I am amazed of how popular iPods are. Their spread is really viral, and so is the information about them. There are millions of sites about iPod, statistics regarding iPods, online stores and the famous iTunes with its online music store.
Solutions Research Group, this summer, published the results of a study concerning the digital music market that reveals trends that should put a smile on Apple’s face, as maker of the iPod. According to the report, the iPod’s marketshare has increased from 53% to 68% from 2005 to 2006. Creative Labs is in second place with a whopping 6% of the market. Go Apple!
The report also indicated that:
• Ownership of digital music players has more than tripled, from 8% in 2005 to 27% in 2006
• The number of men owning digital music players has jumped from 18% to 28% in the last year
• The number of female iPod users has tripled from 2005 to 2006
• Almost half of all Americans (45%) downloaded music one way or another, up from 31% last year
• 23% of Americans paid for a song download in 2006, up from 8% in 2005.
See Playlist’s article for more information.

Coming back to the need for an iPod, after some thinking I came to the conclusion that I won’t buy one for myself, because I can’t find the appropriate time to use it:

    1. When I move myself from a place to another, I’m driving the car. In the car, I use the mp3 player, so I don’t need the iPod
    2. When I’m at home, I use my computer to play music, I have some nice speakers, so the sound is good. As I live alone, I don’t bother anybody with my music
    3. When I’m in a meeting, I don’t listen to any music at all. I imagine the face of a client if I stepped inside wearing my headphones and started to talk very loud, to cover the music in my head :).
    4. When I’m talking at the phone, I can’t use the iPod (it is easy to figure out why)
    5. When I’m taking a shower, I can’t use it either
    6. When I sleep, I don’t want to use it
    7. When I’m out with friends, I can’t use it, because I want to have a conversation with them; this is why we meet
    8. When I’m at the theater, I won’t use it, because I want to hear the play
    9. When I’m shopping, it is useless, as the shops play their own music quite loud, so an iPod would do no more than offering you mixed tunes
    10. When I’m swimming, I can’t use it (obviously, especially that I use water to swim in)

Nevertheless, I imagine some situations in which an iPod would be useful, despite the fact that I can hardly see myself in none of them:

    1. Jogging
    2. Travelling by public transport
    3. Mountain climbing
    4. Fitness workouts
    5. Attending boring classes
    6. Skating
    7. Bicycle running
    8. Waiting at a doctor’s cabinet
    9. Working in an open space office
    10. Constipation

(for some situations above, a book can be an alternative to iPod)