From Mobile Community Design:
We all know Apple didn’t do an ethnographic study of how people listen to music before they started. They had a “visionary” come in with the idea to make a mp3 walkman with a hard drive in it - that had already been on the market for years (see Nomad Jukebox). If they had taken the time to do their research first they would have found that people use Walkmans in complex social settings. Users are often distracted. They often use the devices to shield themselves from unwanted attention. They use it while doing other things (e.g. shopping, entering the bus, talking to people). They hold it primarily in a pocket or purse. They struggle with headphone wires. They make subtle changes to their music rapidly and then drop it back in their pocket. The IPod is not designed to support or improve on these things.
Music is a shared resource. Bands record their own music and then trade it. People lend CDs to other people to listen to for a while. People recommend music to other people. People make bootlegs and then buy the original if they like it. How does the IPod support this? It doesn’t. It puts barriers in the way of it. Ever try finding a song on your IPod using a standard Windows interface? All the music is obfuscated into meaningless numbered folders. Copying music between IPods via a cable (much less wirelessly) isn’t supported. You might say that this is because of copyright issues. Then what about the IPod Photo? I take my own pictures, save them, and then want to share them. I can’t even connect the IPod to a friend’s computer and easily give them a copy of my latest travel photos. It is completely unusable due to the folder structure being used. This isn’t about copyright, it’s about the designers not understanding the social nature of handheld devices that hold personal data. These devices are about social networks and sharing. While we're on the topic of legal music sharing: why can’t I send a snippet of a song to a friend, or a bookmark to purchase the song on the online music store, or download the song direct and wirelessly to the IPod? That would be visionary. …The IPod is a pretty music player that has an annoying circular interface and comes in small package. Apple created it long after other companies had been producing similar (albeit uglier) products. Other personal media players already offer superior interfaces and battery life than the IPod. So why does the IPod do so well? Firstly, usability isn’t the only factor that makes products a success. Secondly, the innovation at Apple appears to happen in the marketing and sales departments and not in the mobile design department. It’s a shame, because the marketing and brand power of Apple could enable the IPod designers to deliver truly liberating music players into our pockets - if only they would design them.
There’s another factor in Apple’s favor, which has to do with memes, or the spread of product concepts if you will. Apple’s main markets are musicians, students and designers. If you were going to copy someone else to try and look cool, who better to mimic – particularly when the product looks fashionable from a distance. Thus, buying an IPod is a statement of social status which spreads further each time a fashionable person uses them in public.
Mobile phones are starting to introduce music player functionality. Apple is likely to be overtaken by these mobile phone companies because they have the wireless networking infrastructure to facilitate media sharing and they already own our other pocket. Will we carry two devices when we could carry one? Only if the IPod can deliver a sufficiently superior social media experience. Think different Apple.
I'm reminded of Christian Lindholm at Reboot 7.0 asking how many of us had an iPod. A sea of hands. 'And how many of you have your iPod on you?' If I recall accurately, two hands went up. 'There you are,' he said, 'the iPod is not a truly mobile device.' He also expressed surprise that Apple has not given a text-based search facility to the iPod.
