The evolution of MP3 players, from the luxury items they were seen to be in their earliest days, to the pretty much 'must have' items they have grown to be today makes for an interesting study.
Anyone with a memory for these things will remember that in their earliest days (and that was less than a decade ago, by the way), MP3 players were only to be found in the 'gadget closets' of the 'ultra-trendy' people of those days, and that being seen with an MP3 player was pretty much seen as a sign that you were a person who was well ahead of the times, technology-wise.
Fast forward to today, and we found ourselves in a situation where pretty much every high school kid nowadays has some MP3 in their locker at home, and where MP3 players have become so commonplace that we even have some coming embedded on many of what might even be considered 'lower-end mobile phone models.
' Of course, the fact that the makers of MP3 players worked so hard during the gadget's earliest days for them to come to be perceived as fashion statements is one of the factors that led every fashion-conscious person (and that includes pretty much everyone nowadays) to strive to have a MP3 player, leading to the wide adoption of the same.
Consumer Psychology, as the makers of MP3 players seem to have rightfully discovered, has evolved over the years, from a situation in ages gone by when people used to easily give up on a product when they came to realize that it was beyond their reach financially (and opt to passive admire those who could get it), to a point today where people are very keen 'to have it all' - and where everyone who sights any visually appealing item makes an effort to have it for themselves.
Makers of MP3 players, therefore, made sure that their product came to be perceived as something of a fashion statement; where the person who happened to be having it was seen as being 'in' as far as technology went; and since this is pretty much the image everybody wanted to convey, we ended up with a situation where everyone was looking to purchase the MP3 players, hence their popularity.
The growth of the Internet as a social networking tool (with possibilities for video and audio sharing) is another factor behind the emergence of MP3 players as 'must have' items.
People are nowadays sharing music through the Internet, and even those who opt to buy it typically just do so by downloading it from the various sites selling music online, leading to a situation where the person who happens to lack a MP3 player risks being left behind music-wise; as most of the music being downloaded from the Internet comes in the MP3 format.
Added to all this is, of course, the falling price of MP3 players, especially the lower-end models, which means that the person who could have given 'affordability' issues as the reason for their not having a MP3 player is now 'stripped of that excuse.
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