Slate has a new article about the death of the iPod. They’re not being literal, of course. The iPod name isn’t going anywhere—you may have a PC, but non-Apple MP3 players just aren’t cool.
The point is that technology combining the most wanted elements is destined to win out of dedicated devices. Amazon’s Kindle book reader and a mp3 player that is only an MP3 player won’t stand a chance against reasonably priced technology that incorporates the same features.
The new iPod Nano is a case in point. Once upon a time the primitive iPod was a music player. It played music. Now the device includes radio access, a camera, and a pedometer. And you know Internet access is coming soon.
Who’s going to go out and buy a pedometer now that their iPod Nano does it for them? Who’s going to buy a point-and-shoot camera once a phone can take the same quality shots? Someone will, but the masses won’t.
The point is that technology combining the most wanted elements is destined to win out of dedicated devices. Amazon’s Kindle book reader and a mp3 player that is only an MP3 player won’t stand a chance against reasonably priced technology that incorporates the same features.
The new iPod Nano is a case in point. Once upon a time the primitive iPod was a music player. It played music. Now the device includes radio access, a camera, and a pedometer. And you know Internet access is coming soon.
Who’s going to go out and buy a pedometer now that their iPod Nano does it for them? Who’s going to buy a point-and-shoot camera once a phone can take the same quality shots? Someone will, but the masses won’t.
