My First iPod :)

On October 23, 2001, Apple announced its launch of the world's smart new mp3 player, the "iPod". The player would be a stainless steel one, about the size of a deck of cards, having a 5GB hard drive which can store upto 10,000 songs and capable of playing for 10 hours with its lithium battery, capable of synchronizing with Mac OS. Apple hoped this as a new gift for the holiday season.
But, what was the price of this whole new wonderful digital device? Well, it came for $399, just 1 short of 400 dollars. This created mixed reactions among the general public, the analysts and the journalists, mainly for the high pricetag attached with this. Some people even thought that this could be another reason for convincing people to buy a Mac instead of a PC, as reported in CNET news. iPod was launched in 2001 November. The question was whether iPod was really introduced as a means to promote Apple Macs as initially the iPods were compatible only with Macs. That still wouldn't be a sufficient reason to buy Apple Macs, even though initially discounts were offered for the combined purchase of a Mac and an iPod. If the Apple corporation wanted to make more profit, then a windows compatible version of the iPod would tempt to eager fans to still go for it. Apple then decided to make the iPod compatible with a PC also, with the uncertainity whether people would still buy it despite its high price.
iPod has risen to such a success that today it has sold almost 25 million iPods (the number is not sure however). So what is the success behind the sales? iPod has become a synonym for mp3 players in spite of the fact that Dell and Creative Labs are coming up with similar players at a cheaper more affordable rate. It is seen as a fashion accessory among the youth especially young professionals and college students. One reason is that the range of products are vast, with the iTunes, which allows official downloading of songs, @0.99 cents per song, the price seemingly less for high quality music. iTunes have about 1 million songs available with them. Recently they have launched iPod U 2 and iPod photo which are exciting for sincere iPod fans who are ready to upgrade their products. iTunes has sold more than 1 million songs in spite of the competition faced from MSN music, Napster and Realplayer music.
iPod has succeeded where Mac failed, the key reason for Macs being very expensive, a price range between $1000 and $ 3000. iPod on the other hand can be seen as an affordable luxury, with sleek design and stlye compared to other range of portable mp3 players. iPod is definitely here to stay in the market for sometime.
Ask me why I personally prefer iPod, or rather consider it a necessity to have one of my own, because iPod is a such a creative product in itself, producing sound of highest quality, its unique operating feature, the rotating keypad and of course simply because nothing else can be an iPod. I feel so proud owning this precious piece of electronics, my iPod nano.