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The Perfect Thing (Abridged): How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture, and Coolness Audiobook
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(3.07) - 263 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
On October 23, 2001, Apple Computer, a company known for its chic, cutting-edge technology -- if not necessarily for its dominant market share -- launched a product with an enticing promise: You can carry an entire music collection in your pocket. It was called the iPod. What happened next exceeded the company's wildest dreams. Over 50 million people have inserted the device's distinctive white buds into their ears, and the iPod has become a global obsession. The Perfect Thing is the definitive account, from design and marketing to startling impact, of Apple's iPod, the signature device of our young century.
Besides being one of the most successful consumer products in decades, the iPod has changed our behavior and even our society. It has transformed Apple from a computer company into a consumer electronics giant. It has remolded the music business, altering not only the means of distribution but even the ways in which people enjoy and think about music. Its ubiquity and its universally acknowledged coolness have made it a symbol for the digital age itself, with commentators remarking on "the iPod generation." Now the iPod is beginning to transform the broadcast industry, too, as podcasting becomes a way to access radio and television programming. Meanwhile millions of Podheads obsess about their gizmo, reveling in the personal soundtrack it offers them, basking in the social cachet it lends them, even wondering whether the device itself has its own musical preferences.
Steven Levy, the chief technology correspondent for Newsweek magazine and a longtime Apple watcher, is the ideal writer to tell the iPod's tale. He has had access to all the key players in the iPod story, including Steve Jobs, Apple's charismatic cofounder and CEO, whom Levy has known for over twenty years. Detailing for the first time the complete story of the creation of the iPod, Levy explains why Apple succeeded brilliantly with its version of the MP3 player when other companies didn't get it right, and how Jobs was able to convince the bosses at the big record labels to license their music for Apple's groundbreaking iTunes Store. (We even learn why the iPod is white.) Besides his inside view of Apple, Levy draws on his experiences covering Napster and attending Supreme Court arguments on copyright (as well as his own travels on the iPod's click wheel) to address all of the fascinating issues -- technical, legal, social, and musical -- that the iPod raises.
Borrowing one of the definitive qualities of the iPod itself, The Perfect Thing shuffles the book format. Each chapter of this book was written to stand on its own, a deeply researched, wittily observed take on a different aspect of the iPod. The sequence of the chapters in the book has been shuffled in different copies, with only the opening and concluding sections excepted. "Shuffle" is a hallmark of the digital age -- and The Perfect Thing, via sharp, insightful reporting, is the perfect guide to the deceptively diminutive gadget embodying our era.
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"anybody who builds something for a living should read this. It's a must-read for my team. No-one seems to say that Steve Jobs is easy to work for, but if you measure the man by the caliber of his products then he's not at the bottom of the list (this, from my exalted position!) "
— Davehk (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Entertaining....[The Perfect Thing] does a handy job of crystallizing and commemorating the dawn of the iPod age.”
— New York Times -
“More than a tale about the birth of the iPod, this entertaining book is a twelve-horn hallelujah chorus celebrating how this 'perfect thing' is propelling music from the past into this century and beyond. Add it to your Readlist.”
— Wired -
“Loads of fun, jammed with entertaining connections, unexpected riffs, and endless stuff you've never heard of before.”
— Washington Monthly -
Wonderful…The Perfect Thing is a thoroughgoing treatment of the iPod from many different perspectives—social, economic, technical, psychological—packed with insights from one of the tech world’s most astute observers.”
