Apple’s Impact Through Networks
It is no secret that Apple Inc. has changed consumer perceptions of portable electronics. With the return of Steve Jobs to the company, a new era of portable electronics was ushered in with the release of the first iPod in 2001. Although the iPod was certainly not the first digital music player on the market, Steve Jobs’ memorable pursuit of perfection in his company’s products resulted in the iPod becoming the gold standard of digital music players. The styling of the iPod is iconic, bringing with it elements of design from other Apple products such as high-quality materials, easy and intuitive navigation, and a uni-body design without a removable battery. Apple also flawlessly integrated the iPod and their new online music store, iTunes, for an incredibly easy user experience. The result was a sleek, stylish, and modern product that appealed to the masses.
So how did Apple lure in millions of consumers? Certainly the design elements of Apple products played a prominent role, but as an avid digital music player user when I was younger, I noticed a snowball effect of iPod use as the years progressed. People who previously decided that they would not purchase an iPod because of the high price, or because they didn’t have a Mac, slowly changed their minds as more of their friends purchased iPods. This phenomenon can be explained by the unit on decision making & networks from class; people receive direct and indirect benefits from following others. In this case, potential iPod users receive a direct benefit from following others by having access to others’ music on iTunes. In this sense, multiple users of iPods and iTunes can pool their music and therefore pay less money. There is also the indirect effect of current iPod users having more information. Although another digital music player may have received higher reviews, the fact that one would see the vast majority of people using iPods as opposed to other digital music players suggests that iPods are a good choice, otherwise these people would not have purchased them.
With the passing of Steve Jobs, one can only hope that the vision of Apple Inc. will not be lost. Steve’s aspiration of an increasingly connected world through the sharing of information was realized through his time with Apple. Now that Apple products are household names throughout the world, here is to hoping that Apple continues to innovate and lead the consumer electronics industry with the sleek, iconic, and user-friendly products that Apple is famous for.