David Chartier writes for The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW), “Alright, it’s my turn to rant this week (today?), and this time around it’s about an editorial I found at Macworld that asks that question that just has to crop up every so often: is Apple moving away from its computer roots?
“No. And as a general call-out: please stop asking this question every time Apple introduces an iPod or a product that simply isn’t a Mac,” Chartier writes.
Full article here.
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interesting that by asking this question, MDN does exactly what the author of the article is asking people not to do.
I agree with Chartier. It gets tiresome to hear someone complain Apple supposedly becoming a music company just because they updated an iPod.
Boring.
I was at an Apple store yesterday, and the whole front window display was ALL IPOD, no computer signs or equipment in sight. I would say yes Apple is moving away from computers. Just look at the advertising, almost none for computers, and even metro transit trains are plastered with iPod ads. iPods will never change the world in the way Stevo envisioned. In fact, iPods do nothing more than undermine person-to-person connectivity because everyone is hiding behind their earphones. Society is not better because of the iPod. It is better because of Mac computers.
iMaki,
Well said. I agree.
Amen, iMaki.
One day, the Mac mini will become an iPod too
One day, the Mac mini will become an iPod too
One day, the Mac mini will become an iPod too
If you’re ever in Atlanta, check the main metro transit station, Five Points. It is PLASTERED with huge iPod ads everywhere. Halo effect. Shmalo effect. I doubt most of the people who see those ads know that Apple makes cool computers or know anything about OS X. Shame on Apple for ignoring the Mac.
I think Apple is in wierd situation because of the switch to Intel. They did have a big campain planned but it was scrapt because of this. I think once the switch has been made, you’ll see advertising for the Mac. And lets not forget that sales for their computers are up anyway.
The iPod is Apple’s gateway drug. They get you hooked with it’s elegance and make you love the company that created it. Then, after owning it for a while you start learning that they offer many more products and, upon further investigation, realize that they have an entire ecosystem of equipment.
I think one of the main reasons the iHalo is becoming a reality is because Apple’s marketing. They have a component that they can advertise with little or no explanation and it attracts people to them. I’ve heard that one of the reasons the Mac isn’t advertised is because it’s too difficult to demonstrate it’s attributes effectively in 30 seconds.
So, by showing people their engineering ethics in a small, concise package, they are advertising everything they do through the iPod
Maki, the iPod is no different than any other personal portable media medium, whether it be the walkman, the discman, the gameboy, books or newspapers.
It’s merely a different method of carrying and listening/reading/watching that media. The people who are listening to iPods today on the train in to work or the subway were the same people who would read a book, newspaper or listen to their walkman. You can’t blame the iPod for the fall of society. That began long before the iPod was ever conceived.
The one thing the iPod has contributed to society is greater freedom to do what you want with the media you have and with the iTMS, made accessing media in many different forms far more convenient. It has also created new ways for the little guy to get his ideas across to larger audiences than was ever before possible via podcasts.
My point being that the iPod and iTMS has contributed more to society than I think you can single it out for detracting.
Andy
Please tell me three things:
Did Apple have to lay off Mac division workers because the iPod has lost Apple so much money?
I didn’t think so.
And is Apple working on future processors and new versions of OS X?
That’s right–in a big way.
And do iPod owners sometimes buy Macs next?
There you go, three for three!
So WHAT are people thinking when they say the iPod means Apple doesn’t care about computers?
Did they say that when Apple sold scanners? Printers? Cameras? Displays? Software?
Sleepy.
Fridays are soooooooooooo dullllllllllllll . . .
Gawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwd!!!!
Society isn’t worth “saving”. So, might as well make money off all you boobs!
What about the Apple II have they have totally abandonded all marketing so they can trumpet their fancy new “Mac” computers…
Oh wait that was the discussion in 1985…
as long as it helps apple , who cares ?
I’ll start complaining about the lack of advertising if, a year from now, they’re not advertising Leopard on Intel. The Intel switch is the reason for lack of advertising now, I believe. Before that we saw iMac ads along with iPod ads.
With their computer sales growing many times faster than any other manufacturer, I can’t see how anyone could argue that there is not a halo effect or that Apple doesn’t care about the source of half their revenue.
Oh horrors! iPod stuff all over the front of the store, but no computer stuff. Even I can guess that the reasoning behind that would be that the iPod is the talk of the town… You should always put the talk of the town product in your front window… That way, people will see it, recognize it (“Ooh! There’s that thing everyone’s talking about!”), and go inside the store… Then there’s computers inside the store. Hello!
Last time I checked, my iPod would be empty if it weren’t for a computer… Apple isn’t moving away from computers toward music, they’re bringing music to the computer… And the same is and will be with video.
…And regarding iPods as being anti-social. That’s one of the reasons why I wear it when I’m out!…
The only people whoever approach and talk to me when I’m walking around town are either crazies or people begging for money… I can’t remember anyone ever coming up to me out of the blue and being friendly and social. In public, everyone is in their own world with or without earbuds plugged in their ears. I can tell you that if there was even a slight possibility that a hot chick with a rockin’ bod would come up and make friends with me or ask my ugly ass out… I would never wear those ear buds out in public!….
That said, I’ll be wearing those earbuds out in public.
It’s not all right to spell “all right” as “alright.”
Tell me something. Is iPod-envy much like penis-envy?
iMaki –
It’s not fair to say iPods do *nothing more* than undermine personal interaction. They also play a bunch of sweet soul music in your ears. For those of us who make a living listening to music, it makes us a heck of a lot more productive.