New From Apple

Presenting the “iPod”, a digital music player that can hold 1000 songs on its 5GB harddrive. As Steve Job explains in the video, this is a great growth opportunity for Apple and might just revolutionize the music market.

It would be too easy to laugh at the low specs of the original, 1st generation iPod. “Oh, look how quaint it was! 1000 songs? How cute!” But honestly, even back then everybody could project where the technology was going and how fast the product would grow to its current 160GB video incarnation. Maybe I’ll do the “Oh, how quaint!” thing 30 years from now, when I connect to the music collection of the entire world via the microchip that’s implanted in my brain.

What I find much more fun is how low-key this announcement event was compared to today’s keynotes. Small room, quiet crowd, subdued…okay, never mind: same Steve Jobs. But that’s the passion, showmanship and, uhm…”assholeness?” that made Apple what it is today. It starts at the top and trickles down.