What does this do?: Portable Music Player Revolution (Week 6, Chapter 6)

It's hard to believe that new generations of grade school-aged kids will never have to wind up the tape of a cassette again.  I happened upon a pretty funny video the other day that really highlighted how far personal music players have come in such a short time.  Some companies have found themselves on the outside looking in because they failed to stay in touch with technology trends occurring in the environment around them.

History of Portable Music Players
This is not meant to be a comprehensive summary, but rather cover the three main technology changes over the past 50 years.
In the early 1970s, the first portable cassette player was released.  However, it wasn't until the 1980's when the Sony Walkman was released that people really started buying cassettes and cassette players en masse.

Fast forward a few years to 1982, when the compact disc was released.  Shortly after, portable CD players were the new mode of choice.  The CD player improved on the cassette by allowing the user to quickly skip, repeat, and play their song of choice.  The CD quickly passed cassettes in sales over the next few years.

Finally, in 1999, the mp3 music file was released.  This allowed users to move hundreds of these files onto small mp3 players for portable use.  Although the mp3 was a significant improvement from the previous two, it was not until Apple released the iPod and iTunes in 2001 that the portable music player really changed.

Cassette player vs iPod 4 P's
In hindsight, the launch of the iPod was really the death of cassettes and CDs.  Apple truly revolutionized the Core of what portable music players were.
Product:  The iPod was a tangible good, but intimately tied to the iTunes library where consumers could purchase new music.
Price:  The iPod was priced at roughly an equivalent price to a cassette player when it was launched.  At the time of launch though, the iPod was priced higher than a portable cassette player.
Place:  The iPod could be purchased at one of Apple's stores, at another retailer, or on-line.
Promotion:  The iPod had significant influence on the industry because of its connection with the iTunes store.  Consumers could do in one-click of the mouse what used to take a trip to the store or purchase from a music catalog to secure new music.

Apple created a better tool with the iPod.  Customers value a product that provides ready access to the music of their choice.  The iPod offered a product that was easier to get, cheaper to use, and more user friendly for the consumer.  All those variables put together really make all of the old music players obsolete.  We should all be thankful the days of winding up cassette tape are over.