g r o t t o 1 1

Peeve Farm
Breeding peeves for show, not just to keep as pets
Brian Tiemann
Silicon Valley-based purveyor of a confusing mixture of Apple punditry and political bile.

btman at grotto11 dot com

Read These Too:

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James Lileks
Little Green Footballs
As the Apple Turns
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Cold Fury
Capitalist Lion
Red Letter Day
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Wednesday, November 24, 2004
10:02 - We coulda told 'em that
http://news.com.com/2102-1042_3-5465935.html?tag=st.util.print

(top) link
Imagine that! The iPod might <gasp!> be driving Mac sales!
The popularity of the iPod could be boosting Apple Computer's financials in unexpected ways.

According to a survey of iPod users by financial analysis firm Piper Jaffray, Macs are basking in the reflected glory of the iPod, with some who own the music player saying they have already or are intending to ditch their PCs for Macs.

The research found that 6 percent of iPod users have made the switch. An additional 7 percent said they are planning to dump their old PC for an Apple machine, according to the survey.

Gene Munster, Piper Jaffray senior research analyst, said the iPod halo effect will make a difference to Apple for a while to come.

"We're in the very early innings of a multiyear trend," he said.

"Unexpected ways", huh? Someone hasn't been paying attention, apparently. The iPod did predate multiplatform iTunes, y'know.

It's refreshing to see this vindication of Apple's original iPod strategy, as voiced by Jobs and others when it was first introduced; Apple wanted to own digital music, and it was only later in the game—after the iTunes Music Store became reality—that it was realized that that plan would require Apple owning digital music on the PC as well as on the Mac. That move, putting iTunes on the PC (and bringing out other products, such as AirPort Express, as platform-agnostic devices), was seen by a lot of Mac people as an unpalatable compromise, and a poison-pill to the original intent of the iPod: to force people to by Macs for the best digital music experience.

But those with the unquestioning faith in Jobs held out that even the convenience of having full iTunes/iPod support on Windows wouldn't kill the potential of attracting Switchers. I personally know at least a couple of people who have bought their first Macs even after owning an iPod on Windows; these are people who have wanted out of Windows for a while, and the iPod—even though the user experience is meticulously identical on Windows, admirably so for Apple—acts as a catalyst for that move. "If the iPod/iTunes combo is this good on Windows," goes the reasoning, "just think how a whole platform like this would be." And so far nobody's been disappointed.

I've also seen a couple of people go Mac in a big way in the past couple of weeks: one friend has bought a G5 desktop and a new PowerBook, along with AirPort gear and software; and a co-worker, who has gone back and forth from Mac to Windows a couple of times in his career, has just converted his whole household to a Mac environent, with a new G5 iMac and a couple of iBooks (plus AirPort and an iPod or two). Apparently his move was as much fueled by his kids nagging him for Macs as by his own desire to switch; and that, the winning-over of the younger generation, is the coup Apple's been seeking for years. If that's the success the iPod has scored, then Apple's struck a critical hit. And considering that I just saw a Piper Jaffray analyst's recommendation for AAPL stock jump from $52 to $100 for the 12-month period, it looks like people are noticing.

From the original story:

While Apple might see a healthy period ahead, to turn the advantage into long-term gain the company has to keep setting the design trends, according to the analysts.

"They've got to keep that 'cool factor' going," Munster said. "If they don’t, they're in trouble."

Riiiight... like from Creative, I suppose, who's decided that the way to win a "war" against the iPod is to spend $100 million on marketing. Not new or better products, mind you—more marketing. The stuff that worked so well for BuyMusic.com and Rhapsody and the New Napster, huh?

Sure, Apple shouldn't get cocky. But it's hardly like they're sitting on their laurels. Now they're reaping profits from things like the U2 tie-in, and just in time for the holiday season...


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