about $250. And this was a good.. 8 years ago? maybe 7?

Its not like the ipod was the first company to produce an mp3 player, they weren't the alternative.

I wrote -usable- mp3 players. Before the ipod 32, 64, and 96mb players retailed for $500+. The first real mp3 player that came out was the Pocket Concert player (128mb) and it retailed for $350 (it was a response to the 1st gen ipod). Compare that to a 5 or 10gb ipod - no contest.

None the less, you can't compare the two technologies. When ipods came out they weren't like they are now - they became popular and worth marketing because they were a million times better than anything else you could buy. Most of us were still on cd players and napster, ipods were a god send.

This is the first mp3 player, 32mb.



Either way, 256mb capacity mp3 players came out a long time after ipods. So in that respect, you're very wrong tedtwilliger.

You probably remember your friend's mp3 player coming out before ipods because at that time ipods were not popular. Like I said, they became popular through word of mouth, and not hype - it was only after a couple years, after the last couple generations before the mini, that mainstream people started to take notice. This pushed apple to change their entire corporate approach begining with the ipod mini.

Yep agreed, ipod was popularized by word of mouth. Although they also does marketing on the big screen. Every movie you can see actors and actresses mention about ipod and you can see them using ipod computer. They are not in your face ad, they are more like Budweiser. thru alternative marketing, forget the word for it ... anyway, YES the itune is easy to use (hate Window Media Player, I knew its gonna sink some day) and ipod functionality is simple enough that everyone could get used to it in seconds.

My 2cents.

Ahh that capacity came out after the ipods? Well that was my bad there, guess my memory isn't as great as i thought it was. But i guess you see my point, just trying to prove the fact that they weren't the only alternative to tape decks and walkmans. As far as the word of mouth argument is concerned i do agree with you there, most good products are advertised greatly through "street talk". Hell when i got my piercings i only went to a certain piercer because other people at work recommended it.

I agree with you Dom, Word of mouth has been a great starter for the entire ipod madness. It was the 'cool' thing to have for a while, if you didn't have one, your friends would dump you in a flash.

And even now, it still is. Being 12 with a 265MB mp3 player @ school, is gonna get you some serious harsh looks. It's a luxury product, as well as one of certain 'class'.

Though i'm sure, that a certain amount of brilliant marketing lead to the real market takeover. Perhaps after the initial WoM phase. But still.

I once read a good article about this, i'm trying to find it, google's being a biatch though.