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Apple Set to Jump Into Another Market: Exclusive!

 
Just A Thought - Apple Set to Jump Into Another Market: Exclusive!

by
August 6th, 2007

When Apple announces that they will hold a media event it is cause for all sorts of excitement and speculation among Apple watchers. We offer our thoughts, beliefs, and desires about what sort of techno-goodness Apple is about to bestow upon us with wild abandon.

We are seldom right in our prognostications though we posit them with an air of well considered certainty. I know I've been guilty of willful speculation in advance of many Apple announcements and I've been more wrong than right.

That has bothered me of late. How can I be trusted by you, good reader, if my predictions are no more accurate than the bum on the street. (Hmm... the term 'bum' is so anti-P.C., maybe I should use 'socially or financially disadvantaged' or 'dormicilly challenged' or perhaps 'individual of vinolly induced antisocial behavior'.)

To rectify this situation I decided go to the Black Turtleneck himself and ask if he would reveal to me, in advance, just what he has planned for us on August 7. He was surprisingly forthcoming.

"Apple has the lion's share of the portable music player market," he told me. "And we've taken off like a rocket in the smart phone market. Macs are starting to come on strong in just about every computer market there is, so I had to sit back and seriously think about where I wanted Apple to go next. It didn't take me long to figure that one out: Pogo sticks.

"See? When I was a kid I had a pogo stick, but I could never get the darn thing to work. I'd jump it and bounce once maybe twice, but that's it. It was very frustrating. The pogo stick design has not changed for a very long time and I think it's a market that's ripe for some innovation. Even better, Microsoft hasn't considered the pogo stick market at all, so Apple can pretty much take it over completely.

"So, on Tuesday I'm going to announce an Apple branded USB powered Pogo stick. It will have no buttons (I don't like buttons) and it will have a sealed battery that should last for 3000 full charges before needing a change. That's a lot of pogoing.

"I was gonna call it iHop, but that pancake business has been around for a while and I'd probably lose that fight. So. I'm going to call it iPogo. Some silly little software company has that name already, but I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement. Yeah, iPogo. That'll work!"

So, there you have it: iPogo. Apple is set to revolutionize the pogo industry, and change how we look at pogo sticks forever. Apple techno-goodness on a stick.

I want one already.

Vern Seward is a writer who currently lives in Orlando, FL. He's been a Mac fan since Atari Computers folded, but has worked with computers of nearly every type for 20 years.

Just a Thought Archives.

Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
Close Name:Biff Posts: 1479 Joined: 08 Apr 2004
Subject:

Careful man. If this story gets picked up by Google news, you might end up moving the market! Sell, sell, sell!

Close Name:brett_x Posts: 322 Joined: 24 Jan 2006
Subject:

Quote
Biff wrote:
Careful man. If this story gets picked up by Google news, you might end up moving the market! Sell, sell, sell!


Unfortunately, Biff isn't kidding.

Close Name:Sir Harry Flashman Posts: 792 Joined: 08 Feb 2007
Subject: Don't do it Steve!

As an Apple shareholder I say no. Consider the problems with injury lawsuits.

Close Name:Tiger Posts: 1018 Joined: 17 Jun 2003
Subject: other markets

Vern,

You've opened Pandora's Box now. All new markets for Apple to explore.

USB Bidets
FireWire personal groomers
Bluetooth sonic screwdrivers

The options are endless!

Close Name:miranderm Posts: 30 Joined: 15 Dec 2001
Subject: good one..but

must admit this was funny until my mind kicked in. Now I can more comfortably read your column with an expectacy for frivorly content.Like everyone else guess will have to wait for 7th for the formal pogo announcement

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Um

Pretty ghey.

Close Name:geoduck Posts: 1922 Joined: 30 Dec 2003
Subject:

Quote
Sir Harry Flashman wrote:
As an Apple shareholder I say no. Consider the problems with injury lawsuits.

Not at all. Apple products don't crash.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: New Market

You've got it! A perfect fit with Woz and the Segway - kinda the whole human, balancing thing. Why there's skates, roller blades, bicycles, motorcycles. But why stop there? Skis, tightropes, stairs. Bluetooth devices to control your equilibrium - gives another meaning to cochlear implants. This is big, really big!

Close Name:Guest
Subject: iPogo litigation threat ...

... based on the fact that Walt Kelly copyrighted the phrase "I Go Pogo" back in 1952.

Close Name:WetcoastBob Posts: 83 Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Subject: And Next we have the........

iWink! Tiddly winks taken to the next level.
iPoly- the board game where you try to monopolize the IT sector.
iTraffic. Apple teams up with Google Earth to provide images of traffic situations in major cities. Downloadable on your iPhone. Hmmm maybe not a bad idea.
Cheers:
Bob

Close Name:VSeward -   TMO Staff Posts: 972 Joined: 28 Jun 2001
Subject: Re: good one..but

Quote
miranderm wrote:
must admit this was funny until my mind kicked in. Now I can more comfortably read your column with an expectacy for frivorly content.Like everyone else guess will have to wait for 7th for the formal pogo announcement

It's my philosophy that life can't be as serious as some would make it and a bit of frivolity is a good thing. The problem is, when it comes to columns, readers don't always know when you are just messin' around. I didn't think that was the case here since it seemed obvious from the start that I was having fun.

I try to keep my columns light on purpose; there's enough 'serious' columns and editorials out there, I don't think we need another. On the other hand, the stuff I write about is serious.

Even this article is based on the serious notion that speculation can be taken too far.

Does that mean that I'm not a 'serious journalist'? Yeah, I guess it does.

Does it mean that I shouldn't be taken seriously? Well, that's up to you. If the stuff I write about makes to think in any way then I've done my job.

Besides, how do you know Steve Jobs didn't tell me those things? There might have been a serious pogo stick incident in his life which might prompt him to think about designing one.

In fact, I'll ask him.

Ya neva know.

Vern Seward

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