Woz says the iPod will "die out after a while" like radios and Walkmans

Uncle Woz is stirring things up today in an interview with The Telegraph, saying that he thinks "the iPod has sort of lived a long life at number one, things like, if you look back to transistor radios and Walkmans, they kind of die out after a while... they get real cheap and then they are not selling as much." That's certainly an interesting parallel to draw, since the iPod is unquestionably the market leader and the recent updates to the nano and classic weren't particularly overwhelming -- but we've got to disagree here and say that the metaphor doesn't quite work.

Walkmans and radios were standalone products that didn't really change over time, while the iPod is clearly evolving into a compelling standalone computing platform -- and it's tied to iTunes, which, hate it or love it, is the most popular content store out there. Sure, things could change dramatically -- competitors like the Zune are getting way better, subscription music could finally take off, and DRM is slowly going away (at least for music) -- but it's hard to see Apple getting baited into a brand-tarnishing price war or simply letting the iPod fade away without putting up a fight. We'll see, we suppose -- any of you willing to throw down some bold predictions?

[Via Wired]

[Totalfixation @ Oct 7th 2008 7:10PM]

It's funny how Jobs and Gates have to deal with their counterparts. I kind of notice that they are never around each other, Gates and Ballmer and Jobs and Woz, does anyone else notice?

[zoopthegame @ Oct 7th 2008 7:26PM]

Gates/Ballmer IS NOT THE SAME THING as jobs/iWoz.

Jobs/iWOZ is like George w bush/karl rove. Karl rove is the brains behind the operations and bush is the "show". Similarly jobs is the "Show" who comes out on TV iwoz is the real deal

[deyanimay @ Oct 7th 2008 7:31PM]

I don't totally agree. Jobs is not only the "show" but also a smart salesman. I mean come on how well do you think the ipod would selling without Jobs' expert marketing skills. On the other hand Gates is a genius while Ballmer is a pathetic salesman.
Here is the proof: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL4hyATkQ74

[Wiigee @ Oct 7th 2008 7:42PM]

eh, there is a difference between "the ipod will die out" and " IM GOING TO F@#KING KILL GOOGLE!" *throws chair*

[BobbyW @ Oct 7th 2008 7:48PM]

Jimmy Carter had Bill Carter. Blill Clinton had Roger Clinton. Jobs has Woz.

[IndiaTech @ Oct 7th 2008 7:51PM]

Jobs - Woz relationship is nothing like Gates - Stev-o relationship. A more appropriate analogy would be Gates and Paul Allen. Jobs screwed Woz for couple of grands (Google: Jobs Woz Atari) while Billy G was happily planning on splitting Allen's share in MSFT while Allen was battling Hodgkin's disease.

[Ridgecity @ Oct 7th 2008 8:41PM]

This is like Obi Wan Kenobi (Jobs) and Darth Vader (Woz). They used to be friends, now the crazy guy blames his old friend from everything that has happened to him...

[Paul Chapel @ Oct 7th 2008 11:34PM]

Woz needs to shut up and go take a nap. By his own admission, he would still be working at HP making calculators if it wasn't for Steve Jobs.

From "iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon."

"A few day after that, venture capitalists Steve had contacted started to come by. One of them was Don Valentine at Sequoia... Well, he turned us down, but he did get us in touch with a guy named Mike Markkula... He was truly interested. He asked us who we were, what our backgrounds were, what our goals were with Apple, where we thought it might go. And he indicated some interest in financing us. He was talking about $250,000 or thereabouts to build 1,000 machines..."

"Well, after Mike agreed to do our business plan—after he started working on it—he asked to talk to me. He said, "Okay, Steve. You know you have to leave Hewlett-Packard... So I decided I wouldn't do Apple after all. I would stay at HP for my full-time job and design computers for fun. I went to the cabana—Mike had a cabana on his property—on ultimatum day and told Mike and Steve what I'd decided. I told them no. I'd thought about it, and I'd come to the conclusion that I wasn't going to leave HP. I remember Mike was very cool about it. He just shrugged and said, "Okay, Fine." He was really terse about it. It was like he thought, okay, fine, he would just get what Apple needed somewhere else. But Steve was upset. He felt strongly that the Apple II was the computer they should go with."

"Within a couple of days my phone started ringing. I started getting phone calls at work and home from my dad, my mom, my brother, and various friends. Just phone call after phone call. Every one of them told me I'd made the wrong decision. That I should go with Apple because, after all, $250,000 is a lot of money. It turned out that Steve had talked them all into calling me. Apparently he thought I needed an intervention."

[Quix @ Oct 8th 2008 1:11AM]

I love Woz, but he is NOT a tech visionary. He was just the "build it" guy for Jobs.

I wish Woz would quit trying to predict the future - he's about as good at it as Gates. Which is to say, not very good.

