Steve Jobs is preparing to hold a press conference [reality distortion field test] in London tomorrow regarding the launch of a new product line for Apple. Everyone’s money is on it being the 6th Generation iPod. The current sales of iPod have been on a decline in recent months and with the holiday shopping season right around the corner, Apple is bound to strike while the iron is hot. Countless forums/sites/blogs have suggested everything from an iPhone-inspired design to a somewhat evolved interpretation of the Nano that does away with the hard drive and replaces it with a large amount of flash memory and a much larger screen. There is, of course, the possibility that both rumors are true and they’re actually separate products which will be announced simultaneously.
I’ve had a few iPods and I know they’re not perfect. Apple isn’t perfect either, but the iPod’s simplicity is hard to overlook compared to competitors. They are definitely the 800 lb. gorilla in this segment, though I’d be lying if I said I haven’t found myself wondering whether the concept of market saturation applies to the iPod. Once the market is saturated enough, they bring on a redesign and engage the reality distortion field and presto … market saturation disappears as hundreds of thousands of people abandon their old iPod in favor of a new one, or at least it seems that way. I mean, how many other manufacturers have that kind of control over adoption of freshly-designed product? You ever heard any hype over the release of a redesigned Creative Zen, Toshiba Gigabeat, or an iRiver Whatchamacallit? I haven’t.
I doubt I’ll be replacing my 5G anytime soon, but I’m still anxious to see what the new one’s all about. Any speculation is welcome … though all speculation should be over by this time tomorrow. Who’s excited? Anyone? Anyone?