Steve Wozniak Says iPod's Days are Numbered

Apple’s "Employee Number 1" sat down with the UK site Telegraph recently. Among recollections of times past and opinions on the present, the Woz was not necessarily kind to the company he founded with the "other Steve."

While it’s always nice to see icons of an industry reminisce about their origins, it did not seem like Wozniak was mindful of Steve Jobs and Apple while talking about the tech industry, web 2.0 and Apple in general. "Last week Apple’s shares tumbled nearly 20pc after two analysts downgraded the stock...While many company founders would steer well clear of commenting on valuations," said the Telegraph. "Mr Wozniak says the downgrade was "correct" : an admission which could wipe further millions of the shares which have fallen by from a high of $179 in August to just over $100 on the close last week."

Wozniak also talked about the iPod, saying the device may be at its zenith and will approach a drastic downturn in the near future. "The iPod has sort of lived a long life at number one. 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." While the truth may hurt Apple in some regards, Wozniak’s opinion isn’t exactly radical. When a product reaches maximum market saturation, is it really a surprise to see it tumble, or be replaced with something better ?

When it comes to the iPhone, which will undoubtedly live on even if the iPod falls from grace, Steve is not a fan of how the device’s software has shaped up. "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."

While Wozniak is as excited as ever for "the next big thing," his overall outlook on the tech industry seems to be pretty bleak, even going as far to say that there will be another, smaller tech bubble burst, which he attributes to "investment houses’ over-valuation of web 2.0 and social networking websites." In the current economic climate, a "Tech Bubble 2.0" seems more likely with every 8 percent loss on the stock market.