Sheep to be sheared 1607

That's exactly it. All of Apple's compebreastors in this market seem to sit around scratching their heads, trying to figure out why Apple has been so mbuttively successful. "What's the scam?" they ask themselves.

It's really not that complicated. Apple makes a simple, beautiful little device that performs a narrow set of functions extremely well. More than that, everything about the iPod is simple.

I'd like to go off on a semi-related tangent now.

Compare:

I count 25 models on the Creative page. Apple has, um, three models. Creative tells you what the capacities are for some players on the main page; Apple tells you for all its players. Apple lists prices, so you can zero in on something at the price point you want; Creative makes you jump through various hoops to find prices. Hell, even Apple's URL is simpler.

I'm not saying, mind you, that the iPod's success is based in any large measure on the fact that Apple has a better web site. But the web sites for these two product lines provide a neat visual illustration of how Apple gets elegant, simple design, and others, well, don't. And it turns out that in this market, it matters a lot.

-- "Those who enter the country illegally violate the law." -- George W. Bush in Tucson, Ariz., Nov. 28, 2005