— Boing Boing
The Perfect Thing Listener Reviews
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" Despite the subtitle, this book doesn't so much study "how the iPod shuffles commerce, et al", but rather reiterate the claim over and over...and over. Pure Macfan brain candy that won't really convince the unconverted or tell adherents anything they don't already believe, a few interesting glimpses into the iPod's design notwithstanding. "
— Nathan, 11/5/2013 -
" audiobook. Excellent prose on the iPod "
— Michael, 10/24/2013 -
" An interesting read about the origins of the iPod. There are several different versions of this book with the chapters in different orders, an homage to the shuffle feature of the iPod. "
— Dittrich, 10/3/2013 -
" Enjoyable but lacks criticality. "
— Iben, 8/1/2013 -
" interesting glimpse into the inner workings of apple, with lots of fascinating insights into the design process... but primarily an extended fellation of steve jobs. steven levy has written better. "
— Lisa, 7/25/2013 -
" Incredibly fascinating history of the genesis, development, and marketing of the iPod. You might not agree with all of Levy's assertions about the importance of the ubiquitous MP3 player, but you have to give him credit to making its story cool. "
— Warren, 6/29/2013 -
" Recently I got really curious about the business decisions behind the creation of the iPod, so I picked up "The Perfect Thing." Only about a chapter or two discussed the decisions that went into making the iPod the rest is really an analysis and description of the cultural impact of the iPod. "
— Greg, 2/23/2013 -
" A must-read company profile for knowledge workers, managers, directors, C-levels, and entrepreneurs. "
— Lori, 1/15/2013 -
" I originally read this book for an essay, but it sucked me in. "
— Alicia, 10/23/2012 -
" From what I recall, this was a pretty detailed and informative/entertaining history of the development of the iPod. "
— George, 10/22/2012 -
" Recensito su Storie di Apple in "The Perfect Thing". "
— Nicola, 8/11/2012 -
" Book offered good background on the iPod and Apple's turn-around. Good cultural context. "
— Kyle, 5/10/2012 -
" This book reveals all the mystery behind the phenomenal iPod. Quite an eye opener. However, the fun of reading this book is spoilt by the all too obvious Steven Levy's admiration to the Apple's CEO, Steve Jobs. Not smooth. "
— Sylvia, 4/8/2012 -
" Very informative and engaging history of the iPod. "
— Neven, 3/11/2012 -
" "Steven brings his skills to the story and impact of the iPod. He gives credit to Jeff Robins, Tony Fadell, Paul Mercer and others who deserve it, so I especially like it. But his observations on coolness, design and usage are equally insightful." "
— Jim, 7/16/2011 -
" Interesting cultural commentary on the birth of the iPod. Easy to forget that the iPhone started with a little white box with a turn wheel! Not too heavy on the technical mumbo jumbo, it is a cultural snapshot from 2006. "
— Gavin, 5/5/2011 -
" Somewhat dated but may still be worth reading if you care about the design process behind the iPod. Interesting discussion about the randomness of "shuffle". "
— Serge, 4/13/2011 -
" Cool title, interesting concept but the book didn't quite deliver any truly startling insight. "
— Cathy, 2/22/2011 -
" I originally read this book for an essay, but it sucked me in. "
— Alicia, 2/12/2011 -
" audiobook. Excellent prose on the iPod "
— Michael, 3/5/2010 -
" I don't even own an iPod, but I loved reading this book! "
— Arden, 4/5/2009 -
" Interesting cultural commentary on the birth of the iPod. Easy to forget that the iPhone started with a little white box with a turn wheel! Not too heavy on the technical mumbo jumbo, it is a cultural snapshot from 2006. "
— Gavin, 1/27/2009 -
" interesting glimpse into the inner workings of apple, with lots of fascinating insights into the design process... but primarily an extended fellation of steve jobs. steven levy has written better. "
— Lisa, 11/4/2008 -
" Very informative and engaging history of the iPod. "
— Neven, 7/7/2008 -
" Cool title, interesting concept but the book didn't quite deliver any truly startling insight. "
— Cathy, 4/15/2008 -
" "Steven brings his skills to the story and impact of the iPod. He gives credit to Jeff Robins, Tony Fadell, Paul Mercer and others who deserve it, so I especially like it. But his observations on coolness, design and usage are equally insightful." "
— Jim, 2/19/2008 -
" Fantastic story, brilliantly told! Steven's the tech industry's quintessential storyteller. "
— Eric, 1/13/2008 -
" I'd rate this 9/10. <br/> <br/>One interesting thing: At least in theory, different copies (printings?) have the chapters in different orders.... "
— Raja99, 9/8/2007
About Steven Levy
Steven Levy is Wired's editor at large. His previous positions include founder of Backchannel and chief technology writer and senior editor for Newsweek. He has written several books and won several awards during his thirty-plus years of writing about technology, including for his book Hackers, which PC Magazine named the best sci-tech book written in the past twenty years; and for Crypto, which won the grand e-book prize at the 2001 Frankfurt Book Fair. His work has also appeared in Rolling Stone, Harper’s, Macworld, the New York Times Magazine, Esquire, the New Yorker, and Premiere.
About Anthony Rapp
Anthony Rapp has been acting professionally since he was nine years old. He is best known for originating the role of Mark Cohen in the Pulitzer Prize-winning rock opera Rent. He lives in New York City.