100 million iPods later

Apple recently announced that they had sold 100 million iPods, claiming that has become the fastest selling music device in history.  While this is a little misleading (I'm fairly confident far more personal CD players were sold, but under a variety of names by a number of manufacturers), it's still a staggering statistic.  The success of the iPod has undoubtedly affected Apple's other pursuits, boosting its sales of its desktop computers through exposure and familiarity with the brand, and even financially supporting research and development in both its desktop models and new technologies like the forthcoming iPhone.  I'd like to take a moment, though, to reflect on the little-discussed bumpy road that the iPod has taken to get to its current state.

Let me preface this by saying that I love Apple and its products.  I'm a true mac convert.  I worked on PCs (and still do at work and other times when I'm forced to) since my father gave me an old x286 with an orange monitor when I was nine.  I bought my first PC on my own when I was 12, spending all my savings on it, and continued purchasing new ones through all the Wing Commander series, owning my own web design company, and four years of college.  But when I first started using my 12 inch powerbook g4, I knew I wouldn't go back.  I've proclaimed the greatness of the Apple product ever since, and am eagerly anticipating the release of Leopard and the next generation of the 24 inch iMac, which I'll probably buy the day it comes out.

But let's get back to those 100 million iPods.  I've been a little perturbed by how Apple went about its entire iPod endeavor.  For a company that prides itself on such high quality products that "just work," the first generation iPod had some pretty big problems.  Oh they were great out of the box.  Their sleek design and simple interface made them an instant hit.  How did we live our lives before this wonderful new invention?  How did we ever bear listening to music with those clunky CD player things?  How did we workout without an endless mix of our favorite jams strapped to our arm?

A couple months pass.  Your battery doesn't last quite as long as it used to, and the iPod seems to take a little while longer to charge.  No big deal.

A couple more months.  Every now and then your iPod will randomly freeze, and you can't turn it off or reset it until the battery has worn itself out.  But this is a pretty rare occurrence.

A couple more months, and by now you have to charge your iPod overnight just to get through a good workout without your battery dying.  If you own an iPod mini, your probably don't even make it through that last mile on the trail.

By the time you've had your iPod a full year (actually, more likely a year and a day), your warranty is expired and your iPod hardly functions.  Apple puts up a message on its web site that lithium batteries, by their very nature, gradually lose their capacity over time.  And iPods don't  come with replaceable batteries.  If by some miracle your iPod's battery does still work, its hard drive has most likely failed and you've lost all the music stored on it at least once.

Unfortunately for iPod owners, such incidents were neither isolated nor rare.  In fact, I don't know a single person who owned a first generation iPod that didn't have it fail in less than a year and a half.  At over $300 for a regular iPod, I'm pretty sure everyone was planning on getting more than a year's worth of use out of it.  Apple never recognized these glaring faults publicly, though, and did absolutely nothing to address them (and if so, perhaps someone can enlighten me as to how).  I take that back.  A couple friends were offered a 10% discount on a new iPod when the "genius bar" employee told them that their old one was caput.  10%???  Apple gives a larger discount for educational purchases on some of its new computers, where the mark-up is considerably less.

I'd venture to guess that if Apple's first generation iPods hadn't all clunked out after a year, they would still be well under the 100 million mark.  It's one thing to buy a new iPod because you want to upgrade to the new features, it's an entirely different one when you are forced to buy a new one because your old one no longer works and is irreparable.  Maybe that was Apple's plan all along.  Of course, it's a testament to the power of a product that its buyers are willing to shell out another $300 for a slightly better version of something that broke after a year of regular use.

I'm now the happy owner of a second generation iPod shuffle, and I rarely if ever go running without it.  It's a beautifully designed product.  The increased reliance on flash-based memory is probably also aiding the reliability, as far fewer moving parts means fewer things can go wrong.  I only would have liked to have seen Apple be more proactive in addressing the concerns of those brave enough to purchase their first generation their iPod, and to have offered better customer support for a product that was obviously intrinsically flawed.  Such concerns dissuade me from purchasing the first generation iPhone, which looks to be an amazing and revolutionary piece of technology.  But Apple's track record for honoring any type of commitment to a product after its meager one year warranty is suspect.  With a piece as intricate as the iPhone, I'll let someone else work out the kinks.  I've learned my lesson.

And when I do purchase my second generation, oh-so-amazing iPhone, I'll still buy the extended warranty. 

Comments

[Brett Swanson]

My Ipod mini has actually worked rather well. Even though it wasn't totally charged, it lasted me for about 12 hours on the ol' bus (which was a beautiful thing) and I've never really had any problems with it in terms of crashing and whatnots. And, of course, it's not as though I've treated it particularly well...