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Steve Jobs Biography: About Those Ubiquitous iPod Ads

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I don't think this will work. I mean, it's a music player and people still love their CD Walkmans. Oh, wait...
 
moofgoot said:
But think about it - if one iPod had cost $1million, they'd have covered their advertising costs after just 75 sales!
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Wow, impressive math skills...

But to humor you, no they wouldn't. They would need 75M$ of profit to cover the cost. Plus nobody would have bought one...

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iPod (60GB) -> iMac Core Duo 1.83 (first intel) -> iPod Nano -> iPhone 3GS 16GB (wife's) and 32GB -> Macbook Pro i7 -> Apple TV. Plus a lot of accessories: keyboards, magic mouse, etc.

Does any one know what to do with all these Apple logo stickers?

One thing that does annoy me is the condescendance from old time users of Macs regarding switchers. Would you like to be back in the 90s?
 
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It worked on me too, although in full disclosure I was in love with the iMac G3 that my friend bought back in 1999. Then I bought the 4th gen iPod and a year later the iMac G5.
 
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I bought my MBP after using and loving the iPod touch. This totally works.
 
Apple Ecosystem

The main thing that made this all possible was the tight integration of the Apple hardware/software ecosystem. It provided the PRODUCTS upon which the "genius marketing" was built.
 
It worked. My first, monochrome screen iPod was my gateway drug. I had bought an HP desktop that came pre-loaded with iTunes. I had been using Winamp but never even loaded it onto that computer because iTunes was far superior, so Steve's deals with PC makers to give them something new - real software instead of "trial ware", was also a stroke of genius.

My iPod got me into the Apple Store where I felt like a real outsider the first time but gradually relaxed and three years later when MS was going to push me into Vista whether I liked it or not, I took the Mac plunge. I'm writing this on that same Mac although others have followed.

The halo effect is real. Steve recognized what he had in his hands and used it to reach a new market. I was part of it and really glad he reached out to me in this way.
 
It worked for me- bought my first Mac a month after buying my first iPod! I was wholly impressed by the build quality, aesthetics, and UI.
 
Yeah, count me in as one of the folks who bought into the Apple ecosystem because of an iPod.

My first exposure to the iPod was a friend's 1st-gen. It was Mac-only, Firewire-only, and of course quite expensive compared to the flash players of the day. Me being a PC user, naturally I said "no thanks". But I was intrigued by the click-wheel interface.

Fast-forward a few years and I won $1500 from a contest, and decided to treat myself to a 3G 15 GB iPod. And wow, was this thing ever slick. And it just worked. I started seriously considering the friends who swore by their PowerBooks...

... and a few months after that, when the 12" PowerBook G4 was released, I bought one. And have never looked back since.
 
I've been around long enough to remember when Apple had almost no advertising at all. People would complain about this, but evidently the idea was that the products would sell themselves thru word of mouth for free.

The 1984 Super Bowl commercial was about it. And product placement. Like today, the computer in the background on a TV show was almost always an Apple and to a large extent still is, although sometimes covered with tape or something.
 
Worked on me.

LOL, my first mac product just 5 years ago was an iPod mini. Once I started actually using it for podcasts I decided I needed the iPhone... then the apple crack addiction started..:apple::apple::apple:

Thanks Steve! :D
 
If I was not an IT professional and made my living via the PC market and by PC I mean Windows based computers and Networks, I would have a mac as well. However I just can't justify buying one, when what I have works so well and I have no computer issues at all. I would like a MAC but it will be a while before I actually get one. My son wants one, I will probably get him and and see how it goes from there. However I have an iPhone, iPod Touch 4G, iPad and an Apple TV G2.
 
iBug2 said:
Then again, if you kept reading, Jobs was completely against at releasing iTunes for Windows even though it meant huge music revenues. Fortunately he did what he thought at the time was wrong due to strong pressure from his vice presidents.
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Interestingly, if you really think about it Steve had it a little wrong. He thought of iPods as "killer apps" for the Mac-- in other words, you would buy a Mac just to be able to use an iPod. He really didn't anticipate the "halo effect" everyone is talking about-- specifically, you like your (Windows-attached) iPod so much, you want then to buy other Apple products.

