Curiouser and curiouser. The iPod was a success as soon as it hit store shelves, but since it was a Mac-only product, its audience was understandably limited. So what did Apple do? It shipped an iPod for the Great Unwashed Masses (also known as "Windows users") a couple of months back. Then it announced that it was burying the hatchet with Best Buy (and not into any of the body parts you'd expect) and that chain would soon be selling iPods in each of its more than 500 stores. Now we hear (via faithful viewer Tara Keezer) that pretty soon iPods will be available at Target; so sayeth CNET who reports that several Target stores admit to having iPods in stock already, though no such deal has yet been formally announced. Target has over 1100 stores nationwide.

So here's the bit we don't quite understand: when, exactly, did Apple turn into a company that actually implements strategies to improve visibility of, access to, and sales of its products?

Okay, sure, that sounds like a throwaway smart-ass comment (hey, you're here, aren't you?), but seriously, the Apple of old, the Apple we know and love-- and love to hate loving-- would likely have kept the iPod a Mac-only product, restricted its sale to Apple's own online and retail stores, and maybe required that prospective customers answer a riddle and pass a test of skill before they'd be allowed to fork over their cash. We assume that at least part of the credit goes to Ron Johnson, Apple's Senior Veep of Retail; seeing as the guy previously worked for Target, at the very least we assume the Target deal's got his fingerprints all over it.

When you think about it, this is all really nifty-- the iPod has turned into a gateway product. (Not a Gateway product. Perish the thought.) Here's a nifty little digital device that can get the Apple brand and a sparkling example of the company's design savvy and attention to detail into 1600 stores that couldn't sell an actual Mac if it came with free beer and a Fabergé egg. What they can sell (we hope) is the world's best portable digital audio player, which will be snapped up by Windows users who will fall so totally in love with it that they may just stop into an Apple retail store to see what this "Switch" stuff is all about. So does anyone know if Apple thought to put a "Switch" brochure in the box with every Windows iPod?...