Why the iPod succeeded

If we return to the advantages and disadvantages of the iPod and the reasons for its success, it is impossible to identify a single point, a single main advantage that caused the iPod to revolutionize the music market. Most users found something about their iPod that bothered them. Some models (especially the first generation) were prone to malfunction, had problematic support in operating systems other than Mac, as well as regional support, and there were numerous complaints about iTunes software and battery life, or at least they were relatively expensive for users. However, it always turned out that users were not bothered by these negative features; on the contrary, they greatly appreciated the positive features that were not so common in competing players. The sum of the positives was different for each user, but it was large enough to outweigh the isolated negatives, which, moreover, each user considered to be something different. It can therefore be said that the time was ripe for the advent of digital players that would free users from the need to own, store, and manage physical recording media and allow them to easily synchronize with their computers.

In 2004, for example, the consulting firm Juniper calculated that most users at that time had up to 1,000 songs, so a player that allowed them to store their entire music library was perfectly suited to their needs—which in 2004 was the iPod Mini. This also contributed significantly to its success: the ability to take your entire audio library with you on the go and play whatever you feel like listening to.

Image: iPod sales chart

Caption: iPod sales grew steadily, but all sales figures up to 2003 were overshadowed by what happened next. Sales of the iPod Mini and Nano catapulted the numbers into the millions.

At that time, a number of more or less obscure theories emerged about where the development of music players would go. One of the more obscure ones predicted that the constant increase in the storage capacity of recording media would lead to music players being able to store every piece of music ever created, and that customers would pay for, purchase, and unlock them directly on their players. However, this vision is unlikely to come true. Instead, the network vision is gaining ground, i.e., the assumption that users will be able to download any music they feel like listening to from the network at any time, even wirelessly, and that the player will delete music that has not been played for a long time if there is not enough space. And that brings us to the realm of cloud technologies, which will be discussed at the end of this book.

The context of this story

Why the iPod succeeded

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