Apple had a break through when they came out with the iPod. They dominated the scene of mp3 players and music downloading. I remember when the iPod came out my brother told me I didn't want one becuase you couldn't even put music from your CDs onto the mp3 and you could only buy the music you wanted on it off of iTunes. I don't know if that was ever true, but Apple did have the only copy protection software that is compatable to to iPod.
I have an iPod now and I love it. Before I had an iPod I had a Creative Zen. It was huge, mainly thick and I used windows media player to download the music. The Zen lasted about a year before it decided to die for no reason, and my sister had the exact same one and it did the same thing.
With the iPod the iTunes is convient because you can look up music and download it on spot, then hook up your iPod and it will sync the new songs automatically. In the book it compared the iTunes store to online music stores like Rhapsody and Napster. With the Rhapsody you pay a monthly fee to download all the music you want. The downside to it is that the music stays on your computer, so you can't burn them to a CD. That could be a downside to people if they want music in their cars and like to play CDs.
One of Apple's iPod competetors is the Zune by Microsoft. I know people who have these and they love them. They are simple and small like the iPod. Now it's up to the customers to pick which product they like better. That is the way a company will get ahead, by the appeal to the market. Each product out now seems reliable, but it's about teh company behind it. Both Apple and Microsoft know what they're doing, but for now Apple is ahead of the game with the MP3 products.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
It will be interesting to see what happens in the future with these two competitors. I think that when we got our first ipod you could put music from cds on itunes. But that was about five years ago so I don't know if they changed it before then.
ReplyDeleteI do have to agree that it seems like Apple is ahead of the game. Is it just me, or is Apple always coming up with new technologies and software and then Microsoft is making their own version? Just look at the new Windows - their menu bar looks an awful lot like Apple's dock.
ReplyDeleteThere is no question that Apple is ahead of the game and competitors seem to copy them. I wouldn't describe it as domination, more of a trend setter. They set the tone for the technological market. Although, some products just can't compare to the Apple's Ipod. The Zune was garbage!
ReplyDeleteI have had used Ipods for a long time, and I feel that it is the best personal music player available. I have had other mp3 players in the past, but none of them have the quality and durability of an Ipod. The Zune is a build device to, but I personally do not like it as much. As for the claim that you are not able to download music from other sources than Itunes. I would like to say that this is a false statement. I have purchased very little of my music from Itunes, as me and my friends have found ways around it. All in all I feel that the Ipod is still completely dominant in this market segment, and has the right product and experience curve to dominate it for years to come.
ReplyDeleteI have been a Pc user since I can remember, but i have had the chance to learn the mac system and I really do enjoy it. I think that once you figure it out it's much simpler to use. I also think that they have other good products such as phones and mp3 players. Mac does have really easy to use products and it doesn't surprise me how successful they are.
ReplyDelete