Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, Humor, Apple, iPod nano, iPod classic
"Next Christmas, the iPod will be dead, gone, kaput."
It's the end of the year, a time of reflection, in which we look back at the year that was and what happened during. But The Independent isn't stopping there -- they went back and dug up some of the world's most famous incorrect predictions. And yes, Bill Gates' 640k is in there, as is Ken Olsen's "...there is no reason for any individual to have a computer at his home." Whoops. But there's also a good iPod one in there -- apparently on the iPod's release, someone from Amstrad claimed it a fad, saying that, "Next Christmas, the iPod will be dead, finished, gone, kaput." A few Christmases have come and gone since then, and of course, the iPod is still huge.
That list also reminded me of the famous Nano hater, Motorola's Ed Zander, who said of the iPod nano's release: "Screw the nano. What the hell does the nano do? Who listens to 1,000 songs?" He, of course, was distraught that Apple's then new invention might take attention away from his new Rokr phone, and despite the fact that Motorola later claimed he was joking, we all know the Rokr went on to not only become the USA's most popular handset, but it's the Rokr who has ads all over the place this holiday season.
Oh wait. We might be wrong about that one. Everyone makes mistakes, no?
Thanks, Jean!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
ChrismUSAF said 7:10AM on 12-12-2008
In that guy's defense, we all kind of thought that the iPod would go no where fast. I got the first one for Christmas that year, and it was great, but it was $400 and-Mac only. Watch the keynote where it was introduced, and pay attention to the audience: a sea of meh.
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Eriza said 7:36AM on 12-12-2008
"kaput" is spelled with 2 t's -> "kaputt" (if you mean the german word for broken) ;)
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Cory Schulz said 8:38AM on 12-12-2008
Actually, we stole the german version, subtracted the extra 't' because it's useless, and then we use it however we please. This is how the English language evolves.
Alex said 7:40AM on 12-12-2008
"we all know the Rokr went on to not only become the world's most popular handset, but it's the Rokr who has ads all over the place this holiday season."
replace "Rokr" with "iPhone". Maybe?
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antiorario said 10:32AM on 12-12-2008
Understand sarcasm, maybe?
:-)
Alex said 10:36AM on 12-12-2008
you are right. Maybe :)
Xavier said 8:04AM on 12-12-2008
Such a well written article. I love your style of writing!
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sockatume said 8:15AM on 12-12-2008
That "someone from Amstrad" is its founder and (until very recently) head honcho, Alan Michael Sugar. A.M.S.TRADing, get it? He's well known in the UK as our substitute for Donald Trump in The Apprentice. And yeah, he's not always on the mark when it comes to predicting tech trends (see the em@iler phone).
It's kind of mean to attack Motorola for the ROKR fiasco, seeing as it was a collaboration with Apple in the first place, and the latter were arguably responsible for some of the stupidities of that device (I doubt that Moto mandated the 100-song hard limit, for example) and failure of the concept (iTunes-compatible devices which weren't iPods).
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EMoShunz said 8:17AM on 12-12-2008
glad you wrote this. just today i read an article that the ipod would be killed off by this recession. pretty sure they are wrong too. how many billion does apple have in cash again? the recession may force them to add more features and lower the price, but kill it... no way.
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Maxintech said 8:20AM on 12-12-2008
Excellent quotes.
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TJ said 9:30AM on 12-12-2008
The iPod is dead! Long live the iPod...
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Bill said 10:06AM on 12-12-2008
Well, Ed Zander (Motorola) was right in some respects, wasn't he. Tough to make fun of him.
"People are going to want devices that do more than just play music, something that can be seen in many other countries with more advanced mobile phone networks and savvy users,"
Apple apparently agreed, and thus the iPhone was born.
Of course, people also want a nice dedicated music player as well. So the iPod continues to sell.
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Luna Lovegood said 10:30AM on 12-12-2008
It was my pleasure to vote your comment down. :)
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Luna Lovegood said 10:35AM on 12-12-2008
WTF?
Thanks, 1Password! :P
Ender said 4:37PM on 12-12-2008
Well, in one regard this might be correct. I've believed for a while that the iPod Classic is on its last legs and Apple will soon cut it in favor of the Touch
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Mark said 10:06PM on 12-16-2008
Apple wont cut the classic unless they find a way to give either the nano or the touch a much higher capacity. Which would then be beside the point of calling it a nano. With the iPod Touch what if people just want a dedicated music player, they may not need wifi or the touch screen or the apps, as i much as i love it, its very obviously not for everyone.
Dale said 10:53PM on 12-17-2008
My Classic gets a lot of love, even with my 16GB iPhone. I listen to it in bed overnight, and use it on long distance flights - it gives me my entire 15,000+ song collection AND fantastic battery life.
kenc29 said 12:27AM on 12-13-2008
Wow, Ed Zander's PR people need to tell him to shut up! I didn't know he dissed the nano, but everyone knows he dissed the iPhone. When asked how Motorola would deal with the iPhone, he infamously remarked, "how do they deal with us?" Of course, now everyone knows Motorola desperately wants to be rid of its money-losing cellphone business, since Apple apparently dealt ruthlessly with Motorola!
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lrd said 8:59AM on 12-14-2008
By next Christmas the unemployment rate could be upwards of 20 to 30%! iPods will the last thing on our minds.
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Josh said 5:08AM on 12-14-2008
LOL and the Rokr only holds 100 songs anyway! :D
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