Number 90: March 2, 2005

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This week in Katydid:

• iPod. You Pod. We Pod.
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iPod. You Pod. We Pod.
What can account for the success of the Apple iPod? In the United States, people are going nuts for this personal audio device even though MP3 players have been around for years, the iPod seems to have captured the imagination of American consumers.

Apple computer had a record quarter, shipping 4.5 million iPods. Apple sells computers also; it had its best quarter in four years and still sold only 1 million computers. Sales of iMacs brought in $620 million, yet the lower-priced iPods earned $1.2 billion in Apple's first quarter of the 2005 fiscal year.

The iPod is so popular Microsoft has had to issue memos encouraging employees not to use their rival's products - to no avail. Manufacturers of iPod components are having record years. Consumer adoption of iPods may become entrenched so quickly that proponents of standards for digital rights management will have to rethink their strategies.

Some marketing pundits point to the iPod's user-friendly design; some identify Apple's saturation advertising, partnerships with artists, and the easy integration with the iTunes platform; others see the iPod as a niche product with cross-over buzz; All are right to some extent. However, Apple has had the best design, usability, and advertising for years and that didn't launch the Cube into the stratosphere.

This may be a new market for Apple, which even threatens to overwhelm their business strategy, but they are long familiar with the fanatic zeal their products inspire and they won't let that opportunity pass. Still, the marketing (buzz, viral, or otherwise) is not driving the success of the iPod. It's not even usability, though that gets closer to the truth. The nerve that Apple has tapped is our desire to interact and experience music in a visceral and active way.

If it were portability, we've had that for years. Ditto the large collection of music, or MP3 compatibility. We've been able to load and listen to MP3s on PDAs for years. We've been able to play MP3s through our car or portable CD players as well. We have been able to archive our collection, shuffle playback and create playlists for years. Many thousands of advertising dollars have tried to remind us of that. Underground fervor for MP3s had already peaked well before the arrival of the iPod.

What we didn't have before the iPod was the feel of the click-wheel, the fun of the slipcase, or the sense of community. Since the day we first dropped the needle on a 78, and cranked the handle on a Victrola, we have experienced music interactively (by the way, my grandfather, Arnold Rodney illustrated the logo for "His Master's Voice").

The iPod is as much a tactical music experience as it is an aural one. There is a heft to the device and smoothness to the touch that makes you want to hold it, despite the fact that it fits easily into the shirt pocket. It makes a fashion statement; the white microphone cords announce to everyone that you are an iPod user. The iPod shuffle is for people in the mood to have the music to take them somewhere; the traditional iPod is for those who want to be the DJ and author their own experience. It's no accident that the advertisements show owners dancing with their iPod. Apple has taken the club into the streets.

The iPod has become a pet that you accessorize to match your mood. The album cover art and CD packaging that we crave have been replaced by the wrapper and the digital boxed set. The first time we visit someone's home we scan their record collection to get some insight into who they are; iPod users can put the personality they want to display on their iPod screens.

Companies are going to copy the design, the advertising, and the delivery of the iPod. Competitors will build on Apple's success and one day we will all likely interact with our music in some similar way, but it won't be because of the feature set or the advertising. You can't duplicate successful buzz; you can't manufacture a tipping point; you can only create a unique experience that is fun to share and to join - and then get out of its way.

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Kevin Troy Darling

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