The iPad is the New iPod

Nov 22, 2010 by Matt | Posted in General 7 Comments

Remember when every company developing a portable music player called it “The iPod Killer?” There were plenty of media players, but all the general public wanted was the iPod. The one device made the MP3 player market, previously a “geeky” thing, mainstream. There were digital music players well before the iPod existed, but they weren’t something that most people would think about buying. Just early adopters.

I’ve noticed that history seems to be repeating itself with the iPad. There have been tablet PCs for years, but they were sort of clunky and impractical for most users. Apple took the concept and shaped it into something with a much more usable UI, creating something that the public actually wanted. So far it has been a big success, selling 7.5 million units as of September.

Apple is selling millions of iPads, and there isn’t another product that is even in the running to be an actual competitor. While everyone else is scrambling to build a product to compete with the iPad, Apple is already gearing up for version two. Even if someone manages to release something in the same league as the iPad, they will have a hell of a time convincing the average consumer to buy it over the iPad. Apple won the battle before it even got started.

It’s the iPod all over again.

  • Stephanie

    You’re so right. The iPod is to mp3 players as “Kleenex” is to tissue– they’ve been practically synonymous. And, you know, Apple’s success is bound to feed into more success as they have more money to develop high-level technology and a platform that guarantees everything they do will get press. I don’t really understand that cult-like loyalty they have, but whatever it is that’s going on, it doesn’t look like the competitors are getting near it.

    Anyway.. Matt, if you’re reading this.. I actually have a question about your WP125 plugin! I’m trying to add [CODE] onclick=”javascript:_gaq.push([‘_trackEvent’,’download’,’image_url’]);” [/CODE] to the anchor tags of the ads to get them synced up with my Google Analytics. Could you give me a hint on where/how to incorporate this? I just keep breaking it.

    • http://www.webmaster-source.com Matt

      At the top of wp125.php there’s a line (it’s commented out by default) that looks like this:

      //define("ADLINK_EXTRA", ' target="_blank"');

      Uncomment it by removing the two slashes and do something like this: http://pastie.org/1321608

      It will insert your tracking code into any ad links.

      As for the “Kleenex” thing, you’re right about that. And it probably goes without saying that the iPad is the same. You don’t hear people on the street talking about “tablets,” they only think about the iPad.

  • Stephanie

    Thank you!! Could you show me what it would look like with the target=”_blank” added in as well? Probably a stupid question, but I want to make sure I get it right.

  • Stephanie

    Really appreciate it, thanks.

  • http://www.seanbrady.us Sean Brady

    I think the trend of buying iPads will soon fade as the trend disappears, and as newer tablets by other manufactures are put out on the market.

    • http://www.webmaster-source.com Matt

      I seem to remember people saying the same thing about the iPod, both that it was a trend and that “better products” would marginalize it, but it hasn’t gone anywhere. We’ll see. :)

      Releasing the product is only half the battle. The other, largely overlooked part, is marketing. (Also, gaining appealing software.)