[epoch @ Oct 8th 2008 9:44AM]

the ipod as a stand alone mp3 player may over time become unnecessary since it doesnt make sence to have a phone and a dedicated mp3 player stuffing your pockets. Thats why apple had to evolve to the iphone for ease of use. Biggest problem we run into is battery life, the more we demand our portables to do the shorter the life. most phones can play mp3s and have 3g or edge connections that work just fine. just need to make it last longer. ipod so far is a one trick pony.

[sinai @ Oct 7th 2008 7:10PM]

it also hasn't gotten any cheaper

[JAmerican @ Oct 7th 2008 7:24PM]

The quality has though.

Remember the iPod Nano 3G (screen twist), iPod Nano 2G exploding battery or the way it looks old after a week of usage due to the shiny backplate :).

I'm so getting Low Ranked for this :)

[happy_penguin @ Oct 7th 2008 7:55PM]

I beg to differ. My gen 3 40 gig iPod cost me about $500. The closest comparable product sold now, the iPod Classic has three times the storage space and it's half the price.

[Ben @ Oct 7th 2008 8:44PM]

PHAHA! Are you joking! It HAS gotten a lot cheaper. While they are still expensive they are getting less expensive then they used to be. Think about it, the iPhone for example, had a starting price of 500 or 600 dollars. they are now at 199 and 299! The nano's didn't used to start at 129 either. The shuffle is only 50 dollars now!

[JAmerican @ Oct 7th 2008 9:43PM]

@Ben

You do know that the iPhone was started at that superficial price point to allow Apple to mark it down like you're getting a deal. Also the pricing plans went up. So you actually loose over the course of your two-year ($75+/month) plan.

Thank God I have Sprint EVDO at $37/month with unlimited nights and weekends at 7PM, unlimited roaming :) (basically I'm on the Verizon network for free), unlimited internet, unlimited texting. Now that's a deal with my Treo 800w.

[Olu O @ Oct 7th 2008 10:56PM]

@ happy_penguen

you spent $500 on a 40GIG mp3 player .... ha, idiot

[CraigJ @ Oct 8th 2008 1:27AM]

@Olu: $500 for a 40 Gig player was the going price in 2002, but you were probably still in kindergarten, so your ignorance is excused.

[happy_penguin @ Oct 8th 2008 1:55AM]

Heheheh....

:D

[Liam @ Oct 8th 2008 2:42AM]

JAmerica, remember they didn't go up everywhere in the world. The tariff is still the exact same over here in the UK we just got a cheaper one added as well.

[kidcanuck @ Oct 8th 2008 5:05AM]

Actually, if you think about it, they are realistically a lot cheaper. The last meaningful update was the iPod video, after that, it's purely aesthetic changes, aside from storage or maybe screens. And realistically, for everyone who doesn't use their iPod as a hard drive or video player (and really, who does) they are probably not going to use more than 30g of storage for a reasonable library of music, so if you are fine with not technically having the newest thing, you could get an iPod that is, for all intents and purposes, the current iPod, minus a little hard drive space, for 150 bucks.

[Jonathan @ Oct 7th 2008 7:10PM]

I think Apple will combine the iPhone/iPod touch platform into a wireless controller for games purchased & played on the Apple TV.

[Backlin @ Oct 7th 2008 8:46PM]

That would be an awesome idea.

[Jash Sayani @ Oct 8th 2008 4:36AM]

No more innovative ideas.... Steve is Fired !!! Apple needs him no more...

[onamission @ Oct 7th 2008 7:11PM]

he has a point, and it will be interesting to see if the man is right. although the ipod has been around for years now, do any of you really think it will happen within the next five years? I mean to a certain extent Woz has a point, its kind of like a a+b=c formula that after time, things just come and go

[Le Big Mac @ Oct 7th 2008 8:35PM]

Depends on what he means by go away. The iPod will evolve, as it already has, into the Touch and the iPhone and next into more advanced computing than that. It will become so minaturized and cheap that you'll have a mac in your pocket, bring your own keyboard and monitor.

[JeffEd @ Oct 7th 2008 11:06PM]

Le Big Mac has it right. We may not know it as the iPod, but isn't that why the Steve called pointed to the phone and called it the best iPhone ever made? (which it's not but that's another matter.)
Why carry two devices when one can do both functions as well. The iPhone currently fails in this (IMHO) however we're only on number two, and essentially, model one.
And finally, with that out there, I still say the iPod has years of life yet, because as long as there is a decent sized PMP market, the iPod will be at the top if it.

[Jeff @ Oct 8th 2008 9:37AM]

Le Big Mac and JeffEd are both right. It's fairly obvious that Apple is only using the iPod classic to buy time until it becomes feasible to have similar storage capacity on the iPod touch – they didn't even refresh the iPod classic hardware this year. The iPod is now a mobile computing platform, not just a PMP.

[tbone @ Oct 7th 2008 7:11PM]

ya that's a pretty weak analogy uncle woz, maybe he just wants some attention

[deyanimay @ Oct 7th 2008 7:14PM]

No i think it is fairly accurate in terms of the ipod (touch and iphone excluded.) The classic and nano will die out just like the radio and walkman because the next big thing is multimedia and gaming devices.

