The iPod didn’t have it easy. In fact, it was perhaps the most difficult decision Steve Jobs had to do when he returned to Apple in the late 90s. Especially since the first decisions after his return were to cancel the more than 200 projects that the Apple of Sculley, Spindler and Amelio insisted on launching on the market – to focus only on flagship products. But of course, who could be precise enough to guess which key products it would be?
Maybe the only one who could do that was Steve Jobs. The first product was clear: that another genius named Jonathan Ive he had some of the craziest, most absurd ideas for a new computer that any other CEO in the industry would ever agree to. But Jobs was enthralled by the idea, and he staked it all on one card – named the iMac G3: the first big change from Apple as we know it today.
The iMac has been a tremendous boost in getting the brand back into market conversations. Apple was valuable again, and eyes were now on a Steve Jobs with his position fully recovered, and on this madman’s next move. It couldn’t be a new version of the Mac, and they didn’t have many more options in an Apple that still called itself “Computer” but wanted to be different. It looks like you had to think more differently never.
Hint: it’s not a Mac
Steve Jobs didn’t trust mobile devices, even more so after fiascos like the Newton, which still seemed pulsate in a drawer in Cupertino, like the revealing heart of Edgar Allan Poe. However, three important points have been reached which would give birth to the new iPod: the growing boom in the world of technology for MP3 (where breeding stock of dubious quality already existed on the market), music as such (that everyone loves) and a technological turning point which allowed a certain miniaturization with the build quality they had learned creating the iMac. I took the project so personally that he even imagined the designs. For Jobs, the iPod played everything on a single card.
The Newton was still throbbing in a Cuperino drawer – like the telling heart of Edgar Allan Poe – but you had to take a risk for a new mobile device
the technical research and development effort getting something like the iPod at the time, in a family of products without taking over the market, could have taken Apple out of the second coming bankrupt jobs. However, it strengthened her. I’m not just talking about brand presence, financially or learning about the production capacity of future products.
i mean all people who at the time bought an iPod then he discovered Apple. To this Apple, the one who created with an ambition without measure – unprecedented, too – and who knew how to attract so many people to the brand. I mean all of you who started with an iPod and are now reading this from the latest Mac Studio, iPad Air or mighty iPhone 13 Pro Max. You saved Apple in a turn that the company itself had lost since the Apple I: the sense of community and the commitment to brave products.
In this week’s podcast episode, Eduardo and I talked about the iPod road for the trajectory of Apple, for the opening – finally – of the doors of Apple Park to the first developers who will arrive at WWDC22… and for all the novelties of the week, which are not rare.
you can hear The Applesphere Talks from your favorite podcast app, like Apple Podcasts, iVoox or Spotify. If you want to participate in the live recordingevery Tuesday we are on the Webedia channel of Twitch, elstream, at 7:30 p.m. (peninsular english time).
Picture | Photo by Christine Sandu
