Reactions to the First iPod
This 2001 MacRumors thread from Apple’s original iPod announcement has been making the rounds.
I’d call it the Cube 2.0 as it wont sell, and be killed off in a short time…and it’s not really functional.
Uuhh Steve, can I have a PDA now?
I think it’s revolutionary.
Come on everyone, y’all are saying it sucks before you have even held it in your hand. I mean 5GB in a little tiny thing like that, it’s amazing. I don’t see anyone else making something like that. Do you?
See also: Macworld.
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The thing about iPod v1:
I had had a Neo MP3 player for a while at the time. It lacked the portability of the iPod, which I realized full-well at the time. But still, for a home jukebox, with 'luggable' portability for parties, weekends, car trips, and the such, it was significantly cheaper than the iPod, along with having a very easily user-replaceable 2.5" hard drive I popped a cheap 30GB unit into . So, for my particular use-case-scenario, the iPod v1 was genuinely as much of a bust from my personal POV as was written at the time.
Now, unlike some of the press I did fully recognized the technological genius of the iPod v1. The big solid state buffer really did impress me as a significant portable feature. But I still didn't buy one for quite a while, until price and spec improvements made it worth my while to have as a purely portable secondary device.
To sum, for the pro-sumer without a pressing portability need, it really was a bust. But for a unsophisticated consumer with ease-of-use concerns and money to burn, or someone who really did want portability above all, it made sense on day one.
"If Apple ever lowers the iPod’s price and develops Windows software for it, watch out: the invasion of the iPod people will surely begin in earnest.”— David Pogue
Correct reaction. Guy used to be an excellent read, no?
