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Welcome to the very first edition of plug.IN, the column that takes a look at the pervasive issues in the video game and technology industries. I hope to bring you a column that’s thought-provoking, fun, geeky, and above all, informative. My first topic: the iPod.
For many of us, Apple is a way of life, considering the attachment we have to our iPods and the iTunes store. Many of us are buying Macs for the first time. Apple has been experiencing rapid growth over the past couple of years, but there are some who are predicting Apple’s impending doom, and I feel it’s worth investigating.
What, you say? Apple faltering? It’s not something you might say about a company that has sold 60 million iPods and 1.5 billion songs at 99 cents a pop through its online music store. But the iPod has recently seen a decline in sales. The last two fiscal quarters saw a deficit in iPod sales after 17 quarters of steady growth. Clearly the market is ready for something new, with no new product lines from Apple in almost a year.
That’s why the Internet was in a frenzy over this past week’s Apple press event, dubbed “It’s Showtime.” There were predictions on new products, everything from the iPhone, to widescreen iPods with touch-screen functionality, to a movie download service.
Only one of those predictions turned out to be true. Apple rolled out a new section to its iTunes store dedicated to the sale of near-DVD quality movies. They run in prices from $9.99 for older films to $12.00 – $14.99 for new stuff. I have to admit, the service is easy to use, but it was disappointing to see no new real innovation here. Apple is nearly synonymous with cutting-edge gadgetry, but they seem to have fallen short here. No new iPods – only a series of small upgrades to the venerable 5G iPods and new, colored Nanos. No iPhone, no new products to speak of at all. They threw us a bone, though, in the form of the “iTV,” a code-name for a wireless set-top box designed to stream multimedia in iTunes from a PC or Mac to a HDTV. This product won’t hit shelves until next year, however.
Apple seems to be taking an obvious direction with their products and services. They already have the digital music market cornered, and they very well could do the same with movies. It’s not entirely implausible to suggest that in the next few years, we could see Apple as the only real source for legal digital multimedia content. Currently, all competitors to the iTunes and iPod duo are pathetic attempts to cash in on what Apple has birthed into the world. The iTunes player and store is too well designed, and the iPod too easy to use to make anything else a serious consideration.
But the Microsofts and Creatives of the world are starting to catch up. Microsoft’s Zune portable media player was unveiled this past week, with features the iPod doesn’t have, including a 3-inch screen, Wi-Fi capability, and an FM tuner.
I love my MacBook, and I love my iPod, but it is not enough to remain complacent. Apple needs to continue to innovate in order to maintain its hipster image, and its large base of users around the world. For now, I am still looking forward to one of those sexy 16-by-9 touch-screen iPods.
