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"No technology since the VCR is as revolutionary to personal entertainment as the MP3 player."

Yes, cuz portable music was unheard of before it.

always glad to see Sony making those Betamax'

keep up the good work, Sony.

People have clearly seen the VALUE in the iPod over the also-rans. I would like to see some statistics on the Halo effect!

"portable music was unheard of before it."

yes, but you had to carry bunches of tapes or CD's to listen to sll of your music.

It's a good article. The guy gets what the iPod system is all about.

Yeah..you are right aside from millions of radios and walkmans..

Yes, cuz portable music was unheard of before it.

--

uh.. holding 12 songs on a discman vs 1000 songs randomly shuffled and/or organized with smart playlists...?

are you retarded?

This is terrible. Not that I don't like what the guy had to say (I love it).
But who the heck is Sean O'Neill? And what the heck is Kiplinger's?

These must be desperate times when we can't find news somewhere recognizable, or by someone who is known. But then, he seems like a perfect iPod-aholic, which is probably makes him worth syndicating by MDN.

LOL

Have a great New Year everyone... It's going to be Apple's best year ever!

"No technology since the VCR is as revolutionary to personal entertainment as the MP3 player."

Yes, cuz portable music was unheard of before it.

Certainly there was protable music before the iPod, the big difference is that the iPod changed the way we listen to it. Never before did the average person have such an easy way to create commercial free playlists, of the music THEY want to listen to. And THAT is the difference.

macnut you beat me too it. In order to create parity between an 80's Walkman and the first gen iPod, you would have had to carry around about 85-100 cassette tapes with you at all times.

So, no it's not the same thing. To be fair the real revolution wasnt the iPod, it was the compression schemes (MP3) and increased storage capacity in smaller form factors. Apple just did what they always do, make it really easy and stylish.

Too Hot!,

You might want to try doing a little research before bashing Kiplingers. They are one of the most widely distributed and respected business publications available.

Apple shares will split at 120 and end 2006 at 94. Apple comp share will be 11.23%. ipod and itunes wil control 88.57% of all music and video on the net. ipod 40gig nano flash will be next Xmas best seller, ten of my friends will have switched to the beauty of OSX, apart from that, things are looking pretty slow.

What's a VCR... welcome to the 21st century and TiVo

Too Hot!,

For over eight decades, the Kiplinger organization has led the way in personal finance and business forecasting.

Founded in 1920 by W.M. Kiplinger, the company developed one of the nation's first successful newsletters in modern times. The Kiplinger Letter, launched in 1923, remains the longest continually published newsletter in the United States.

Associate Editor Sean O’Neill reports on consumer spending and advocacy issues for Kiplinger's Personal Finance.

Bless us all, every one!

Thanks for saving me the time of posting that Factchecker...there are some good things about being older, cultural literacy for one...

The hyperbole is "revolutionary." Given that portable music was already ubiquitous the MP3 player is more of an incremental, though much appreciated, improvement.

The thing about playlists is another point of convenience rather than substance. I had access to plenty of music before MP3s and made plenty of mixed tapes. I didn't insert any commercials, either.

There are plenty of technologies and events that can qualify for the term "revolutionary" even when restricted to "personal entertainment" but MP3 players? Meh. Go ahead, let marketing hype drain language of all meaning. What do I care?

DCchesterUK,
Yeah baby! You got that right!
Booooyah!

MW=almost... "Almost" hit another all-time high again for AAPL today.

Some of you should talk less.

Especially those who start discussions with a post like that. And others who who question others mental states. And they who canbot be troubled to do a bit research if they've not scanned a newstand in the last 80 years.

Oh sorry effwerd. I got caught up in the responses and forgot that could be sarcastic. MY other 2 POINTS stand!

From the OS X.4 supplied Oxford American Dictionary

Revolution: a dramatic and wide-reaching change in the way something works or is organized or in people's ideas about it

digitally compressed audio was evolutionary, yes, but so great was its impact that it can be deemed revolutionary.

For those who bashed me:
thanks for answering my who & what questions, and happy holidays.

For those who tolerated my ignorance of business periodicals, thanks... I'll do a bit more research next time beyond just googling the article's author.

Cheers

don't say sorry to effwerd.. he compares mix tapes to the ipod and smart playlists.. pffft...

hello.. what's the Cassette tape equivalent of stolen music/file sharing?

bootlegs, something that hardly anyone did.. EVERYONE uses the file sharing networks.. there is nothing like the mp3 revolution (and the players that were built around it)

Effwerd.. I'm DYING to see your kick-ass mixtape collection which you compare to my iPod mini with Smart Playlists..

If everybody has one, then one can´t sell more to them.

Market saturation.

Everyone here who has more than one iPod please raise hands.

"I'm DYING to see your kick-ass mixtape collection which you compare to my iPod mini with Smart Playlists.."

Um, what part of "convenience over substance" don't you understand? There is no essential difference between mix tape playlists and digital playlists. The elimination of effort in creating those playlists is a matter of convenience not of substance. The point that was made was that MP3 players are "revolutionary" because they allow you access to commercial free playlists. Obviously, the point was flawed.

The whole hype behind this "digital music revolution" smells the same as the dotcom boom, as if digital music were going to save modern capitalism. The only difference is if this bubble pops it will only effect a small, relatively insignificant market segment.