Apple: Revolutionary

iPod Mini

I remember the first time I ever owned an Apple product, an iPod Mini, I was so excited about it that I always brought it wherever I go. It was back in 2004 when I got the chance to try out a portable music device that is very handy and relatively easy to use. Prior to the iPod Mini, I have always listened to musics on a portable CD player that is bulky and inefficient as I needed to purchase a music CD to be played on the device. The iPod Mini has totally changed my music listening experience. Other than its compact feature, I can easily put in any songs I want to my iPod by just connecting the device with my desktop and synchronize the songs I have stored on my computer with Apple's revolutionary software, the iTunes. To me, the iPod Mini is revolutionary in a sense that it is one of the first handheld digital audio players that is compact, has relatively large storage at that time, and easy to use. It was a very great first experience with an Apple product that I have been a fan of the iPod line to date; been using the iPod Nano and recently the iPod Touch. I have never been disappointed at all with these handheld devices. In fact, it has completely revolutionized my music listening experience to a much better one.

The popularity of the brand, Apple, has rapidly increased over the past decade. They have been both an inventor and innovator in the technology industry. They have invented several revolutionary products such as the Macbook, the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad, and have been really innovative with those. They never run out of ideas in innovating their products, always creating something that provides values to users. Their creations have completely changed people's life in a better way. Their products are one of the many reasons why Apple is a game changer in the technology industry. In this blog post, I would like to specifically discuss on Apple's software products as a huge factor that made the company such a game changer.

As I have mentioned, Apple has successfully delivered many products that become a big hit in the market, say the iPad, a product so innovative that it becomes the leader in the computer tablet market. Their huge success on their hardware products are followed by their software offerings. The iTunes Store and the App Store are the most successful one in my opinion. The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store that allows computer users to purchase musics, movies, and many other great contents on a single platform simply by just downloading and store them in their device. The App Store is another great digital platform that allows computer users and portable devices users like the iPod, iPhone, and iPad to purchase thousands of mobile applications and use these applications on their devices.

iTunes Store

App Store running on iPad

As Bhatnaturally points out on his blog post, the App Store revolutionizes the way applications are installed on computer operated devices as it happens in just a single step. Users can just enter their iTunes account's  user name and password on the App Store when they want to download an application, and the downloaded application is there on their device in just a matter of short period of time. Both the iTunes Store and the App Store are such an amazing platform that provides values to its users. People no longer need to buy a CD when they want to listen to a specific song by an artist or buy a DVD when they want to watch a movie that they are interested in watching. With these software, people are able to easily download musics, movies, applications, and many other amazing contents and put them on their computer device and other Apple's handheld devices in a very efficient way.

Not only that the App Store provides benefits to customers, the digital software platform also provides benefits to application developers. Plenty of developers compete in a competitive market and each one of them is trying their best to provide Apple's handheld devices users with the best mobile applications experience. The App Store is a great platform that has provided thousands of application developers with the opportunity to be creative and innovative, and at the same time gain revenue out of their creation. As Paul Miller points out in his article, 30% revenue from the store goes to Apple and the other 70% goes to the application producers. This means that application developers are able to gain a big amount of revenue out of their produced application sold in the App Store platform, especially if the application is very successful.

There are plenty of factors that made Apple a game changer in the technology industry. To name a few, their ability to be innovative with their products, the great retail experience that they provide, and even their brand name are factors that establish them as one of the greatest technology company of all time. To me, their innovative products like the Macbook, iPod, iPhone, and the iPad are revolutionary.

References:
Bhatnaturally. "Mac App Store: A Quiet Game Changer." Bhatnaturally. 09 Jan. 2011. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. <http://www.bhatnaturally.com/apple/mac-app-store-a-quiet-game-changer/>.
Miller, Paul. "Apple Announces App Store for IPhone, IPod Touch." Engadget. 06 Mar. 2008. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. <http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/06/apple-announces-app-store-for-iphone-ipod-touch/>.