Latecomer to Leader

Joe Wilcox | October 17, 2003, 10:45 AM

Yesterday’s release of iTunes for Windows really shows what a computer/software company can accomplish when the pressure is on. With Apple’s huge emphasis on digital music, it’s easy to overlook that Apple was a latecomer to this consumer and technology phenomenon.

Apple’s turnaround on music isn’t without precedent. Back in 1995, when the World Wide Web was just beginning to take off, Microsoft was focused on the MSN dial-up service that debuted as part of Windows 95. Already, the early excitement about the Web and browsers had started the shift in consumer interest that would later diminish the importance of closed, dial-up online services. In essence, Microsoft missed the early stages of the consumer Internet phenomenon. But, by early 1998, Microsoft had released four versions of Internet Explorer and matched or exceeded Netscape’s features. The latecomer marshaled enormous resources to catch up and pull ahead on the Web.

It wasn’t so long ago that Apple was in a similar situation with music. I remember looking at new model iMacs at a CompUSA in August 2000. I had been thinking about buying one for my mom, but felt that something was missing. It was: a CD-RW drive. CD burners were just starting to become standard equipment on Windows PCs, in part because of the groundswell of online file trading. At the same time, consumer interest in Winamp and other MP3 music players was reaching frenzied interest. Mac music player choices were skimpy at best, and Apple offered no Macs with CD burners.

The next day, I wrote a news story (this was back in my reporter days), asking whether Apple had "missed the tune on CD-RW drives." Mac enthusiasts flamed me badly for that one--several hundred e-mails accusing that I didn’t understand Apple at all and that CD burners weren’t important. One Mac news site quipped about a "slow news day" in describing my story.

Fast forward to January 2001: Apple announced the iTunes music player and that Macs would come with CD-RW drives. By October 2001, Apple had introduced the first generation iPod. Two generations of iTunes and iPods later, Apple debuted the iTunes Music Store in May 2003. Yesterday, Apple released iTunes for Windows and opened its music store to Windows users.

For a latecomer to digital music, Apple has certainly set a brisk pace catching competitors and, in some ways, leaving them to eat dust. The company also has done an outstanding job associating its brand with music creation, distribution and listening. Whether Apple can maintain its lead is an issue that will be hotly debated over the coming months, as more Windows music stores open and new music players debut for the holidays.

Those debates aside, Apple, like Microsoft with the Internet, has shown what a latecomer to a consumer/technology phenomenon can do in a pinch. Considering Apple's small PC market share, its latecomer success in digital music is no small feat.