The iPod Turns Five
This column was written by CBS News Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith.
If you haven't been in Manhattan recently, I suggest you stop by the corner of 59th Street and Fifth Ave.
Yes, you'll recognize the massive GM Building. But what's in front of it is what you should focus on.
There's a beautiful glass box, and underneath it is an Apple Computer store, open 24/7. The glass box has much the same effect on the GM Building as I.M. Pei's pyramid at the Louvre.
What's in there, we wonder. The glass box has been open for several months now, and I bring this up because five years ago Apple introduced the iPod. Had there been no iPod, I doubt there'd be an Apple store in the glass box.
As Newsweek's Steven Levy explains so well in his new book, "The Perfect Thing," How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture and Coolness," the music player that was meant to augment Apple computers is now driving Apple computer sales, along with driving record stores out of business.
Sales so far: 70 million and counting — quickly.
Harry's daily commentary can be heard on manyCBS Radio News affiliates across the country.
By Harry Smtih