The iPod was the gadget that made it possible for Apple to change from a computer company to a consumer electronics company much before the iPhone arrived. However today, for the corporation that basically is the owner of that product category, the all-pervasive audio player has come to be less important.
Grabbing most of the interest from Apple consumers, as well as the remainder of the electronics business and providing even more earnings compared to iPods nowadays are the multifunction gadgets such as the iPhone and iPad, despite the fact that Apple continues to sell three-fourths of all MP3 players sold.
We will probably hear Steve Jobs and Co. mentioning the iPod, but additionally speaking more extensively about media, such as a more advanced iTunes and new solutions to watching entertainment in the living room when Apple holds a special function in San Francisco to talk about music this Wednesday, just like it has every September for the last five years.
As usual, starting a guessing game, Apple’s invites to the occasion this year display an image of an acoustic guitar, including an Apple logo, of course. New iPods? New streaming-video service? New Apple TV? Perhaps all.
A Web-based version of iTunes which would be able to organize and store all our music and media in the cloud without cluttering up and slowing down our computers is something we have long hoped for. Apple may actually take a major step in the right direction by way of launching a Web-based music shop, however the actuality of this dream coming true is probably still off in the distant future.
All hosts of their own online storefronts, competitors such as Amazon.com, Rhapsody, and eMusic already have several competitive advantages over iTunes.
As an option to provide users the capability to back up their calendar, photos, e-mail, address book, and other files online, for a $99 yearly charge, Apple introduced their particular online service, MobileMe, in 2008. Curiously, one variety of media not included with MobileMe is music.
The tried-and-true iPods still comprise a major portion of Apple’s business, even though Apple’s iOS devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch) may be getting all the attention. Making only slight modifications to the colors, capacity, and specs, in addition to incorporating video camera functionality into the iPod Nano, Apple all but froze its designs for the iPod Classic, iPod Nano, and iPod Shuffle last year.
