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A comment on Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable Music Player (2001). Parent comment

Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by jakobegger on Tuesday October 25, 2016 @02:57AM (#12785835)
Yes. In my opinion the 1.8" HDDs are the main technological feature that made the iPod possible.

To me, this was the most amazing thing about the iPod. 5GB inside this tiny package... it seemed impossible before I learned about those tiny hard drives.

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Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by makomk on Tuesday October 25, 2016 @05:29AM (#12786488)
As I understand it, of of Apple's big competitive advantages was that they contracted for essentially the entire output of 1.8 inch hard drives so no-one else could use them.
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Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ... by jimbokun on Tuesday October 25, 2016 @01:19PM (#12789742)
Yes, but only after they had a large volume of iPod sales, I think. Apple has also used their scale with iPhone to buy components in such large volumes none of their competitors can get a lower price, which means Apple can actually be price competitive when they perceive it in their interest to do so.
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