Page 2 • EG on the telly, 14/7/04 talking about why the ipod is doing so well.... • Non-Gaming • Apple, Mac, and iPod • Eurogamer.net

Mike_Hunt 12 Jul 2004 18:08:18 23,524 posts
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And I'll give you an Xbox if you mention my name

[MH]

Juninho 12 Jul 2004 18:08:25 1,825 posts
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terminalterror wrote:

lost_soul wrote:
Any chance of having the interview put up on Eurofiles?

Good idea!

ssuellid wrote:
It was the first product of its type that was well designed, stylish, affordable, easy to use and fashionable.

Thus all the early adopters eagerly showed them off to all their freinds and soon everybody wanted one.

...making it a lifestyle accessory rather than simply an MP3 player

yegon 12 Jul 2004 18:13:10 6,511 posts
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mal wrote:
That said, I got my hands on one briefly the other day and the UI was pants.

Can you think of a better system to access 1 of 10,000 songs in less than 10 seconds? Or are you simply subscribing to the "its mainstream so its crap" mentality so prevalent on here these days? Isn't blindly subscribing to said mentality just as a bad as being an ill-informed EA Bond game lover?

Lutz 12 Jul 2004 18:14:12 48,870 posts
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Mike_Hunt wrote:
And I'll give you an Xbox if you mention my name

[MH]

...

Mike_Hunt 12 Jul 2004 18:15:22 23,524 posts
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Lutz wrote:

Mike_Hunt wrote:
And I'll give you an Xbox if you mention my name

[MH]
...

[MH]

lost_soul 12 Jul 2004 18:18:50 9,372 posts
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Have you still got Lutz's Xbox in the back of your car, Mike?

eviltobz 12 Jul 2004 18:23:56 2,609 posts
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i'd say that its a combination of how gadgetastic and pretty it is along with the having your entire music collection in your pocket. one of my fave see-how-much-i-love-my-pod moments was when i was out in town with a mate and suggested an artist to him that he hadn't heard, so out with the ipod, wap on a couple of tunes and lo, he was a convert.

Mike_Hunt 12 Jul 2004 18:26:45 23,524 posts
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lost_soul wrote:
Have you still got Lutz's Xbox in the back of your car, Mike?

Yup.

[MH]

Sucram 12 Jul 2004 18:28:34 254 posts
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Whitey McCool wrote:

Yes yes yes! I was just about to post that. It was Ste whatshisname on Breakfast if i remember correctly (Curran?), i laughed untill my eyes burst he was that bad. I was staring at the screen to see if i could actually make out the word "STEREOTYPE" on his head. Whiny, sniggering, elitist, jesus christ he was awful.

Oh come on, that was great, it started with:

Breakfast lady: Gamester that's an awful term isn't it
Ste: Yes it is, but then again you did make it up
Breakfast lady: Err... well yes, Isuppose we did, anyway

Deleted user 12 July 2004 18:33:32

I'd have thought it would be quite easy to get a few of our names in.

'The Ipod has become so popular because:

1) Songs can be played quickly at the touch of a button, it's almost like Whizzo and it's playing.
2) Yes, there are other MP3 players out there, but, PJMaybe you want something a little more stylish?
3) An IPOD is great for when you're on a train, sat on your HairyArse bored with nothing to do and no one to talk to.
.......

You get the idea....

Spin_Dr_Wolf 12 Jul 2004 18:34:58 6,170 posts
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Clever viral marketing, nothing more nothing less. Technical/new technology products don't need to be good to sell.

ssuellid 12 Jul 2004 18:36:43 19,142 posts
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Mike_Hunt wrote:

lost_soul wrote:
Have you still got Lutz's Xbox in the back of your car, Mike?
Yup.

[MH]

Top Gear last night calculated that just carrying a 28g moustache in your car would cost you an extra £5 in petrol a year.

Dirtbox 12 Jul 2004 18:38:13 92,595 posts
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Post deleted

Lutz 12 Jul 2004 18:38:29 48,870 posts
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ssuellid wrote:

Mike_Hunt wrote:

lost_soul wrote:
Have you still got Lutz's Xbox in the back of your car, Mike?
Yup.

[MH]

Top Gear last night calculated that just carrying a 28g moustache in your car would cost you an extra £5 in petrol a year.

MH, I'd apply for a credit card for the extra fuel that brick is costing you!

mal 12 Jul 2004 18:38:42 29,326 posts
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yegon wrote:
Can you think of a better system to access 1 of 10,000 songs in less than 10 seconds? Or are you simply subscribing to the "its mainstream so its crap" mentality so prevalent on here these days? Isn't blindly subscribing to said mentality just as a bad as being an ill-informed EA Bond game lover?

It was only a brief play, but the problem I had is that the guy had loaded up loads of compilations. I don't know the compilations, so I went and viewed everything by artist, only to find when I clicked on each artist that they only had one track loaded. If it had a little display when viewing the artist list telling you how many tracks each artist had it'd be much more useful.

