The invention of the Ipod and it's impact on society Research Paper

The invention of the Ipod and it's impact on society - Research Paper Example This study explores the social context in which Apple’s iPod has gained significance in the lives of millions of users. The iPod as a technological and commercial success In October 2001, computer manufacturer Apple launched the iPod, a pocket-sized gadget that plays music that may be listened to by its wearer even while the latter is mobile. The iPod’s introductory price at $399 was considered by its critics to be a major problem since it was priced higher than many of the other music players it was competing with at the time. More importantly, the iPod was released into the market just after 9/11 and at the height of the technology slump (Economist, 2004). Instead, the iPod had instead proven to be the most popular, best-selling, and concededly the most fashionable music-player in the market. In nearly all public places, people could be seen with the characteristic white earphone leads leading to the device. The earliest models were built with a 5 gigabyte hard disk t hat could store up to 1,000 songs; the later models had upwards of 40 gigabytes and a storage capacity of 10,000 songs, when other MP3 players could only store dozens of selections at the most. Coupled with the iPod’s capacious memory is Apples’ iTunes that allows music to be downloaded at less than a dollar per track. Techno buffs point out that while the iPod is essentially a fad that may be replaced by other devises and models, it is the first music-playing device to make use of hard disk technology. In the next few years after the iPod was introduced in the market, its immediate converts belonged to the twenty- and thirty-something status-conscious young adults (Bulik, 2008), and eventually to the teen-agers whose parents could spend the nearly four hundred dollars for one device per child. These meant not only the students in college, but also their professors who used their units not only to record music, but also digital lectures and talks that they would listen to in their free time (Levy, et al, 2004). More recently, and particularly since less costly models such as the iPod Nano ($149) had been marketed, there had been growing applications for the very young. Today, nearly one-third of digital media users are ten years old and below, and more than half of them prefer the iPod (Bulik, 2008). They usually benefit from hand-me-down video iPod units when their parents switch to newer models, but which still work well. At the same time, content directed at this age group have been developed by Disney, such as customized selections from Hannah Montana, High School Muscial and Pirates of the Carribean. Other media companies are following suit. The early success stature of the iPod culture was further enhanced when celebrities began enthusing over their own units, such as songwriter Denise Rich, Will Smith who called it â€Å"the gadget of the century,† and Gwyneth Paltrow who praised iPod in Vogue and coincidentally (or not) named her b aby Apple. The device and its signature white earplug leads were seen in many movies and TV shows of the early 2000s as a common feature of daily life (Levy, et al., 2004). During the early years, the iPod had been most conspicuous in big cities and college campuses, and were patronized by students and professionals such as judges (Levy, et al., 2004). More recently, its use had spread even to unconventional locations (for a digital music player) and for reasons other than