Heh. That's a good one!

I was newly married when the iPod was introduced. I remember my wife mentioning something one day about whether I'd seen this new MP3 player that Apple had just produced. I remember hardly giving it a second though. Amazing.

 Larry 2/28/2006 9:56 PM  

I certainly wasn't surprised by the scale of the announcements given precisely the details you outlined. To counter however, I bust out this gem, The Apple Product Cycle: http://www.misterbg.org/AppleProductCycle/.

 Aldo Merino 2/28/2006 10:33 PM  

Wait... are you making a call about this Hover Phone™? If only there were photos of such a device...

 Tim 2/28/2006 10:53 PM  

That has to be the Best Thread Ever.

The reaction to the announcements had me cracking up too. I mean, Apple was all like, okay, come on over if you feel like it, we'll have a couple little new things. Everyone decided "This Is It!!!!1!!1!" and was disappointed. Oh well.

 Jeremy 2/28/2006 11:10 PM  

That thread is incredible. It really is funny about ideas. Along the way, everyone will tell you that you're destined to fail. Then, when you succeed, they'll call it an inevitably obvious. :)

 Drew Hamlin 2/28/2006 11:22 PM  

Geeks have a hard time looking past specs. There are still people who are convinced that the Archos Jukebox is better than the iPod because it has higher numbers in some parts of a chart, and lower numbers in others. They're convinced the public only buys iPods because they're uninformed and suggestible. Computer pundits always understate the importance of interaction design.

 Drew Bell 3/01/2006 4:59 AM  

They should do E!-style "True Internet Stories," where they find these people and interview them. Questions would be like this:

"So, tell me what was going on in your life when you derided Apple's original iPod announcement."

"Well, things weren't going well at work, my wife had just left me...so many things. I guess I got so wrapped-up in the only thing in my life worth a damn, Apple, that I just expected them to release a device that would set my life right. I mean, this is fuckin' Steve Jobs for God's sake. And all I got was an MP3 player? FUCK!"

"Do you have any regrets?"

"Regrets? I guess. But I always remind myself that the experience made me who I am today, ya'know?"

 Anonymous 3/01/2006 1:55 PM  

Thanks for that - It gives me hope since I watched my AAPL go all the way up and HELD. Maybe the HiFi isn't a big deal to those of us who sport true HiFi but maybe its just a starting point. I've been waiting for Apple to get something out there that really works. But then again, all those AAC files that aren't true hifi - will they start offering two versions of songs on iTunes that are both regular and premium.
It was the UI that made the apple work - all your songs at the tip of your thumb, specifications aside. Whats the UI here?

 jimmyc 4/02/2006 8:42 AM