Teenager explains how Apple iPod has grown into such a huge teenage phenomenon

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“It all started just a few years ago, with the original model back in 2001. Then came the popular, colorful mini version, which was soon followed by the high-tech photo edition. And most recently introduced was the slim, compact, and inexpensive shuffle. Thus began the I-pod revolution,” Paige Hazzan writes for The Buffalo News. “Since it first came out, the Apple I-pod has launched a new generation of how Americans, along with millions of others around the world, listen to music. Who knew that such a small mp3-playing device could turn into something so huge and help put Macintosh, a company that was constantly being overshadowed by Microsoft products, back on the map as a leading competitor in the business?”

Hazzan writes, “References to this tiny gadget are turning up everywhere in the entertainment industry, from characters in movies who are casually seen listening to them all the way to high fashion models in designer Dooney and Bourke’s 2005 spring catalog toting around the hot item in their ads. New car models from brands like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and Nissan even offer special audio integration systems so the I-pod can be easily hooked up to the vehicle’s stereo and sound outlets.”

“The I-pod’s trademark little white headphones appropriately named “earbuds” are often seen worn by teenagers roaming down school hallways, or if they are banned during school hours, quickly donned as students exit the building at the end of the day,” Hazzan writes. “So why all the fuss? What’s the big deal? Sure, the I-pod’s original appeal is obvious: who wouldn’t want a device that can play and store all of your favorite music without you having to lug around hundreds of CDs? Nevertheless, the question remains: How has the I-pod continued to stay on top throughout these past four years despite many new competitors? Moreover, how has it grown into such a huge teenage phenomenon that it has become a status symbol for the young generation?”

Hazzan, who will be a sophomore at Nardin Academy High School this fall, talks to her teenage girlfriends about Apple’s tiny moneymakers, “Almost all the girls interviewed use I-tunes, the companion computer program to the I-pod that helps to organize music into play lists as well as download new songs for 99 cents each… while not everyone is obsessed, it is clear that those teens who have I-pods really love them, and for that reason alone these high-tech music players are going to stay popular for a long time to come.”

Full article here.
Note to T-he B-uffalo N-ews, it’s “iPod” and “iTunes.” Almost everybody can finally manage to get it right in print and online by now. Why not give it a try, too? It makes the article more difficult to read with all of those daft “I-pods” and “I-tunes” references.

Hazzan, who will be a sophomore at Nardin Academy High School this fall, offers a new perspective that makes this article interesting because it shows a glimpse of what’s really going on. It’s much different than the usual routine of reading what some fifty-something Wall Street analysts think as they try to figure out why Apple’s iPod+iTunes is such a hit with teens.

41 Comments

  3. Oh no! I’m trapped inside MDN for the day again! Oh no! I shot budding young actress/model yesterday. (I do photography on the side of computer consulting). She brought her iPod with her. We used it as a prop in a few of the shots.

    What was interesting was at the end of the shoot, she had me put the raw files into one folder on her iPod, and the JPEGs into another.

    Kids these days.

    Reply

  12. “What a lame story, slow day for news I guess”

    “What a lame post.”

    “What a lame response to a lame post”

    What a lame … (fill-in the blank). This could go on all lame day.”

    what a lame reply to a lame game.

    Reply

  17. Ok, all you liberal Bush wacking chicken sh*t’s asked for it.

    1: We are at war with a enemy who has no country and crosses borders at will, smuggling bombs and weapons.

    2: This enemy has Killed American citizens perhaps New Yorkers with their lousy attidude could use a change, but they are our citizens.

    3: The US Government funds for massive intelligence operations, spys in the sky and other methods to determine where these b*stards are operating.

    4: After 911, both parties in governement decided to go after these f*cks and take action necessary to prevent further destruction and killing of our citizens. Especially before they get a nuclear weapon.

    5: It was the decision of several countries to go into the “nest” and take these people out, the nest happened to be Iraq, even though they appeared otherwise, they were covertly hostile.

    6: Saddam bluffed that he had WMD’s, to keep the US from invading after he took Kuwait and was driven out. Perhaps that’s why Bush senior held off, thinking a desperate Iraq would nuke the Middle East.

    7: Upon further evidence it was determined Iraq might not have them, but the bluff had to be called and this terrorism bullsh*t stopped.

    So far bombings have been reduced substancially, the enemy is on the run. They are not winning this war as their influence has been slowly draining worldwide.

    So bash Bush all you want as a person, but the people in the military and intelligence are running this war. Risking their lives so you can operate your fancy Mac computer without worrying about being blown up on the way to your home.

    Whatever is going on, it’s working. The crazed Iraqi’s are blowing each other up more than American troops.

    Islam will finally get sick of this bullsh*t one day and crack down on their own.

    War is never wanted, but if it’s thrust upon you, you have to act or die.

    Now you slimy liberal weak ass*d pansy f*cks better get in line and stand behind our country or pack your bags and leave.

    Bush was right, the terrorists are in Iraq. They will die and I wish I could take a few out myself for attacking innocents.

    Perhaps I can send them a few dozen liberal pansy’s heads to chop off?

    Reply

  18. MacDaddy wrote:

    “1: We are at war with a enemy who has no country and crosses borders at will, smuggling bombs and weapons”

    So why are you in Iraq? A simple answer to that simple question would be good, but I doubt you will answer it, more like harp on about WMD’s etc.

    MacDaddy, you are by no means a Daddy, otherwise you would see this war for what it is: A Widowmaker.

    “The crazed Iraqi’s are blowing each other up more than American troops.”

    That statement alone proves beyond any doubt that you are a calssic selfish American who thinks of the good ol’ U S of A before anything else, and it will be YOUR demise that happens before Islam.

    Reply

  24. That Bush’s blunders have helped Al Qaeda immensely and hurt US security?

    You’re right, extremists are dangerous. But Bush isn’t on America’s side and he isn’t on the troops’ side–he’s on his oil buddies’ side, and he’s killing innocent Americans and innocent Iraqi civilians by the thousands. He is making a world more favorable to terrorists than any of us could have imagined–and he’s wasting the lives of our brave troops without the necessary planning to do the job right.

    Iraq is not the threat, Al Qaeda is–and the war in Iraq helps Al Qaeda recruit. It makes people hate America who could have been our supporters if Bush had acted intelligently.

    Forget the propaganda for a moment and think about what’s going on. Bush’s war for oil will lead to MORE WMDs in the world and MORE innocent deaths–including Americans–not less.

    The “president” who ignored Bin Laden when he could have been captured in Afghanistan is not a leader in any real sense. What true leader surrounds himself with “yes men” to make sure questions don’t get asked?

    Reply

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