   
|
||
 February 15, 2005
Years ago, Bayer went to court in both countries to protect its trademarked name. The firm won in Canada, where only Bayer can label aspirin "aspirin"; in the US, the court ruled that if a name -- even a registered trademark -- comes to be used generically, it becomes part of the language, and anyone can use it. As a result, owners of trademarked trade names that are likely to fall into this category go to considerable lengths to protect those names. That’s why little ™ symbols crop up in print ads (and sometimes in editorial copy), and TV ads insert the word "brand" after the trademark at least once in every ad. And woe betide the editor who neglects to put a capital letter on Styrofoam or Plexiglas. Still, everyone does it. If you have a runny nose, you’ll ask for a Kleenex, whatever brand may be at hand. And there’s a pretty high probability that that device you think of as your "Walkman" wasn’t made by Sony, and therefore isn’t really a Walkman at all. I predict that, however Apple Computer tries to prevent it, iPod will be the next such generic term, in usage if not in law. I can think of only a handful of products that have had as great an impact on consumer electronics as the iPod MP3 player, and not one that has swept the world as quickly. The original iPod was introduced in 2002, and so far has sold something like ten million units in its various versions. This past Christmas, almost five million iPod Minis were sold, making it the Tickle-me Elmo of the 2004 holiday season. Few retailers could meet the demand. But the iPod wasn’t the first high-capacity hard-disk music player, and it is far from the cheapest. I can only speculate as to why the iPod has become such a success so quickly. One factor was that Apple, going somewhat against the grain, decided not to restrict the iPod to users of Macintosh computers. No doubt those owners would have embraced the iPod enthusiastically, but because Macs account for only about 3% of the world’s home computers, the device would have been little more than a curiosity. But with the whole PC world to sell to, iPod had an immense market to tap. The integration of the iPod’s technology with Apple’s iTunes music-download service also helped a lot, at a time when increasing numbers of music fans are prepared to obtain their music legally by paying for it. But overall, I think Apple’s timing was perfect. They brought to the market a product that combined style with ease of operation and very good performance (as long as you configure it properly). In the future, the iPod may be considered the quintessential Apple product. In the end, I think the legacy of iPod will be that it finally made the portable MP3 player a mass item. It looks great, it allows people to take vast amounts of music with them, and, above all, it’s cool! ...Ian G. Masters
|
||
|
Is iPod the New Kleenex?