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Apple 2.0
Mac news from outside the reality distortion field

How Apple sold 2 million Beatles songs About This Author

Posted by Philip Elmer-DeWitt
November 27, 2010 6:40 AM Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Steve Jobs, goes the old joke at Apple, is surrounded by
The traffic came largely from Facebook and other social networks, not search engines a reality distortion field; get too close and you might
believe what he's saying. Apple has made believers out
of millions of customers -- and made a lot of investors
rich -- but Elmer-DeWitt believes that an ounce of
skepticism never hurts when writing about the company.
He should know. He's been covering Apple - and
watching Steve Jobs operate -- since 1982.

Email This Author

Subscribe to Apple 2.0: RSS feed | email newsletter

What drove Beatles fans to iTunes on Nov. 16, the day Apple (AAPL) released the first digital
editions of The Beatles' catalog?

Robin Goad, research director of Hitwise UK, has analyzed the traffic from his side of the pond and
turned up some surprising and not-so-surprising results:

Traffic to the Apple website spiked dramatically that day, with visits from U.K. Internet users
increasing by 382% between Nov. 14 and Nov. 16.
26.32% of all Apple traffic on the 16th came from social networks, compared with 16.59% two
days earlier.
On the day of the release, one in every 200 visits that left Facebook went directly to
www.apple.com. The companies, deals, and trends in tech that are moving
Searches for all Beatles-related terms increased 30-fold that week, but Wikipedia got 31.44% market and making headlines. Written by JP Mangalindan
of the search clicks, and Apple U.K. only 1.24%. Apparently, people were searching for and emailed every day and as news happens.
information about the Beatles, not their music.
Sign up now!
For more of Goad's charts and graphs, click here.

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]

Contributors
Tags: Apple, Beatles, Facebook, iTunes, social network Michael Stream this! How
9 Comments | Add a Comment
Copeland Netflix chooses for you

Philip How many tablets

Elmer-DeWitt in 2011?
APPLE 2.0

Jessi Microsoft Windows

oasis > beatles. Hempel Phone 7: Simply (Not
That) Different
Posted By Shu, Oklahoma City, OK: November 27, 2010 3:35 PM

Adam Zappos: Life

Lashinsky after acquisition
Ryclef, when you're older maybe an adult will explain music to you. Until then, just keep off the Internet and
concentrate on your middle-school coursework, mmmkay?
Michal Why enterprise tablets
Posted By Mark C, Atlanta GA: November 27, 2010 1:57 PM Lev-Ram might flop

Crackers? What part of the country are you from? I am a "so-called" African American, and I've never had an JP Today in Tech
opportunity to use that word. Mangalindan
But this comment...

"Beetles are the most overhyped band in history. Who cares, there music is simplistic drivel. Guess this says
something about the market segment that purchases apple products. Aging crackers."

...shows the world that you are an idiot! It's Beatles...not Beetles! If THEIR (not there) music was simplistic drivel,
they'd be forgotten by now! And there are thousands that have been forgotten since then!

If you knew how to read, you would have read that the market segment most affected by this onslaught, was
from Facebook and other social media outlets. NOT aging crackers, hey I finally got to use that word!

And why would you call someone a cracker anyway. Do you like being called a N*****? Probably by your
homeys, right? If someone calls you a derogatory name, let them take the low road...why drag yourself into the
same gutter!
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