I’m always proud of iPodlounge for their analysis of Apple’s business strategy with our favorite little love/hate music brick. For a place that wears their advocacy on their sleeve, they seem to do a really good job knocking Apple when it deserves it, like the snotty behavior earlier this year towards Real Networks that, tactically useful or not, only reinforced the perception of Apple as the distant, bratty company that—let’s face it—they often are. It’s also telling that in this end-of-year reflection on the iPod’s banner year, the player still still has only 6 million units on the market, across all models. Granted, that’s the bulk of hard disk-players and a majority of players in general, but someone could still come and knock them off their ivory pedestal.
And that’s probably the answer to why we technology jerks can’t stop watching the iPod. It’s a phenomenon, it’s a great device from software to hardware, but it could be spoiled by a better product from a competitor. And if that happens, fan or not, it will be entertaining to watch.
The iPod Year in Review 2004 [iPodLounge]
