WILL iPOD AND ZUNE EVER RECOGNIZE THE BOOMER MARKET?

The announcement of Microsoft's opening of their Zune website to take on Apple's iPod over at Techcrunch got me thinking about how these 2 tech behemoths seem to be doing nothing to recognize the Boomer market.

MP3 players have been popular as a way to listen to music for 3 or 4 years now.  I bought my first MP3 player in 2002 and of course the technology has advanced quickly since then.  I also bought a Dell Axim PDA(Personal Digital Assistant) in 2002 and discovered that I could download Mp3 files onto it and so it became and still is my MP3 player, as well as being able to keep my calendar, contacts, spreadsheets and a dozen other portable applications.  When I showed these to my teenage son back then, he was incredulous.  Of course now he has the latest iPod.

When Apple introduced the iPod and its associated software called iTunes it certainly changed the way people listen to music to the point that there are hundreds of optional products built around the iPod from carrying cases to speaker systems.  The momentum of this device grew even more this year as Television networks and video companies started to market their shows on iTunes, so it's no surprise that Microsoft is finally getting in on the act with their product called Zune.

Look at the ads on both their sites.  See anyone over 50?  I don't even see anyone who looks a day over 25.  Why is that?  Are Boomers so technically inept that we won't be able to figure out their devices?  Don't we listen to music or watch television?  After all, Elvis, the Stones, Dylan, the Beatles. Led Zeppelin, the Beach Boys, etc. etc. were our idols (well mine anyway) and I still listen to them as well as classical, jazz and blues on my computer or PDA.  I sat on a flight earlier this year and the Boomer beside me was watching a movie he had downloaded onto his iPod.  So we can do it, but a lot of Boomers who may not be Savvy Boomers yet, look at those ads and think iPods are only capable of playing hip hop, electronic trance and house music.   What is even more comical is that the CEOs of those companies are Boomers.

I'm not writing this because I want Apple and Microsoft to become even fatter than they already are, but I do want Boomers to start enjoying the benefits of this technology as I have the past few years but these companies need to do some educating of our generation.  It's a win-win situation.

OK, enough ranting, I'm going to go put on my headphones and listen to Dylan's new album while I take a Boomer nap.

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