On Picking An Apple II- Empty Space
So by now, you guys must know how big of an iPod fanatic I am. In my not-so-humble opinion, the iPod is the single greatest achievement in marketing of the 21st century. It single-handedly killed the CD-burning trade, gave massive music storage to a people whose time was filled with diverse musics, and, although it was not the first to do these things, it has become the genericized trademark for MP3 players, as Q-tips has done to cotton swabs or Xerox has done for photocopying.
A brief history of the iPod: There have been six generations of iPods, evolving from the first model (available with a mechanical wheel and in 5 or 10 GiB models) to the most recent sixth edition (with color display, click wheel, and 80 and 160 GiB models). It has, since its inception, incorporated into its brand name a miniscule Shuffle ideal for runners or athletes, a Nano (which started as Mini) perfect for average users of computers (namely, adults), and, most recently, the Touch, the single most advanced piece of technology seen in the entirety of human history thus far.
That said:
I was looking recently at the new iPod Classic, the 6th generation of the main iPod line. Now, the iPod, as stated, started with 5 and 10 GiB models, which (at roughly 4 MiB per song) amounted to about 1,250 and 2,500 songs respectively. Now, to me, that is a fair amount for a player. Most people, myself included, don’t own more than 2,000 songs. The music-only iPods (that is, those before the video technology) went as high as 60 GiB in the fourth generation. That averages out to about 15,000 songs. Now, I personally, don’t know 15,000 songs. I could not name for you 15,000 songs. I don’t even think I’ve heard 15,000 songs in my lifetime.
With the integration of the iPod Video, the capacity was once again justified.The 5th generation came in 30, 60, and later 80 GiB models. 80 GiB, so you have a frame of reference, is about 20,000 songs. However, an hour long movie is about 1 GiB. So, if you add 10 full-length movies, that still leavs room for more sons than you can imagine. You could add your entire DVD collection (which, in my case, is 35 or so) and still have enough space for 11, 250 songs. One could see the marketability here, though 80 GiB is reaching a bit high for me.
Now we come to my point: the new 6th generation iPod. This powerhouse comes in, at most, 160 GiB. For those of you keeping score, that’s 40,000 songs, or about 180 hours of video. This, to me, seems preposterous. I don’t think that my entire group of friends, cumulatively, knows 40,000 songs. I don’t think I’ve seen 90 movies worth seeing more than once. Meaning, of course, that in my entire life, I will never even come close to using up the entire capacity of the iPod Classic.
What’s the point of this, I wonder? To show off, is my theory. It is Apple’s way of saying to its competitors (most notably of which is the Zune, whose biggest model is half of that of the iPod at 80 GiB) “Hey, look, look how big we are! Look how big our piece is!” (Yes, for those of you who didn’t get it, that was a dick joke.) It’s Steve Jobs waving his product in the faces of his peers and going “Nah nah, I beat you.”
Score one more on the GPC Patented Apple-Arrogance-O-Meter. Now, don’t get me wrong, I think Mac products are fine. They have pretty user interface and are great for casual technologists’ use. But damn, if their heads aren’t shoved up their own asses so far they’re having a staring contest with their own eggshell-white-coated teeth.
There are lawsuits filed against Apple Inc. to have them dissolved as a monopoly. I hope they lose. I’d love to see Steve Jobs’ Keynote speech about that.
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