Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Dell's CEO dismisses iPod as a 'fad'
- Thread starter LaMerVipere
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
A fad? The Sony Walkman?
Pet Rocks were a fad. The Sony Walkman was a cultural phenomenon. It changed the way nearly every person on the planet listened and interacted with music. It was launched in the USA in 1980, and within two years most major record stores had largely stopped selling, you know, records. It sold 50 million over 10 years and 150 million units total through 1995. This "fad" sold 100 million units between it's 10th and 15 (or 16th) year of existence.
How many fads last 15 years?
The Walkman's era ended largely because it led directly into the Sony's more lucrative Discman. The Walkman gave Sony (alongside Phillips) the financial, physical, and market capital to carry consumers into the age of digital audio and the CD. Maybe someone at Dell would like to take a look at the company Sony was prior to 1979 versus the company they became post Walkman launch. Also consider the plausible bubble effect it had on an already existing CBS/Sony Records, specifically, and the music industry as a whole.
Maybe the explosive growth was just a coincidence.
Pet Rocks were a fad. The Sony Walkman was a cultural phenomenon. It changed the way nearly every person on the planet listened and interacted with music. It was launched in the USA in 1980, and within two years most major record stores had largely stopped selling, you know, records. It sold 50 million over 10 years and 150 million units total through 1995. This "fad" sold 100 million units between it's 10th and 15 (or 16th) year of existence.
How many fads last 15 years?
The Walkman's era ended largely because it led directly into the Sony's more lucrative Discman. The Walkman gave Sony (alongside Phillips) the financial, physical, and market capital to carry consumers into the age of digital audio and the CD. Maybe someone at Dell would like to take a look at the company Sony was prior to 1979 versus the company they became post Walkman launch. Also consider the plausible bubble effect it had on an already existing CBS/Sony Records, specifically, and the music industry as a whole.
Maybe the explosive growth was just a coincidence.
Lead Belly said:
You beat me to it. Saying the Walkman was some meaningless fad shows how (pick your fav term) ignorant/stupid/desperate/out of touch this guy is.
Lethal
Hmm.. the reason of the soar-away success of the iPod only in the last year or so is because the market is only just maturing. Digital music is still a niche market knocking on the door to the mainstream. Even 10 million sales of iPods so far doesn't compare with the almost 3 million Nintendo DS handheld units sold since it was launched in November.
He's only saying that because of sour grapes. And "fad" or not, he wants a piece of the action, otherwise they'd have never released the Dell DJ. Tell me that one is based on a long term stable business strategy.
As someone else said, NEVER underestimate the competition.
He's only saying that because of sour grapes. And "fad" or not, he wants a piece of the action, otherwise they'd have never released the Dell DJ. Tell me that one is based on a long term stable business strategy.
As someone else said, NEVER underestimate the competition.
How many updates and upgrades has the Dell DJ had since it's intro?
My brother, bought a Dell DJ, he has to pay to get the software (Musicmatch) to encode to WMA or MP3. He slipped without consulting me, but he was in town for the holidays. He will be the owner of a new iMac G5, iPod of unknown capacity and seller of a NEW (in the box) Dell DJ on eBay.
My brother, bought a Dell DJ, he has to pay to get the software (Musicmatch) to encode to WMA or MP3. He slipped without consulting me, but he was in town for the holidays. He will be the owner of a new iMac G5, iPod of unknown capacity and seller of a NEW (in the box) Dell DJ on eBay.
Mmmm.... Fads....
"This shaped-ski thing, it is bullshiat. A fad. And a stupid one."
--CEO of Rossignol, about 10 years ago.
Now, shaped (parabolic) skis are all there are. And Rossignol makes awesome ones (e.g. my 170cm Bandit B1's). That quote belongs up there with "640k of RAM should be enough for anybody."
"This shaped-ski thing, it is bullshiat. A fad. And a stupid one."
--CEO of Rossignol, about 10 years ago.
Now, shaped (parabolic) skis are all there are. And Rossignol makes awesome ones (e.g. my 170cm Bandit B1's). That quote belongs up there with "640k of RAM should be enough for anybody."
What he seemed to dance around without saying is that:
1) Apple has a history of innovating without truly cashing in on it. The great work that Apple has done in the past has not made them the industry leader, at least in terms of sales and revenue. We're pretty early in the iPod story.
