It's not about features anymore -- it's about geek jewelry: "The non-Apple side of the world isn't even playing the same game."

(Via The Scobleizer Weblog.) - Is Scoble the only person outside the Apple "family circle of trust" who gets this? This is huge. I totally agree that it has zero, nothing, nada to do with features. Heck USB drives are 5 years old. The difference is that this is sold by Apple, called an iPod, and has white headphones. That's it. It's fantastic marketing. Apple has literally pulled off a Coup d'état on the mainstream consumer electronic industry. There stock is going through the roof because of it. It's not just that they're making money now, but apple has won the hearts and minds of the youth. It's high school kids and young professionals who are propelling this movement and those people will be Apple customers for years to come. It's kind of funny that just when geeks thought it was all about the features it turns out it's all about the marketing.