A Trip Down Memory Lane - Sony Walkman To Apple iPod

There may be some of you reading this, that canwires sticking out of there ears.
remember something called a Sony Walkman.The Apple iPod is a truly amazing product. It has
Now if you are not old enough, just ask yourcrossed the demographic consumer lines. You see
parents or even an older brother or sister. Whatpeople of all ages wearing these things: from the
you will see is this kind of smile come over theirteachers, the kids (big and small) to the senior
faces. Boy, does time fly and technology goescitizens, the athletes who manage to keep the
even faster.ear buds in place despite doing whatever there
You see, if you lived back in the 1980's, the Sonysport happens to be.
Walkman was the coolest thing on the planet.Now, don't panic if you haven't entered the iPod
Now if you did live back then, you probablycountry yourself. There are so many to chose
owned one of these. This product was the rave.from: the iPod classic, iPod shuffle, iPod nano, the
This product was everywhere, in the airports, theiPod mini and so much more. And lets not forget
malls, on buses, everywhere. You would see theabout all the iPod accessories that go along with
kids in the back seat of the family car, listening tothis. Though the iPod are so incredibly popular,
their own thing, using the Sony Walkman. Theirthere are still enough people out there who
parents would be listening to something elsehaven't tried one yet. And there are still people
(Dean Martin or Perry Como), which the kidsout there who have the iPod and haven't even
hated.taken it out of first gear yet. Why is this?
A phenomenon is a term that implies thatThe reason is because technology can seem
something is here today and then goneconfusing and despite its small size, figuring out
tomorrow. The Walkman was beyond athe in's and the outs of the iPod can seem
phenomenon, it was a mainstay. It was a stapleintimidating and time consuming. In fact, nothing
of the society in which it was introduced. If therecould be further from the truth. The iPod is built
was a time capsule created to represent thearound the reputation of Apple which is base
1980's, the Walkman would have to be included. Ifthings on simplicity and ease of use. Just like the
you were to not include it, would be the sameMac computer. The iPod is as easy to use as a
thing as discussing technology of the 21st centuryDVD player, or maybe even easier.
and leaving out the part about the internet.In closing here are some facts about the Apple
Now for the next generation of personaliPod that you may not be aware of. I am sure
entertainment devices, from the Walkman to theyou know this that the iPod is the #1 selling digital
iPod. I am not sure how you could avoid notmusic device. What does it take to be the #1
knowing about the Apple iPod, unless you happenselling device in this competitive marketplace?
to be living in that time capsule we talked aboutHere are some facts. Since 2001 there have been
earlier. So, you have seen them, they are110 million devices sold world wide. That is:
everywhere (sound familiar?). If you ask 1018 million devices/year
people to explain what an iPod is, you'll likely1.527 million/month
receive 10 different answers; and all of them will50,228/day
likely contain some element of fact and logic.2093/hr
Introduced by Apple Computers in 2001, the iPod35/min
is technically defined as a portable music player;Now if that does not make you go WOW, to the
and even this doesn't do it justice. Today it is soApple iPod popularity, I am not sure what would.
much more.It's no wonder, given these awesome sales total,
Now the Walkman was really for the kids, that isthat the question most people ask these days
who mainly used it. Not today and the iPod. It isisn't: are you getting an iPod, but rather: where is
not just for kids anymore. You see more thanyour iPod?
just kids walking around with these little white