Hacker News Reader

"[Jobs] predicted that the improvement in technology he said the iPod represented would inspire consumers to buy Macintosh computers so they could use an iPod."

While the "so they could use an iPod" part is off, he was so right about the significance of the iPod and its ability to inspire/convince people to purchase Macs, and what that meant for Apple in the decade that followed.

View on HN

Well, the first generation iPod wasn't compatible with Windows and a FireWire port was required. The second gen iPod came in two versions: one for Mac, and one for Windows. iTunes for Windows came a year after that. It wasn't until the third gen that iPods became compatible with USB. In the fifth ten iPod (end 2005) that became the only way to connect an iPod to a computer. By then, the iPod provided more revenue than the sales of Macs did, but those saw enormous growth as well -- which is largely attributed to 'the halo effect'. [1]

[1] http://www.asymco.com/2011/07/26/apple-has-moved-on/

Reply on news.ycombinator.com