Steve Wozniak forecasts iPod ï¿½deathï¿½

News

Matt Grainger Oct 8 2008, 11:18am

Predicts phasing out for iPod, criticises closed developer culture of iPhone

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has spoken about the eventual ‘death’ of the iPod.

“The iPod has sort of lived a long life at number one,” he said, in an interview with the Telegraph. “Things like that, if you look back to transistor radios and Walkmans, they kind of die out after a while.”

“It's kind of like everyone has got one or two or three. You get to a point when they are on display everywhere, they get real cheap and they are not selling as much.”

He went on to criticise the closed nature of Apple’s development culture when compared to Google’s open source Android software.

“Consumers aren't getting all they want when companies are very proprietary and lock their products down. I would like to write some more powerful apps than what you're allowed.”

Despite the adulation directed toward the Apple brand, Wozniak admitted that both he and Steve Jobs “don't like the fact that it's a bit of a religion.”

“I would like to have the users influence the next generation," he says. "With a religion you're not allowed to challenge anything. I want our customers to challenge us.”