An ecosystem of socks

I don’t often read The Financial Times on a day-to-day basis, but I picked up a complimentary copy from a hotel yesterday and spotted an interesting article on the back page.

It was headlined “Accessories at the core of Apple’s plans for the iPod” (here’s a link to the article, but it will scroll behind the paywall shortly) and talked about Apple’s moves to consolidate their hold on the iPod market by encouraging an “ecosystem” of accessories.

Now I don’t actually own an iPod - instead I’ve got an iRiver, which actually does more than an iPod (it records high-quality MP3, there’s optical line-in and line-out, it has an internal microphone etc), but it lacks two things that the iPod has. Firstly, it doesn’t have the street-cred of the iPod - it’s got a look and feel that only it’s mother could love, and the earbuds aren’t white.

But also - and more importantly in the light of the FT article, it doesn’t have the ecosystem of accessories that the iPod has. Everything from an iPod Sock (that’s a knitted case to you and me) to a BMW 3-Series - Apple have brought a number of major car manufacturers on board to build iPod-compatibility into their in-car entertainment systems.

All of which make the iPod a much more compelling choice, regardless of it’s inferior specifications. And it seems that Apple have learnt from the iPod’s example with their latest product, the Mac Mini. Although it was launched only a couple of weeks ago, already we’re seeing accessories specific to the Mac Mini come onto the market.

Filed under Clutter Management |