iPod is more than a trend - Jobs
By Karen Haslam
Friday - November 26, 2004
http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=10274

Apple CEO Steve Jobs isn't worried that the iPod might one day be
considered "the Rubik's Cube of the 21st century", according to a US
newspaper report.

Jobs told The LA Times: "iPod is capitalizing on a fundamental shift in
the way people buy and enjoy entertainment in the digital age. I don't
think we're seeing trendiness here, I think we're seeing a product
that's truly revolutionizing the way we listen to music.

"We didn't sell 2 million of them last quarter because it's trendy, we
sold 2 million last quarter because it's a phenomenal product that's
reinventing the way people enjoy music."

The iPod might be trendy, but its more than just a fad, according to
the iPod professor, aka Sussex University's Michael Bull. He has
described the iPod as "the 21st century's first consumer icon".

Intelligence Group's Jane Buckingham said: "What Apple does very well
is tap into social trends without you even knowing it." For example the
iPod photo will hit a "sweet point with Americans, who have a desperate
need for documentation, for scrapbooking".

"It seems we're desperate to document our lives, to have photos of
every trip we've taken. In a world that lacks stability, it gives you a
bit of comfort, even shows you're a good parent," she explained.

But Syracuse University's Robert Thompson is less confident. He said:
"With a lot of pop culture products, if something becomes so much of
its time, then it becomes a parody of itself. 'Miami Vice' was so
incredibly hip on TV and became so associated with the mid-80s, but
three years later you couldn't watch it without bursting out in
laughter."