If I'd played with it more maybe I'd have found that's the only niggle it has. But on the other hand, if I found that issue within a minute, what else might I find. It just didn't seem so outstanding that I can't imagine anyone else implementing exactly the same system.

yegon 12 Jul 2004 19:47:11 6,511 posts
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mal wrote:

It was only a brief play, but the problem I had is that the guy had loaded up loads of compilations. ..snip

Ah right, I can see why you didn't think much of it on that basis. The structure is a little bit daft initially - like you say, it groups songs by artist and it all goes pear shaped with compilations. The first time I imported my music folder into iTunes, aaargh, I didn't have a clue what had happened. With a bit of organisation though, putting the artist name in the track name of compilation tracks, it all works out beautifully.

Deleted user 12 July 2004 20:05:26

Ipods eh:

Well their a combination of fashion and technology like everyone else has stated. Just look at the ads for it. Apple are just lucky that they were the first to create the coolish design. They do hoever have a history with cool designs for tech. The imac for example. The style and the huge storage in such a small kit.

If apple didnt do it then someone else would have first. Creative maybe with a nomad that doesnt look like a brick.

I think apple have to give alot of credit to Hitachi as well for their tiny hard drives that are used in the ipod mini.

There was an article in the economist a couple of months ago about how they expect tiny hard drives in everything from hovers to fridge freezers.

The hard drive revolution is upon us and the ipod is just the start.

Xbox anyone?

Edit: grammer

Edited by mcmonkeyplc at 19:06:40 12-07-2004

Nemesis 12 Jul 2004 20:40:34 20,312 posts
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The iPod has done so well because Apple recognise that the design of the UI and hardware go hand in hand and that the design should evolve in line with customer feedback.

They also promote, highlight and stock 3rd party accessories (Belkin). Work with manufacturers (HP, BMW). Cutting edge award winning adverts (Silhouette). Cross-platform software (iTunes) with an easy user interface and no setup.

But the bottom line of why the iPod has been a success for Apple is because they worked bloody hard to get the market in order and still work bloody hard to keep it so. You can't sell 100 million tracks on iTunes without some kind of planning.

It's also because the iPod has that Apple touch. It's.....very touchable. As all good tech should be.

How was that? Shite? Fair enough, then

st3ph3n 12 Jul 2004 21:40:08 2,833 posts
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All fair points Nem, but Joe and Jane Public couldn't really give a shit who apple work with or what accessories they sell on their website. I don't think Joe average really gives a damn about the UI either. He's the same user that goes to PC world and buys a PC because it looks nice, which is why the design is important.

It was first. It was and is good, very good. It was very well marketed. It wasn't cheap, but then it wasn't priced totally out of the market either. Well in the reach of that 20 or 30 something professional of the naughties with a bit of spare cash to go round.

Right time, right place, right product. Simple and effective.

Think I'll sky+ this. BBC1 tomorrow morning?

Menace 12 Jul 2004 21:41:32 5,887 posts
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I haven't seen the UI or held the gadget but from photos I think it looks pretty damn ugly.. (the mini is somewhat less ugly than the big one) - apparently I'm the only one here that doesn't like the "stylish" design..

Freek 12 Jul 2004 21:44:31 7,682 posts
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It's a fashion accesory, wether or not the design is good doesn't matter. It's fashionable so people want it, wether it looks good or not.

Whizzo 12 Jul 2004 21:47:35 44,810 posts
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Whizzo 12 Jul 2004 21:47:49 44,810 posts
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st3ph3n wrote:Think I'll sky+ this. BBC1 tomorrow morning?

Wednesday morning.

GrandTheftApu 12 Jul 2004 21:57:04 6,117 posts
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In addition to the large storage capacity, the seamless integration with iTunes is one of the ipod's major selling points, and is I think still unequalled.

oneiros 13 Jul 2004 09:34:33 1,877 posts
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GrandTheftApu wrote:
In addition to the large storage capacity, the seamless integration with iTunes is one of the ipod's major selling points, and is I think still unequalled.

Is it? Last time I looked, hardly any UK labels seemed to want to have their songs made available on iTunes - I tend to think it's more having a sexy place to put your illegitimate downloads...

CerealKey 13 Jul 2004 10:00:24 2,860 posts
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Well, I think it is doing so well because they advertise, to the general public, *shock horror*. While other companies seem to be happy just fighting it out and being the top of a niche market. Apple want their MP3 player to be the music player of choice for everyone and the iPod brand to be synonymous with portable music as the name Walkman was or PlayStation from gaming.

And their hardware and software work.

Machiavel 13 Jul 2004 10:08:25 5,964 posts
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It's an 'object of desire' - whenever you give it to someone, they weigh it in their hand (murmur on its surprising weight), comment on how beautiful it is, run their finger over the touch sensitive circle and 'wooh' at the sensation and clicky noise (stolen from Bang & Olufsen's Beocom1, I suspect).

They then laugh at the stupid headphones. So it goes.

Tiger_Walts 13 Jul 2004 10:17:09 16,674 posts
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Kruds, I dare you to 'hit on' the lovely Natasha Kapinsky.

G'wan, you know you want to.

ssuellid 13 Jul 2004 10:20:09 19,142 posts
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/waits for come dancing joke

EG on the telly, 14/7/04 talking about why the ipod is doing so well.... • Page 2