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Ivan Petkov

iPod

We are at the beginning of the last decade of the twentieth century, broadband connection is on the horizon, the era of Napster is the thing which anyone would relate MP3 and audio music standard to, exchanged and shared. Record companies are conducting lawsuits against piracy of music on the Internet stigmatizing the network and the MP3 format as piracy. Nobody can imagine that amid this disruption we will ever see sales of single tracks in MP3 format on the Internet. In September 2001 the case against the founder of Napster is almost resolved and right at this very moment none other than Apple announces the launch of a product which will subsequently change, in the next 10 years, what everybody considered unthinkable at the time. Moreover, it will pave the way for other products that will change the IT and telecommunications industries for ever. The iPod appears.

The iPod was publicly presented on 21st October 2001, developed by a team consisting of the following members: Steve Jobs, designer Jonathan Eve, John Rubinstein, who subsequently became CEO of Palm, and hardware engineers Tony Fadel and Michael Dewey. The first iPod has 5 GB of memory, where you can "store about 1000 songs in your pocket". The first iPod is a product which only works with Mac.

On the 'wheel' are the main controls of the player.

 

In the beginning the iPod is almost invisible until the product is tied to iTunes and the service iTunes Store – a shop for the sale of legal music. Steve Jobs understands the desire of consumers to not purchase a whole album by an artist, out of which most often only 2-3 songs are hits, but only to buy the songs they want. iTunes Store appears on 29^th April, 2003 and just two years later, towards the end of 2004, the iPod + iTunes combination make iPod a dominating product on the U.S. market. In 2005 videos appeared in iTunes, and in the following year, 2006, also feature films.

Over the years the iPod has evolved and changed, different models of the product have appeared, so as to position it in different price categories and offer specific purposes - from the miniplayer for sports and travel to the media player for Internet, music, movies and applications. iPod sets the precedent for a business model, which in the years to come will change not only the music business. We shall see how.

iPhone

The next product that seems like a logical step in the development of Apple’s product line is actually seen in a very reserved way and is quite underestimated by the competitors. This is the era in which Nokia and Motorola are undisputed leaders in the telecommunications market. Nobody could even imagine how anyone could replace the omnipresent Nokia, which dominates in each class of phones, and many of their competitors, use their operating system, Symbian. Rumours of the appearance of iPod with the onset of opportunity to make phone calls are perceived as funny gossip rather than as serious signs of a product that will change the industry.

So, the iPhone is born on 9^th January 2007, when at the Macworld exhibition Steve Jobs presents the new product to the world. His work had been launched two years earlier, in 2005, in cooperation with AT & T Mobility. This is a phone that has a large capacitive touchscreen, it is powered by an operating system, which is now named iOS, and has only 1 Main control button on the phone (not counting the switch on/switch off buttons and those for the sound).

 Of course, success does not come immediately. iPhone and iOS have to be developed and reach, in terms of functionality, the competition, but the benefits of the product implemented in the first model, are what will make this very underrated product dominate the market.

Success arrives with the advent of the iPhone 3G. The phone has all the advantages of the iPod, but in addition it offers a larger screen as well as a link to the online Application shop - App Store. The phone’s screen is controlled by the fingers due to capacitive technology, which is much more convenient and makes the pen used until then in all smartphones unnecessary. iPhone offers almost unlimited possibilities for development of applications for it. Provision of gyro led to a new experience in mobile gaming.  iPhone turns into something more than a smartphone - it is a multimedia centre that provides all of the most popular entertainment for which the traditional PC is used - Games, Internet, music and movies.

Last week we introduced you to the last model iPhone 4S, which had a record number of sales in the first 24 hours.

iPad

Twice in the past Apple has managed to surprise its competitors and release a product that changed the market and created new niches, will it manage to do it for a third time? Let's find out.

We are in the era of the netbook - designed with the idea to be cheap they dominate the market of portable devices. Sales volumes are stunning, competition is enormous, involving all major players. Apple, however, stand aside and say, according to some arrogantly, that these computers are incomplete. Rumours start that they are developing a tablet. Like in the case of iPhone, Apple does not create a new product. Tablets are available, but they are limited to highly specialized areas related to design, engineering programs and in some cases - with business functions.

The iPad appeared on 27^th January, 2010 and became a hit on the market. Initially, it was criticized, for simply being a larger iPod, but it was very well accepted by users. The convenience of working with fingers, the bigger screen, its light weight and portability make it the favourite gadget for many households - for reading newspapers and subscriptions to magazines and newspapers, to read books, for viewing photos, listening to music, chatting with friends, viewing the mail. iPad is so easy to use, which explains the wide age range of its users - from 3-year-olds, to seniors who otherwise have a fear of computers.

The iPad became so popular that its appearance affected the market for netbooks, and even affected the market for traditional computers and laptops.

In conclusion, I would like to say that although they bring many innovations, Apple are not the creator of any of the above mentioned types of products. MP3 players, smartphones and tablets already existed before the advent of the iPod, iPhone and iPad. What is unique about Apple’s products is their way of presentation and ease of operation, a user experience, which is combined with services that are easy and understandable to the user. Of course, each of Apple’s products currently meets its competition. Whether they will manage to keep their lead, remains to be seen. However, it is an undisputed fact that in less than 10 years Apple has succeeded in offering 3 products that have changed the industry, which they were intended for, changing consumer expectations and experience for ever. They have also changed the way we interact with the Internet, listen to music, and play games. Moreover, they have changed our conception of the computer.