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Building a Better iPod
Although I own two iPod’s I wouldn’t call myself an iPod enthusiast. As a matter of fact, I have major issues with the device. There are some usability things about the iPod that I find just downright stupid like no reset button when it crashes and no on/off button. Yes, I do know how to turn it on and off (this is more of an issue of off) but I think the idea of not having a simple on/off function is stupid. Furthermore, I think the OS is dull and lame especially for an Apple product.
The last time I used my iPod it crashed hard. It was dead for a week - literally. So I plugged it into my computer and then one day it just magically restarted. I guess Steve Jobs is still unaware that his products are capable of crashing. Thus, no reset like every other portable electronic device I own.
Last night in my entrepreneur class I had a discussion with my students on the topic of “cool”. What makes the iPod cool? Let’s go down a check list.
Contagious? Check. Effective? Check. Distinctive? Check. Disruptive? Check. Emotive? Check. Deep capability? Check. Indulgent? Check. Community? Double check. Humanness? Check. Youth-oriented? Check. Low barriers? Check.
Without a doubt the most important factor in the iPod achieving its success was the community factor. It was the Mac cult followers who sneezed and persuaded you and I to buy this device. Without this community of sneezers the iPod would have been as dead as the Newton. Furthermore, if Steve Jobs wouldn’t have created a PC compatible iTunes and iPod this thing would certainly be in the history books by now. Think about it, you, as a PC user, would not have bought this device if it didn’t work with your PC (Windows owns 90% of the PC market, Apple and Linux own the rest).
Until you were sneezed on and converted by a Mac cult member you were as skeptical about this little device as I was. Some of you even converted all the way. That $3,000 baptismal admission fee was steep don’t you think? Now you run around in holey jeans and black t-shirts spouting off fallacious junk like “Macs don’t crash” and ”Macs can’t get a virus” and “you can’t create graphics on a PC as well as you can on a Mac”.
So sad. Â
Now back to reality. Even with all this going for it a better iPod can be built. The innovators dilemma says that it can and will. Will Zune do it? I doubt it. Will Dell do it? No. The iPod killer is probably sitting in a small lab or is being built in someone’s garage right now.
Take a look at this post. Newly unemployed Jason Calacanis is talking to a couple of very smart guys about building such a device. What are some of the features they’re thinking about? Open source operating system (think of the possibilities here), WiFi (Yes, other devices already have this) and removable media to name a few.  Who knows how serious these guys are or if they can pull it off but I for one am ready to look at a real alternative.
The question is whether anybody can come up with something that is a disruptive technology for the iPod. I agree that Zune isn’t it. In fact, Bill Gates himself says that Zune is only a “modest competitor.”
If something is going to unseat the iPod as the dominant mp3 player then it will need a lot more than a reset feature, more user-friendly interface, or wireless sharing. Those are sustaining innovations that, were they to be implemented by a competitor, could easily be implemented by Apple before they lost any market share.
Disruptive innovations in personal entertainment devices seem to follow innovations in entertainment media, that is, vinyl to cassettes to CDs to mp3. Trouble is, where do you go after the mp3? A different type of file format wouldn’t be disruptive, only sustaining. As hard as it is for me to imagine what could possibly be next I have to agree with you that someone is probably working on it in a garage at this very moment.
Left by Joshua Steimle on 11/30/2006Great comments, Josh.
Left by Chris Knudsen on 11/30/2006Hey Chris, I like the post and although I am of the mac cult, I do find that there are some things very interesting, like the new ipod shuffle. Great idea-lets make something so small that no one will ever be able to tell what music is playing because there isn’t room enough to have a screen. And its about time someone came out with a clip!
Left by Lorri Randle on 12/01/2006Anyone have numbers on how well the whole video portable device is doing. Here is a nice website that has the history of pocket video players: http://www.guenthoer.de/e-history.htm
But, for the next time your ipod crashes, push down play pause and menu at the same time, that is the reset process for the ipod.
Lorri:
I tried that. As a matter of fact I tried everything I could find on the Web suggested and not suggested for resetting the device. Still nothing worked. A simple reset button would have been nice.
Left by Chris Knudsen on 12/01/2006[...] I blogged sometime ago about the problems I’ve had with my iPod booting up. Looks like I’m not the only one who has had this problem. Check out Matt Hickey at TechCrunch give some instruction on how to do major home surgery to an iPod that won’t boot. Pretty cool stuff. [...]
Left by Chris Knudsen on life, business, and entrepreneurship » Using iTunes to build a nuclear weapon. Wait, what? on 03/09/2007