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The iPod at 14: why frosty reception from fans shouldn't matter
Trawling back through Apple fansites' forums revealed fans weren't too receptive following the announcement of the iPod
Apple's iPod was announced 14 years ago this month, and the forum on Apple fansite MacRumours from the time makes for amusing nostalgia reading.
"Great just what the world needs, another freaking MP3 player. Go Steve! Where's the Newton?!," wrote one forum user.
Another remarked: "There are already two products similar to this on the market. The Nomad Jukebox and the Archos Jukebox which can come with a 20 gig HD. The iPod is obviously a lot cooler and has firewire, but it is far from revolutionary. I for one am disappointed and think that apple is making a mistake by trying to get into this market."
Little did they know the Apple's first entry into consumer electronics would go on to sell hundreds of millions of units, revolutionising the MP3 player market and the way we listen to music.
The very first iPod sported a 5GB hard drive, weighed 6.5 ounces and was capable of hosting just 1,000 tracks. This first model did not have a now-iconic clickwheel for scrolling through tracks, instead featuring four buttons.
The $399 price point was a big issue at the time, with many members pointing out the price tag eclipsed many of its other MP3 rivals.
"Btw... for $100 bucks more you can buy an imac. Better bring that price down or you wont sell any of these babies," [sic], user mikedman mused. "OK. For $300 I can get an in-dash MP3 player for my car, which is where I spend most of my travel time," added oldschoolmacfan. "Where oh where does a $400 (!!!!!) player fit into the scheme of things?"
Apple's head of internet services and software Eddy Cue has recently touched on the perils of paying too much heed to customer feedback.
“There are things people can tell us and there are things they can’t,” he said. “Both are really important but one of the dangers is to only do things people tell you to do. You would never do [new iPhone 6s features] Live Photos or 3D Touch if you only listened to people. To innovate you have to look beyond. We used to say that we get paid to look around corners.”
It wasn't just fans that were left baffled by Jobs' latest plan. "Clearly Apple is following Sony's lead by integrating consumer electronics devices into its marketing strategy, but Apple lacks the richness of Sony's product offering," said analyst Tim Deal at the time.
"Introducing new consumer products right now is risky, especially if they cannot be priced attractively," he added.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates shared some sage prophesies back in 2006 when asked about the future of the iPod by German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
"I don't think the success of the iPod can continue in the long term, however good Apple may be," he is reported as saying. "I think you can draw parallels here with the computer here, too, Apple was once extremely strong with its Macintosh and graphic user interface, like with the iPod today, and then lost its position."
In recent years, the iPhone's music-hosting capabilities have cannibalised iPod sales, which are now housed under Apple's 'Other Products' section alongside the Apple Watch in Apple's quarterly results, due tomorrow.