[m @ Oct 8th 2008 1:44AM]

... or something the next woz hasn't even invented yet. "people will keep enjoying music" is the only prediction i am willing to make.

[KarlW @ Oct 8th 2008 1:21AM]

I don't know; I don't think iPods are equivalent to walkmans in their day.

iPods now have much more of a computer convergence than those kinds of players - they both use Hard Disks, so benefit from the same research being done in to SSDs. Walkmans and MiniDiscs used proprietary formats that isolated them in terms of R&D. iPods use proprietary software, but they support standard music files (MP3).

There is also the factor of the iTunes store. Most analysts see digital distribution as being the next big thing. That's certainly acceptable for music. It fits in to our whole 'convenience culture' quite nicely, whilst using existing infrastructure, and democratises the process more (especially with the steady fall of DRM for music). Digital distribution for music will clearly stick. DD is also uniquely suited for iPods, which have the most popular store around.

iPods are learning from the demise of these older technologies by opening themselves to advances in storage technology and providing a tailored store infrastructure that makes the whole product 'make sense'. Gaming devices haven't captured that, and no brands right now are strong enough to take on Apple and the iPod. Not Sony, not the Playstation brand, not Nintendo, not Microsoft, certainly not Creative. Nobody. Brands are everything.

[deyanimay @ Oct 7th 2008 7:11PM]

Fact check: The zune was always better just no "popular."

[deyanimay @ Oct 7th 2008 7:11PM]

*not

[aaron @ Oct 7th 2008 7:12PM]

Fact check: You're an idiot.

[deyanimay @ Oct 7th 2008 7:15PM]

Fact check: That your opinion not a fact.

[onthesubject @ Oct 7th 2008 7:17PM]

who the heck even owns a zune, and what part of the article even mentioned the zune? stay on the subject at hand..that would be great ummkay

[deyanimay @ Oct 7th 2008 7:18PM]

"Sure, things could change dramatically -- competitors like the Zune are getting way better"
Get some glasses.

[onthesubject @ Oct 7th 2008 7:25PM]

i guess people can't read into sarcasm well...what the heck is a zune anyways? psshhhhhh

[sinai @ Oct 7th 2008 7:27PM]

fat check: YOUR MOM

[zomg0t @ Oct 7th 2008 7:35PM]

Dammit sinai... I really shouldn't be ranking you up, but I can't resist!

[chris @ Oct 7th 2008 9:03PM]

Where did you get your facts? The zune has never been "better" than the iPod.
Maybe if you're comparing the current zune to the first gen ipod than I could agree,
but other than that I'm calling shenanigans on your "facts".

[deyanimay @ Oct 7th 2008 9:25PM]

Um.. Better games, built in fm radio, and wifi for music sharing. Plus free updates for even the original zune.

[Jon Doe. @ Oct 7th 2008 11:49PM]

Chris, You are a tard. Every aspect of the Zune is better then the iPod Classic. Period. Even the wheel that use to be good is starting to have problems on the current gen of iPods. I've talked to several people who have the classic including myself and they all from time to time get a few second lag/hang on the fucking wheel. Scroll and scroll like a madman until it finally starts working and then overshoot the shit out of where you want to go.

As for hardware. The Zune is superior in every category. Screen size, GUI that doesn't look like it was designed in '02....because it was. A GUI that isn't sluggish, and takes a good 3+ seconds to display coverart....verified that this occures on multiple systems. WIFI, Radio etc. The only things that the Zune lacks is a decent rating system, and software comparable to iTunes. I have yet to find a system as powerful as smart playlists that are found in iTunes. Zune's software has a form of smart playlists, but NOT remotely as flexible and powerful. But other then that. The iPod has gotten stagnant...as has Apple. And I would bring up the Touch as a competitor to the Zune if it wasn't for the fact that the tards at Apple used flash to boat anchor the damn system to....what are we up to now? 32...freaking GB? Pathetic for a system that is intended to be a PMP. All they had to do was add about 1GB of flash into the system for cache and drop a HD in there. But NOOO. God forbid that the system is more then .8 of an inch thick.

[l2jc @ Oct 7th 2008 7:12PM]

=(

[Hmmmmmm @ Oct 7th 2008 7:13PM]

Why did it say 0 comments when in reality there were a lot? Engadget...are you a PC?

[Ellianth @ Oct 7th 2008 7:24PM]

The link text has the correct number of posts. Are you running safari? :P

[Wiigee @ Oct 7th 2008 7:44PM]

are you a comecrialwhorefanboy?

[kevin_ho @ Oct 8th 2008 4:44PM]

Is this battletoads?

[gfxdave99 @ Oct 7th 2008 7:14PM]

Walkmans never advanced? Tell that to me in 8th grade when i upgraded to a Sony with auto reverse, dolby B and MEGA BASS!

Also Walkmans are still around ;) http://www.sonyericsson.com/walkman/

[deyanimay @ Oct 7th 2008 7:17PM]

How old are you? =)