I would have said no, as the same could be said for all portable music players at the time, not just the iPod. And because iTunes became a very restrictive platform which relied on users buying music in order to listen.
I'd say the popularity stemmed from the advertising above all else. The catchy 2d block coloured adverts with the white earphones became synonymous with mp3s and portable music. Even though the competition had superior devices and offered better audio quality.
R11CWN t1_j6igjn9 wrote
Reply to Did pirated music help the iPod become popular? by EglinAirBaseIntern
I would have said no, as the same could be said for all portable music players at the time, not just the iPod. And because iTunes became a very restrictive platform which relied on users buying music in order to listen.
I'd say the popularity stemmed from the advertising above all else. The catchy 2d block coloured adverts with the white earphones became synonymous with mp3s and portable music. Even though the competition had superior devices and offered better audio quality.