背包走天涯之纽约

The Infatuation with iPod

I knew iPod is a big market leader before I came over. I couldn't be more wrong because iPod doesn't occupy a large portion of the market. It is the market. I can't see the presence of Creative at all in New York. The big electronic chain stores are not selling them. There are no advertisements. People are not using them. When I asked my colleagues whether they knew anything about Creative and iRiver I got blank faces. And before I could start giving them an education in other mp3 brands they quickly moved on to other topics. They are not being unfriendly, they are just not in the least interested in anything else but iPod.

Owning an iPod here is almost as essential as owning a car here (yes every person has a car). David has got a 30GB white, Brian has a 30GB black and Jeff just got his 4GB black nano. My silver, out-of-production 4GB mini is the oldest here and I can't help but feel that it creates a common bonding among us. There were times when we would sit around in the office discussing the beauty and flaws of Apple products. When Apple announced iPhone, Steve Jobs had us glued to his recorded presentation in San Francisco and you could see us drooling over the new gadget. During Christmas Brian handed out iPods like the Chinese would give out Ang Baos. His 8 year old daughter got a pink mini which makes her iPod ranking equivalent to mine, his wife got a 30GB and his 16 year old son got a 30GB video. The truth is, America is in love with iPod, and a very deep one it is.

David recently launched an "Innovation Client can Feel" campaign and under this project he would try to get people in the company to have a taste of Web 2.0 software such as Digg, Flickr, Yahoo Widgets, RSS, Podcasts, Second Life and such. The people selected would be known as "Innovation Champions" and each of them would get a 30GB black iPod Video free of charge. Imagine the delight on their faces. The only people that wouldn't be so affected are the directors and managers because they can afford tons of iPods anyway hahaha.

I can already hear the crowd at the stores. iPhone anyone?

posted by wayne @ 6:57 PM