3 ms·

Marketing. apple made walkmans cool again. After the 80s. with marketing alone.

by gcb 14y ago

pstuart 14y ago
marketing alone? yeah, right. edit: Adding a hard drive, making it easier to use than the competition, itunes store, app store. None of that had anything to do with it?
- T-Winsnes 14y ago
  I remember my parents called all mp3 players "iPod" long before the appstore was announced. The first generations of iPods might have been easier to use than the other mp3 players at the time, but that alone does not explain the huge adoption by the general population. Marketing definitively had a lot to do with it, probably more than the quality of the product.
  - jrockway 14y ago
    Indeed. The iPod was just a worse Nomad. (I already posted CmdrTaco's iconic summary in another comment in this article, so I will avoid it here.) But nobody bought Nomad, and everyone bought an iPod. Why? Because Apple told people to buy an iPod, and people tend to do what they're told.
    - pstuart 14y ago
      Ah, so the reason the ipod is successful is: "Because Apple told people to buy an iPod, and people tend to do what they're told".
      - jrockway 14y ago
        Yes, you've restated my comment successfully.
    - alexqgb 14y ago
      For me, the fantastic thing about the first iPod was immediate access to any track, combined with shuffle play. It changed the experience of listening to music. It was like my entire collection had a single, superfluid interface. And the thing FELT great. Even if you credit marketing with bringing this to people's attention, it's a mistake to think that marketing closes the deal. That credit goes to the experience, which was as imaginative, compelling, and well-designed as the object itself. As the (very) old ad agency joke goes "Nothing destroys a bad product faster than good advertising." Clearly that's not happening here. I will never understand people ignore the product itself while insisting success is "just" marketing (as though this were an invariably witless task). Usually this is followed by "to people who are idiots." Perhaps you just don't appreciate things that are carefully considered and well made. There are people like this, and there always have been. And they suck. Or as Shakespeare put it "you blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things."
- gcb 14y ago
  itunes and appstore is monetization of the post marketing success. you convert them to switch, and then lock them there. hard drive was a step back. for the same price (and 5 months before ipod launched) you could get a creative flash memory mp3 player with 2/3 of the size. again, same price, you give away 1/3 of the storage for NO gravity or dropping of issues. far superior if you ask me... yet, bad marketing on creative. (btw, ipod evolved some 5yr later and what? 1/2 of the space and flash memory, so yeah, even apple consumers agree it was better without it.)
majormajor 14y ago
When were they not cool? As a teen in the late 90s, everyone I knew had a discman. (Mine was bright orange, and got plenty of comments on how cool it looked. :) )

Marketing. apple made walkmans cool again. After the 80s. with marketing alone.

by gcb 14y ago

Marketing. apple made walkmans cool again. After the 80s. with marketing alone.

marketing alone? yeah, right. edit: Adding a hard drive, making it easier to use than the competition, itunes store, app store. None of that had anything to do with it?

T-Winsnes 14y ago
I remember my parents called all mp3 players "iPod" long before the appstore was announced. The first generations of iPods might have been easier to use than the other mp3 players at the time, but that alone does not explain the huge adoption by the general population. Marketing definitively had a lot to do with it, probably more than the quality of the product.
- jrockway 14y ago
  Indeed. The iPod was just a worse Nomad. (I already posted CmdrTaco's iconic summary in another comment in this article, so I will avoid it here.) But nobody bought Nomad, and everyone bought an iPod. Why? Because Apple told people to buy an iPod, and people tend to do what they're told.
  - pstuart 14y ago
    Ah, so the reason the ipod is successful is: "Because Apple told people to buy an iPod, and people tend to do what they're told".
    - jrockway 14y ago
      Yes, you've restated my comment successfully.
  - alexqgb 14y ago
    For me, the fantastic thing about the first iPod was immediate access to any track, combined with shuffle play. It changed the experience of listening to music. It was like my entire collection had a single, superfluid interface. And the thing FELT great. Even if you credit marketing with bringing this to people's attention, it's a mistake to think that marketing closes the deal. That credit goes to the experience, which was as imaginative, compelling, and well-designed as the object itself. As the (very) old ad agency joke goes "Nothing destroys a bad product faster than good advertising." Clearly that's not happening here. I will never understand people ignore the product itself while insisting success is "just" marketing (as though this were an invariably witless task). Usually this is followed by "to people who are idiots." Perhaps you just don't appreciate things that are carefully considered and well made. There are people like this, and there always have been. And they suck. Or as Shakespeare put it "you blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things."
gcb 14y ago
itunes and appstore is monetization of the post marketing success. you convert them to switch, and then lock them there. hard drive was a step back. for the same price (and 5 months before ipod launched) you could get a creative flash memory mp3 player with 2/3 of the size. again, same price, you give away 1/3 of the storage for NO gravity or dropping of issues. far superior if you ask me... yet, bad marketing on creative. (btw, ipod evolved some 5yr later and what? 1/2 of the space and flash memory, so yeah, even apple consumers agree it was better without it.)

majormajor 14y ago

When were they not cool? As a teen in the late 90s, everyone I knew had a discman. (Mine was bright orange, and got plenty of comments on how cool it looked. :) )