They sold well because of ADVERTISING? Please tell me you are kidding. They filled a niche and were stylish. That's kind of the point of a good product. Sure, Apple has good advertising, but contrary to what some geeks think advertising isn't brainwashing.
I think you did. Around here, I think that many people see the iPod as the kind of success that they would love to emulate. The iPod did something simple, play music, but it wasn't useless. In dash vinyl record players did that as well, but the iPod did it really well. Apple created an elegant device that solved a simple, but very common task. They combined this with great design and brilliant advertising. For this they were rewarded with truckloads of money from satisfied customers. This is something to be studied and emulated, not derided by calling it useless.
