Wow, I didn't realise it was verboten here to say anything less than stellar about the iPod. When the iPod first came out it was Mac only and very expensive.

Wow, I didn't realise it was verboten here to say anything less than stellar about the iPod. When the iPod first came out it was Mac only and very expensive. I knew plenty of people with MP3 players many years before getting an iPod. Saying they had "wrapped up" the market is pointless, since it was all early adopters at that stage. When the iPod started to get REALLY popular (just prior to the Mini) and hit critical mass, there was plenty of good competition out there. So what made the difference for Apple? These original points. Not sure why I got downvoted to -2 for saying so. I thought we reserved downvotes for trolls, not dissenting opinion?