2) Dell is a money-making behemoth compared to Apple and it would take many, many iPod-caliber products to threaten Dell.
Both of these points are true. The "one-product wonder" bit is just gamesmanship. And he doesn't need to be arrogant to think that the Mac Mini isn't going to sink him any time soon.
The comparison to the Sony Walkman is a mistaken one though, at least in trying to make his point. Of course the Walkman has been superceded in the last quarter-century. But the Walkman was a huge hit at the time, changed the way a lot of people listen to music, established a generic name for any portable tape player with headphones, and made Sony a consumer icon that it maintains today. If the iPod proves to have that significance over time, then it WILL have a major impact on Dell.
1) Apple has a history of innovating without truly cashing in on it. The great work that Apple has done in the past has not made them the industry leader, at least in terms of sales and revenue. We're pretty early in the iPod story.
2) Dell is a money-making behemoth compared to Apple and it would take many, many iPod-caliber products to threaten Dell.
Both of these points are true. The "one-product wonder" bit is just gamesmanship. And he doesn't need to be arrogant to think that the Mac Mini isn't going to sink him any time soon.
The comparison to the Sony Walkman is a mistaken one though, at least in trying to make his point. Of course the Walkman has been superceded in the last quarter-century. But the Walkman was a huge hit at the time, changed the way a lot of people listen to music, established a generic name for any portable tape player with headphones, and made Sony a consumer icon that it maintains today. If the iPod proves to have that significance over time, then it WILL have a major impact on Dell.
Kevin Rollins should put more energy into helping create and promote quality products rather than saying s*** about Apple. He's only trying to convince himself.
Dell Chief Executive Kevin Rollins said:
um, how many did they sell????? you don't hear about it any more because technology changes, and products evolve. what an imbecile.
Please make me a Xerox of this article. So you make a copy of this article for me.Lead Belly said:
But wait a minute, you don't have a Xerox, but rather a xyz machine. Why did I say Xerox? And why did you know to make a copy? Because Xerox is synominous with copy.
This is what is known as a cultural icon.
Now the Walkman. When a tape driven mechanism device was popular, people would say that they wanted to purchased a Walkman. It could be a Sony, JVC, Panasonic, etc. portable tape player. But the concept was a Walkman. And a great concept that it was!
Now the iPod. Already the term iPod is synominous with portable MP3 player with a HD. Of course the Shuffle may change that a bit. My point is folks already go into stores looking for an iPod, be it an Apple, Dell, RIO, etc.
The iPod has reached iconic status.
That is not a fad Mr. Rollins, you twit!
Rather it is a cultural icon. And don't you wish Dell had something similar?
Based on market share percentages during SJ's MWSF presentation, Dell is not competing in this arena. Yet, they have a huge portion of the PC market...
...maybe this just frustrates Dell a little bit?
Come to think of it, maybe they wish they had a deal with Apple like HP does.
Sushi
Sure the ipod is a fad, but it has also become a significant cultural icon. I have never met anyone who bragged about his/her Dell. But mention an ipod in a conversation ...
I place it somewhere between my Captian Midnight Decoder Ring (when I was a kid) and the Hula Hoop. Not quite as significant as the Hula Hoop. Because the first time I saw Sally Ayers using her hula hoop in the school yard (6th grade), well ... it rocked my world.
I place it somewhere between my Captian Midnight Decoder Ring (when I was a kid) and the Hula Hoop. Not quite as significant as the Hula Hoop. Because the first time I saw Sally Ayers using her hula hoop in the school yard (6th grade), well ... it rocked my world.
Kind of interesting that the interview started off with asking about the Mac Mini. Rather than dismiss a single product and stopping there, we have a case of a CEO going on to attack the entire company.
Sure the Mac Mini might not be a threat to Dell. (Heck, it just came out. It could be the next Cube for all I know.) But to shift the attention from the Mini to attack the iPod was a) an intentional move to capture headlines and rally the "Apple Haters" or b) a momentary lapse of judgment.
Tough to tell without seeing the entire interview.
And I agree with several of the previous posts about the Walkman not being a fad. I still have one and was just using it yesterday!!!! Besides, what "fad" goes through several revisions and gains momentium with each one?
Sure the Mac Mini might not be a threat to Dell. (Heck, it just came out. It could be the next Cube for all I know.) But to shift the attention from the Mini to attack the iPod was a) an intentional move to capture headlines and rally the "Apple Haters" or b) a momentary lapse of judgment.
