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Me too. After all, the iPod is really just a highly sophisticated beeber like device (cheap on the streets of Tiajunna).

The iPod sucess is going to be difficult for Apple to substain. Besides the iPod, Apple doesn't have anything else that is growing. I have an iPod myself (1st generation) and using it in a car is kind of a pain. I did a road trip from California to Montana over the 4th of July weekend and got a chance to listen to a good number of the songs burnt onto iPod - there are about 40 CDs worth. Put it on random pick and let the hours slip by. There were some numbers played that I'd forgotten about. Compare that to a 6 CD changer. Using that round dial while driving is downright distracting.

Much superior and much simpler carrying around one's music collection without hassle. With a bigger hard drive, one will be able to carry around books on tape, and even movies to plug into a local device - be it someone else's house, or the back seat of the minivan for the kids to watch.

That said, iPod like devices will be commodifed soon. It's inevitable. Does anybody think that General Motors, Toyota or Ford is going let some company get a royalty stream going on their products? I don't. It would surprise me greatly if something wasn't in the works as we speak.

As for Steve Jobs, he just another guy. His strengths are that he understands that being nice doesn't get the job done, and that underneath the facade, he knows that he is just another guy. Big ego thogh :-)

After all, the iPod is really just a highly sophisticated beeber like device (cheap on the streets of Tiajunna)

Yeah -- I was stuned how inexpensive it was...