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GenesisST said:
Wow, impressive math skills...

But to humor you, no they wouldn't. They would need 75M$ of profit to cover the cost. Plus nobody would have bought one...
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Umm, if you sold 75 iPods for $1M each, you would have $74.99M of profit. :D
 
The iPod Touch was my gateway Apple product. Between my wife & I we now have 2 Touches, 1 iPad, an iMac, a MacBook Pro, and a Mac Mini SL Server. Considering that we're both Microsoft Certified Professionals, I'd say that the strategy was effective.

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Does any one know what to do with all these Apple logo stickers?
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I put one on the back of my company Lenovo laptop. Really throws people when they think I have a black Macbook.
 
End-up buy PowerBook G4 12" for my first PC using my scholarship in 2003. Then, iPod, iPhone and so forth without regret.
 
The iPod broke down the Mac vs PC wall

Yes, it's true that selling's iPods would also sell more Macs, but I remember when iPod became the best selling MP3 player, what I would tell my friends. For years there was this "PC vs Mac" mentality, with people VERY entrenched on their sides. The simple beauty of making the iPod the best MP3 player, was that even if you were a hardcore PC user, if you owned and really loved your iPod, it would be impossible to be an "Apple hater". Once you own a piece of Apple technology, and love it for its simplicity, ease of use, and intuitive design, you can't tell people you "hate Apple". Now you might take a 2nd look at a Mac, even though, yes, like a BMW, they are more expensive, but their quality of design and function make them more efficient and in the end, more desirable to own than the "best bang for the buck."

And like I tell my PC friends, "if you lose all your data due to some PC virus, how much did that PC REALLY cost you?":cool:
 
It for sure worked. I started off with an iPod Nano 3G, was amazed at how good it was, then advanced from that to a iPod Touch 3G, loved it, and moved to Macbook Pro, then iPhone 4. It for sure worked, and definitely paid off.
 
PC Guy

Wish there was something in the book about the genesis and the effect of the Mac vs. PC Guy ad's. Overall I have to say the book was just OK, and definitely read like it was rushed out the door.
 
daneoni said:
Yet the way i found about the iPod was through two of my classmates (word of mouth not posters/ads) who each had the 3G iPod back when iPods still cost £400/$400 and included all sorts of accessories in the box.

The 15GB iPod 3G was my first ever Apple product and the halo effect worked because i got my first Mac, a 12" PowerBook, later on the same year. Granted i had been lusting after a Mac since the 15" Titanium PowerBooks but the iPod finally tipped me over and i haven't looked back since.
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Sounds about the same time that I switched :) My college bookstore had all these uber-cool Macs on display (Power Macs, iBooks, etc.) and I would drop by on my breaks to play with them. It was like peeking into the future. :cool: That, and I had just reinstalled XP onto my Dell for the SECOND time in one year so I was pretty ready for something new.

Got the student deal for iBook G4 + third-gen iPod and the rest is history! Happy Apple user since 2004.
 
Gasu E. said:
Interestingly, if you really think about it Steve had it a little wrong. He thought of iPods as "killer apps" for the Mac-- in other words, you would buy a Mac just to be able to use an iPod. He really didn't anticipate the "halo effect" everyone is talking about-- specifically, you like your (Windows-attached) iPod so much, you want then to buy other Apple products.

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Umm, if you sold 75 iPods for $1M each, you would have $74.99M of profit. :D
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You still missing 10K... So you didn't cover your 75M$ advertisement cost.
 
iBug2 said:
Then again, if you kept reading, Jobs was completely against at releasing iTunes for Windows even though it meant huge music revenues. Fortunately he did what he thought at the time was wrong due to strong pressure from his vice presidents.
Click to expand...

Because if you have iTunes on Windows, you don't need to buy a Mac.
 
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Coolness
 
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