一个产品用五年时间创造了完美的销售和品牌奇迹,并改变了世界的商业和文化潮流,在iPod面世五周年之际,且听《新闻周刊》高级编辑的评论...

(CBS) In the five years it's been out, the iPod has grown into what Newsweek's Steven Levy calls a world-changing cultural phenomenon. He explores it in his book, "The Perfect Thing," and talked about it with Harry Smith. (4'45')

It was just 5 years ago, believe it or not that the iPod first hit the market. Now whether you're in the street, riding the train, or out for a jog, you're sure to see those white earbuds wherever you go. Newsweek senior editor Steven Levy explores this new world in the perfect thing, how iPod is shuffling commerce, culture and coolness and Steven Levy is with us this morning.

Good morning, good to see you.

Good morning, Larry!

5 years ago, iPod comes on the scene. Did Apple even understand what it was launching?

Not really, they were building something to help people buy Macintoshes that would add value to Macintoshes' software. But as it came out, they realize everyone could really enjoy this. And not long afterwards they decided to extend it to the Windows platform, and millions of people took off (Yeah)with the iPods.

It could not only work in Apples, you could move and make it work with PCs, and everything else, think about this for a second

Here we sit at one of the most valuable pieces real estate in the United States. Look at where we are, would this have been here were not for iPod ?

I don't think so, it changed Apple from a company with a niche market share with a really nice computer (Right) to a company with massive market share in an incredibly important new product category.

I, it seems to me, just as I watches it as an observer that, that one machine that the iPod has completely changed i, err, Apple's profile. In other words people are now being driven from the iPod to Apple's computers as supposed to vice versa.

That's right , it's called the halo effect, and even last week they announced , results were show that it was working. People say, hey, this iPod is amazing, my whole music collection are taking with me , it's so easy to use. It's a gorgeous case, I love it, and they look at the Apple or Macintosh as well.

Yeah, how many are out there, how many have been sold, do we know?

67 million, it's gonna be 70 million pretty soon. I think next year it'll hit 100 million.

That is just incredible. Do you think it *, plateau, or is it just gonna keep moving through the system because quite frankly people in my family started it with one 5 years ago, I'm sure there're 2 or 3 iPods into their, into their existence now.

Right, once it grows to a certain point you can't keep the rate up. (right) In the other hand, Apple keeps improving it.

Er, You take a look of the very first ipods, they were sort of huge( they’re big, well, that's a couple years old.)**yet. But, you know, they, they were going from something bigger than this to something smaller, and this year they got even smaller.

And they're gorgeous. I guess that's the other thing about it. Is their amazing, their tac.. their tactile, they're good in your hand the way. it's so user-friendly, they're really so imaginative with this.

Right, and, and it's not only great to touch but it's a real product, the more you use it, the more you become emotionally attached to it. Because it's your music and it's playing it back and it gives you, when you shuffle it, it gives you novelty.

All right, you know , you talk about your music and everybody and their brother have had what is on their iPod exposed overtime including Dick Cheney and President Bush and he even has My Sharona on his, which is bad, that's not a good song for a President of the United States to have on his iPod.

My theory is they suppressed that before the 2004 election, if we had known that, Ohio would go the other way.

Oh who knows, who knows, but you know what we do, we went on the streets and we asked people what is the most embarrassing thing they have on their iPod? And let's, let's see what we found out.

Jessica Simpson's songs, I'm embarrassed to say, it's on there. A song that's embarrassing in my iPod would be "lean back" by Fat Joe, the Terror Squad one. I would be embarrassing if you saw these Chita girls things in my iPod .I have all the old school, like pop bands, on there , like boy bands like " Instinct" "back street boys", even a little bit Britney Spears. My guilty pleasure is 70 class rocks. 70, err, that's not neat, well, it will depends what 70 class rock is ,Do you have an iPod. Yes I do I've lots of ipods. And do you have a guilty pleasure on your ipods? I, I knew you are gonna ask that, and I look there're American woman by "the Guess Who" , it's the kind of song that nerds dance to on those YouTube videos.(Right)

You know what really will change, and I'm not sure Apple wanna do this either. It’s the wither of music business world. There's a huge record store that's been there forever on the Apple website called Tower Records. It's closing, and I think it's because of the iPod.

Absolutely it changed the way we buy music because now we can shop it on the iTune store just pick 2 songs from a CD that you really like, you can buy it in any time , day and night.

Why would you go to the tower records?

It's amazing, Steven Levy thank you so much (Thank you) to meet me this morning.

Happy birthday iPod, and you can read an excerpt from" The perfect thing: How iPod shuffles commerce, Culture, and Coolness". You'll see it on our website at cbsnews.com.

牛逼!1