After being out sick for the greater part of last week, I was browsing the financial news and blogs to see everything I had missed during my tryst with the tissue box, when I came across an article entitled “NoPod” with a picture of a trampled iPod lying on the ground.

Since I have a personal affinity to Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) – not their products and not even really the company, just the Apple-ites who are a little too ummmm… passionate about their tastes in technology – you can bet your bottom dollar that I pounced on the story right away.

But that isn’t the only thing you can bet on…

From Records To iPods

The article’s premise was simple: due to the ever-changing nature of technology demands helped along by a strong dose of recession, the all-popular iPod is on its way to becoming less than supreme.

And really, it’s got a point. Recorded music has come a long way since Thomas A Edison experimented with the first record. While there were changes made to his basic design, the record largely dominated the musical scene from its conception in the late nineteenth century all the way to 1969 when the compact cassette tape was offered on the market.

But even later in the 80’s when cassettes were all the rage, I can still remember my parents buying new products on 60’s style-records that my sister and I then listened to on the record-player. And we weren’t the only ones.

I also remember buying my very first CD as a teenager, a good decade after records became retro and you could still find cassette tapes in entertainment stores such as FYE. Now, most people I know don’t even buy their music on CDs; they download them from legitimate sights such as iTunes or less legal programs such as LimeWire.

And even then, do you remember when Napster ruled the online music scene? Its day came and went in short-time.

Mission Impossible: Change With The Times… Or Else

My point is that music and technology trends come and go very quickly nowadays. As compared to centuries gone by, we’re spoiled in our high-tech gadgets. We expect – nay, demand! – the newest, most highly-advanced devices known to humankind. And companies are working around the clock to give us just that, taking our money in return for their efforts of course.

That makes it both a fast-paced and highly competitive market though. One day an item or company is hot and the next, its passé.

It’s an ever-changing scene which is difficult to stay on top of and nearly impossible to master for any extended length of time. Apple has dominated the scene for about a decade now, but while it’s more than willing to come out with variations to its iPod – the iPod mini, iPod speakers, iPod in colors, etc. – it doesn’t seem willing to branch out from there.