I am here in Santa Clara getting ready for TMC's VoIP Developer Conference and while I checked my e-mail I noticed one of my messages is from a retailer touting an iPod-ready knapsack. This got me thinking back to 1998 or so when one of the TMC Labs engineers came back to the lab with a new UPS unit that had "Internet-Ready" proudly displayed on the packaging.
We thought this was one of the funniest things we had ever seen at the time and now the term "Internet-Ready" is being eclipsed by "iPod-Ready." The difference is of course is that the manufacturer usually has to change a product to make it iPod ready.
The point of all this is that at a certain point the herd mentality takes hold and we all have to buy products that comply with the latest trend. Marketers realize this and capitalize on the trend. Even the automakers have gotten into the act.
The world will get really interesting in my opinion when we can go to iPod-ready coffee shops, drive Internet-ready cars, take iPod-ready mass transit and finally in honor of this week's conference -- listen to VoIP-ready iPods.
We thought this was one of the funniest things we had ever seen at the time and now the term "Internet-Ready" is being eclipsed by "iPod-Ready." The difference is of course is that the manufacturer usually has to change a product to make it iPod ready.
The point of all this is that at a certain point the herd mentality takes hold and we all have to buy products that comply with the latest trend. Marketers realize this and capitalize on the trend. Even the automakers have gotten into the act.
The world will get really interesting in my opinion when we can go to iPod-ready coffee shops, drive Internet-ready cars, take iPod-ready mass transit and finally in honor of this week's conference -- listen to VoIP-ready iPods.
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