You can see their influence everywhere. Lately, a college campus or city road seems naked without a few dozen people floating around in their own worlds, tiny iPod earbuds hooked into their ears.
Apple’s critically acclaimed iPod advertising campaign – silhouettes of young hipsters dancing wildly against bright backgrounds – has arrived at a television screen or magazine near you.
Even Motorola has picked up on the craze, merging with Apple to create a new cell phone that uses iTunes.
Pick up a copy of Time magazine this month and you’ll see Steve Jobs, Apple’s co-founder, holding the new, color video screen iPod and flashing a lopsided smile to the camera. And he has every reason to smile.
Sales of iPods account for nearly one-third of Apple’s total income, and iPod sales are up more than 600 percent from last year, Apple reported for the closing of its fiscal 2005 third quarter.
With more than 15 million iPods sold since March 31, 2005, it’s easy to see in numbers why iPod accounts for almost 75 percent of the U.S. MP3 player market, according to CNN.com.
“It’s small, so it’s easy to carry around,” said Giselle Lazo, a junior nursing major. “It comes in handy when I take the bus home, walk to class, and I can’t go to the gym without it.”
Jessica Coombs, a senior elementary education major, said that she especially enjoys the iTrip add-on feature, which allows users to hook an iPod into their car stereos for a safe listen while on the road.
Another benefit is the size of the hard drive – students can fit their entire music collection onto an iPod, thus eliminating the need to lug around heavy CD binders.
Alex Savitski, a freshman advertising major, mentioned that it cuts down on CD wear and tear since CDs can stay at home. Depending on the model, an iPod can hold anywhere from 120 to 15,000 songs.
Versatility could also be a contributing factor to iPod’s success. Savitski added that he doesn’t just use his iPod to listen to music, but for a variety of other things.
iPods can also be used for academics. Users can download audiobooks or language programs and catch up on learning, hands free. iPods can be used as a data storage device, and special attachments can give them recording capabilities for lectures.
Many radio stations and other venues are now releasing “Podcasts,” which make previously broadcast programs available for download shortly after their original broadcast.
The newest iPod features a color video screen which can be used to download and play movies, TV shows and sports games. Apple’s Web site said it sold more than 1 million videos at $1.99 a piece in the first 20 days of the feature’s release.
However, not everything is perfect in Apple land. Apple is currently in the process of settling several class action lawsuits.
A lawsuit was filed against Apple’s recently released iPod Nano, and previously against the battery life of iPods. All iPods have a special coating on their screens for protection from wear and scratching. However, the Nano’s coating is much thinner than that of other models, and screens are being scratched at an fast pace, according to CNN.com. Allegedly, Apple knew that Nanos could easily be scratched in September before they released the model, but decided to release it anyway, CNN.com reported.
Those are all just minor hang-ups for Apple now because, as the sales numbers show, Apple continues to climb.
“I honestly got an iPod because I felt like everyone else had one and I didn’t … I felt like I needed to upgrade from a CD player to an iPod,” Lazo said. “It’s like an accessory you just need to have nowadays, it’s just like when cell phones came out.”
Chrissy Reese can be reached at christiane.reese@temple.edu.ting is much thinner than that of other models, and screens are being scratched at an alarming rate, according to CNN.com.
Allegedly, Apple knew that Nanos could easily be scratched in September before they released the model, but decided to release it anyway, CNN.com reported.
Those are all just minor hang-ups for Apple now, because as the sales numbers show, Apple continues to climb.
“I honestly got an iPod because I felt like everyone else had one and I didn’t … I felt like I needed to upgrade from a CD player to an iPod,” Lazo said. “It’s like an accessory you just need to have nowadays, it’s just like when cell phones came out.”
Chrissy Reese can be reached at tua07522@temple.edu.
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