Tough to tell without seeing the entire interview.
And I agree with several of the previous posts about the Walkman not being a fad. I still have one and was just using it yesterday!!!! Besides, what "fad" goes through several revisions and gains momentium with each one?
... and the concept wasn't from Sony in first place. They copied it and pushed the guy who invented it into a lawsuit about the patent he had on it. Since he didn't have a lot of money (unlike Sony) and Sony was delaying the lawsuit in every way possible, he was bancrupt (all the lawyer bills) after a few years and he couldn't afford his lawyer anymore. Therefore he had to give up and Sony won even though they actually broke the law. At least they turned around now and paid him some money:sushi said:
Article about it...
And this is actually only one of many cases when the patent was held by a little company or a single person and a big company just delayed the lawsuit for so long that the other side had to give up.
groovebuster
I was all set to dismiss what the Dell CEO had said... and then I watched the keynote.
To see Steve walking around on stage with that stupid necklace for that shuffle, I had to wonder... is this a fad?
I don't think it is, but that necklace is dumb.
To see Steve walking around on stage with that stupid necklace for that shuffle, I had to wonder... is this a fad?
I don't think it is, but that necklace is dumb.
It's a lanyard - it's not meant to be fancy. I don't use my iPod at all, but I do see quite a few people around my area toting iPods - it's definitely become a cultural phenomenon, if nothing else.cr2sh said:
groovebuster said:
I would read the article differently: there's no allegation in there that Sony actually took the idea from him, only that he'd had it and (apparently) failed to commercialise it. Moreover, in the end, it seems like he wants to go after Apple - now, what connection does a belt that play tapes have to an iPod (Correct Answer: as much as his lawyers can argue based on vague phrases in the original filing). Bottom line: at first glance this guy seems less like a wronged inventor and more like an SCO-style IP opportunist.
Ooops... sorry, I forgot!
Now that he wants to go after Apple he must be bad!
Do you really know and get what patents are about?
A little hint... when a company develops a product, they have tons of lawyers checking if there are patents that collide with the product they are developing.
The original idea was not from Sony. It doesn't matter if they knew before if there was something similar invented by that guy or not... A patent is about an idea and not about an actual product. How do you know that Sony DIDN'T take the idea from him because they found the patent accidently? And Sony didn't want to pay for using his idea, this is a fact! That's all what the story is about.
But hey, he must be bad... he wants to after Apple now.
groovebuster
Now that he wants to go after Apple he must be bad!
Do you really know and get what patents are about?
A little hint... when a company develops a product, they have tons of lawyers checking if there are patents that collide with the product they are developing.
The original idea was not from Sony. It doesn't matter if they knew before if there was something similar invented by that guy or not... A patent is about an idea and not about an actual product. How do you know that Sony DIDN'T take the idea from him because they found the patent accidently? And Sony didn't want to pay for using his idea, this is a fact! That's all what the story is about.
But hey, he must be bad... he wants to after Apple now.
groovebuster
Dell vs. Apple
There's an interesting irony here:
The Dell CEO states that Apple is not in the same league as Dell, but let's look at the companys by market share of number of computers sold:
Well, it seems market share puts Dell in the lead, but lets look at company by net worth:
Damn it. Well, wait a minute. Why is 7.9% in red? Let's see if you guys caught that in your responses.
Finally, to make me feel better, let's look at iPod vs. Dell DJ figures again!
Hmmm... I didn't see Dell DJ in that little paragraph, maybe that's because:
In closing, I think it's safe to say that Dell is ****, and since most people can only afford to purchase ****, Dell is currently on top. At least people appreciate good MP3 players.
There's an interesting irony here:
The Dell CEO states that Apple is not in the same league as Dell, but let's look at the companys by market share of number of computers sold:
Well, it seems market share puts Dell in the lead, but lets look at company by net worth:
Damn it. Well, wait a minute. Why is 7.9% in red? Let's see if you guys caught that in your responses.
Finally, to make me feel better, let's look at iPod vs. Dell DJ figures again!
Hmmm... I didn't see Dell DJ in that little paragraph, maybe that's because:
In closing, I think it's safe to say that Dell is ****, and since most people can only afford to purchase ****, Dell is currently on top. At least people appreciate good MP3 players.
