The Original iPod
Since 1976, Apple has created and released a plethora of products including computers, printers, hardware, and speakers, but it was not until 2001 that they branched into portable music players. On October 23, 2001, Apple released its first-generation MP3 player, now globally known as the iPod. While the iPod was not the first MP3 player on the market, Apple succeeded in creating a product that soared above the rest, proving that newer media technologies are largely more efficient than previous iterations (Gitelman and Pingree, 2003). Its simple interface and clean design made the iPod sought after by the everyday person. The Apple iPod redesigned portable music players by allowing automatic music downloads from Mac computers, 1,000 song storage space, and 10 hours of continuous battery power (Awbrey and Sequeira, 2001). While this once innovative technology has since been replaced, a plethora of aspects from the original marketing campaign for the iPod can still be seen in many of the advertisements for newer Apple products. Apple continues to produce and market breakthrough and innovative technological products that keep people buying more and thinking about what’s next.
As soon as the iPod hit the stores, it was marketed as the most groundbreaking and revolutionary device of its class. Apple’s press release from October 2001 helps to set the stage for the first-generation iPod and all future Apple products to be legendary. Awbrey and Sequeria detail how “Apple has invented a whole new category of digital music players” and how the software involved was made with Apple’s “legendary expertise” (2001). Despite being marketed as the newest and greatest MP3 player, Apple also communicated how easily the interface was to maneuver. With its hand-held size, scroll-wheel control, and Auto-Sync features, the iPod was perfect for all users. A New York Times journalist accentuates Awbrey and Sequeria’s points when he discusses the practicality of the iPod in his article “Apple hits the right notes in design and sound quality: Tune in iPod.” He writes that on “all comparisons, the iPod takes the win, place, and show” and other companies cannot compete with the Apple product (“Apple hits the right notes,” 2002). Since the very first iteration of the iPod, Apple has centered its marketing campaign around how revolutionary, legendary, and next-generation each product is.
Apple consumers show their loyalty to the company by continuing to purchase the newer versions of the same products. While the first-generation iPod groundbreaking, it did not take long for a new product to be released. The first-generation version was introduced in October and released to the public in November 2001. Apple quickly revamped the iPod and released the second-generation version in July 2002 and the third generation followed quickly after in April 2003 (Costello, 2020). Year after year Apple improved and released new generations of their iPod but the marketing strategy remained the same. Each time it was “revolutionary” and “legendary” and each time the iPod came with increased storage and more possibilities. These technological and psychological forms of obsolescence (Slade, 2006) enabled Apple to capture a large portion of the market share and retain customers. Apple communicated how innovative and special each iPod was, starting with the original, and was able to morph its marketing campaigns with each new generation and each new product.
The original commercial for the iPod draws many parallels to the commercials for future iPods and iPhone generations. The initial commercial showed an average man jamming out to music on his Mac computer, simply dragging his iTunes library over to the device, and putting his iPod in his pocket as he continues to dance out the door (iPodClassic, 2007). This free-spirited yet easy to use commercial proved to be effective and Apple continued using this format with each new commercial. Instead of a simple guy dancing in his apartment, the commercials began depicting black dancing figures or “iPod Silhouettes” with prominent white iPods and headphones fueling the motion (Doyle, 2011). Apple represented the first-generation iPod in such a way that enabled the company to continue using the dancing consumer template to communicate with costumers that this technology was easy to use and generationally defining.
Apple products have been the pinnacle of innovation and evolution for decades. Each new iteration of the iPod continuously improved and revolutionized the portable music devices. After the first-generation iPod was released, Apple became the company to beat and this reign continues today. Consumers of Apple products have now expected a new release each year and anxiously await the unveiling of the latest and greatest technological advancement. Despite other competitors now producing devices with comparable functions, Apple has elevated itself into the most prominent maker of smartphones and music players in the country, and the first-generation iPod helped propel them to the top. Apple will remain the dominant company in the market and capture consumer attention if they stick to their formulas and continue to forge new innovations and exciting products. iPods have now been phased out of consumers’ minds due to the introduction of iPod Touches and the notorious iPhone, but the original iPod made lasting marks on the technology world and changed how consumers listened to music.
References
Apple hits the right notes in design and sound quality: Tune in iPod (2002). New York Times.
[Apple Explained]. (2017, September 29). History of the iPod [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOimCjuuRz4
Awbrey, A., & Sequeira, N. (2001, October 23). Apple Presents iPod. Retrieved July 18, 2020, from https://www.apple.com/newsroom /2001/10/23Apple-Presents-iPod/.
Costello, S. (2020, January 12). What Do You Know About the History of the iPod? Retrieved July 18, 2020, from https://www.lifewire.com/history-ipod-classic-original-2000732.
Gitelman, L., & Pingree, G. (2003). What’s New About New Media? Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Retrieved 2003.
Giles Slade, (2007) “Introduction,” Made to Break: Technology and Obsolescence in America.
[iPodClassic]. (2007, October 20). The Original iPod Commercial [Video]. YouTube. https:// www.youtube.com/watchv=UTLFrFoEa4I& feature=embtitle
Jack Doyle, “The iPod Silhouettes: 2000–2011,” PopHistoryDig.com, December 9, 2011.
Moss, C. (2013, November 04). 12 Years And Counting: The Amazing Life Of Apple’s iPod. Retrieved August 11, 2020, from https://www.businessinsider. com/apple-ipod-12-years-old-2013-11
