How Long Can the iPod Stay on Top?
Los Angeles Times
Since the iPod's debut in 2001, Apple Computer Inc. has worked feverishly to keep its iconic portable media player two beats ahead of the competition. Last week's introduction of the iPod Hi-Fi home stereo was the latest in a rapid succession of updates and add-ons designed to maintain Apple's dominance in digital music.
So far the strategy has worked, [but] some Apple watchers suspect that the iPod's innovation curve may be flattening as the company runs out of obvious ways to jazz up or shrink down its best-selling product.
Apple Computer is exploring new ways to market and sell music videos in bulk as interest in downloadable video grows. In a first, iTunes is selling all the clips from Tori Amos' "Fade to Red" -- a 21-song music video collection released on DVD via Rhino Entertainment -- as individual downloads for $1.99 each or as a complete package for $24.99.
It might have been a coincidence, but it still must have hurt. Sony last fall booked a Tokyo nightclub for the unveiling of its latest Walkman music players. But halfway around the globe in San Francisco, just hours before Sony turned on the strobe lights, Apple Computer introduced the business-card-sized iPod nano. Although the nano isn't aimed at precisely the same market as the new Walkman, many saw the confluence of events as deeply symbolic: Here was the Japanese electronics giant that had pioneered the portable music market 26 years ago taking yet another body blow in a fight that it should have dominated.
Finally, for the man who has everything -- except a job where he can dress casually -- it's the Commuter Tie from Thomas Pink. The bright pink silk tie has a hidden pocket on the back that's the perfect size for an iPod nano, and includes an extra loop to keep headphone wires from getting tangled.
Keeping wedding budgets in check is one reason couples are going the digital-DJ route. According to wedding-planning guide Bridal Bargains, professional DJs charge an average of $600 per wedding. A live band can run upwards of $1,000. If a couple has already plunked down $300 or so for an iPod or an iRiver, and spent hours refining their digital-music collection, it's easy to see why a DJ might seem superfluous. 
Here's a hilarious video (allegedly created by a Microsoft employee) of what the clean, beautiful iPod box packaging was (re-)designed by Microsoft.
