by Gundeep Hora in Cool Tech Zone


You know, it’s entertaining to read about the next iPod Killer simply because you learn to appreciate the truly innovative products time and again. It’s not that all companies and products are useless. No, not one bit. It’s just that their idea of innovation around the ever popular iPod is silly.


Few days ago, Microsoft releasing its own variation of the iPod Killer grabbed headlines....again. How long have we been hearing about this? This time around, the news was passionate and more assuring than previous times. Then again, Microsoft’s unclear launch plans were disheartening, but totally expected. As much as Microsoft wishes, there’s no way it can crush the iconic iPod.

Follow up:

Microsoft may have the marketing budget to unreasonably promote the MicroPod, but it doesn’t require millions of dollars for marketing to be as successful as the iPod. That’s not how Microsoft is going to win the music war with Apple. Apple has a tendency to create brands, not products. In return, all of these brands have loyalists and followers. It’s a marketing hub with branches, if you will. What Apple has done is released an iconic product (or at least that’s what it became overtime) that is now mainstream. Sony, Creative, iRiver and Apple wannabees of the world combined together haven’t had much luck decimating the iPod, so I don’t see how Microsoft could damage it overnight, or even in the long run.


Apple is great at PR because it evangelizes products. How many companies grab headlines when they update their MP3 player from 1GB to 2GB? Exactly, there aren’t many, if any at all. In today’s market where consumer interest is divided between 10 different knock-offs, it requires more than advertising budgets and one time news headlines to be as successful as Apple with its iPod.


Mainstream consumers might not know who/what Apple is, but they sure know what an iPod is.