Jobs talks iPod on its 5th anniversary

Newsweek has posted an interview with Apple CEO Steve Jobs on the fifth anniversary of the iPod, which "changed Apple and the world." Jobs says simplicity and the iTunes software were keys to the success of the device, but that it won't likely loose its coolness anytime soon: "That's like saying you don't want to kiss your lover's lips because everyone has lips. It doesn't make any sense. We don't strive to appear cool. We just try to make the best products we can. And if they are cool, well, that's great." Jobs also said he is unimpressed with Zune, Microsoft's answer to the iPod, which allows users to exchange songs. "It takes forever," says Jobs. "By the time you've gone through all that, the girl's got up and left! You're much better off to take one of your earbuds out and put it in her ear. Then you're connected with about two feet of headphone cable."

Jobs added that while the iPod and iTunes will evolve, music will always be the core. "It's hard to imagine that music is not the epicenter of the iPod, for a long, long, long, long, long time. Music is so deep within all of us, but it's easy to go for a day or a week or a month or a year without really listening to music. And the iPod has changed that for tens of millions of people, and that makes me really happy, because I think music is good for the soul," Jobs said.

He also explained the decision to keep prices at the iTunes store at 99 cents a song despite pressure from the record labels to raise them. If iTunes gave into that pressure, said Jobs, "many [users] will say, 'I knew it all along that the music companies were going to screw me, and now they're screwing me.' And they would never buy anything from iTunes again. We would never recover their trust."

Filed under: Apple