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The purpose of this paper is to describe how librarians at UC Merced developed an iPod Touch Video Library Tour to replace in‐person instruction for freshman library orientations.

Librarians developed and marketed the iPod Touch Video Library Tour, collaborated with Writing faculty to promote and measure the effectiveness of instruction, then collected and analyzed student assignment scores and survey assessment data to evaluate the project.

Post‐tour assessment data from student assignments suggest that the iPod Touch Video Library Tour is successfully introducing new students to the space, services and resources of the library. Post‐tour comments from students and faculty also indicate that they consider the tour an effective means of being introduced to the library.

Faced with increasing teaching workloads, instruction librarians can benefit from developing asynchronous instruction objects such as podcasts/vodcasts. Asynchronous teaching allows the time shifting of instruction activities, offers scalability, and optimizes assessment. Students often value the freedom to receive instruction when it is most convenient for them.

This paper offers practical information that will assist academic libraries in developing and justifying asynchronous instruction alternatives for traditional face‐to‐face library classroom sessions. Assessment data presented supports the effectiveness of asynchronous instruction through podcasting with popular iPod technology.

The purpose of this study is to assess the benefits derived from the application of mobile devices as part of the students’ online learning experience and the extent to which the perceived benefits are linked to student learning styles.

A small group of students enrolled in an exclusively online graduate accounting program were issued with iPods as part of their learning materials. Two data collection instruments were issued: a questionnaire to elicit students’ opinions on the usefulness of the iPod as a tool for learning; and a questionnaire to establish their learning styles (using a VARK^© questionnaire).

The findings indicate that the primary advantage of iPods lies in its portability, which, in turn, facilitated efficient and effective use of time and study planning. The portability attached to iPods allowed students to take advantage of what otherwise have been down‐time, such as commuting. Students with a preference for visual learning rated the iPod as being important to their learning.

The generalizability of the findings is limited due to the low sample size (23) that constrains the robustness of the results.

The exploratory nature of this study provides preliminary evidence on the perceived usefulness of handheld devices as a learning tool.

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a usability study which inquired into undergraduate student information seeking with Wikipedia on the iPod touch.

Data are drawn from iPod search logs and student survey responses. Search log data are coded with FRBR subject entities (group 3 entity sets) for analysis.

Students characterize the overall nature of information searched for with the Wikipedia app to be for recreational and for short factual information. Recreational searching as a way in which undergraduate students utilize mobile technology is an earlier finding of Wikipedia iPod usage, and is verified as a trend of undergraduate student search using the iPod. All undergraduate student participants of the Wikipedia app on a mobile interface report this tool as helping to become more efficient in their research. Students viewed Wikipedia articles about people and concepts more so than other article types.

Undergraduate student mobile search log analysis over a specific type of information resource on the iPod Touch is an original usability project. Previous mobile search log analysis analyzes thousands of unknown users and millions of anonymous queries, where the devices used for searching are not always identifiable and trends about touch screens cannot be ascertained.

The purpose of this paper is to examine brand familiarity, extrinsic attributes, self‐confidence, perceived quality and six dimensions of perceived risk for their effects on purchase intentions between the prototypical and me‐too brands of MP3 players.

A self‐administered survey was employed to collect data from 348 lead users of MP3 players. Existing scales were selected for their tested reliability in buying situations and adapted to suit the context of the current study. Hypothesized relationships were examined with structural equation modeling.

Brand familiarity had positive effects and extrinsic attributes had negative effects on the perceived equivalent quality of the MP3 players for both the prototypical and me‐too brands. Further, brand familiarity and extrinsic attributes produced direct effects on purchase intentions for the me‐too and prototypical brands respectively. While perceived equivalent quality had a positive mediating effect on the brand familiarity‐purchase intentions relationship for the me‐too brands, it had a negative mediating effect on the extrinsic attributes‐purchase intentions relationship for the prototypical brand. Finally, perceived social/physical, financial/performance, time and psychological risks produced negative mediating effects on the perceived equivalent quality‐purchase intentions relationship for the prototypical brand, while social/physical risk produced a positive mediating effect for the me‐too brands.

Previous empirical research has focused primarily on the individual effects of these antecedents. A research model integrates these antecedents with the dimensions of perceived risk and tests their hypothesized effects on purchase intentions. Comparisons between the prototypical and me‐too brands of MP3 players provide insights for practitioners when managing their brands.

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a usability study of information search on mobile devices, seeking to understand mobile computing best practice in the design of library services.

Three second‐year undergraduate students took part in this semester long study. They are loaned iPods with a Wikipedia copy to use as desired. Usability data are drawn from search logs recording titles of the articles searched and an internet‐based survey completed by students.

Students characterize the nature of information searched for on the Wikipedia iPods as recreational. Students did not utilize the iPods for academic research. Search logs show students viewed articles primarily about objects.

The results of this paper do not show generalized principles of mobile search. More data collected from additional sets of users are needed in order to articulate principles of mobile search.

If it is the case that students will primarily make use of mobile computing for recreational or leisurely purposes then library services on mobile computing platforms must be designed accordingly.

The paper presents methods for the study of information search though mobile computing and poses questions resulting from this paper that require further study.

The purpose of this paper is to thoroughly explain how qualitative researchers can design and conduct online interviews to investigate interesting consumer phenomena.

A semi‐standardized qualitative technique called laddering was applied successfully to an online environment. Laddering allows researchers to reach deeper levels of reality and to reveal the reasons behind the reasons. A web survey that included an opinion leadership scale filled in by 2,472 people served as a springboard for identifying possible participants for the online laddering interviews. In total, 22 online interviews were conducted with opinion leaders in the specific product field of digital music players such as Apple's iPod.

Conducting online interviews enabled information to be gathered from an interesting group of respondents that would have been difficult to contact otherwise. The whole online interviewing process was convenient for respondents who did not have to leave their homes and offices for the interviews. In general, respondents enjoyed the online laddering interviewing experience and in particular the relaxed and friendly atmosphere. The most valued attributes of Apple's iPod are “control elements” and “design”, which are linked to values such as hedonism and individuality.

The paper is the first to systematically describe how qualitative researchers can conduct laddering interviews online. By explaining the online interviewing process in detail, the authors dispel criticism that qualitative research reports are often unclear, ambiguous and unstructured. Based on the detailed description of the online laddering process, other researchers can use the technique to get deeper insights into interesting consumer phenomena.

This study aims to examine validity of the first mover advantage theory (FMA) in the context of digital audio player (DAP) market. It explores two research questions: do first‐movers improve their resources and capabilities and thus establish industry leadership? Do firms' initial resources affect the timing of entry?

To overcome the methodological problems of earlier research, the study employs historical analysis of archival sources, capturing the longitudinal nature of the market evolution and competitive dynamics within the industry.

The results show that pioneering entry is significantly inferior to later entry strategy. While the pioneers failed, Apple Computer, a follower, gained dominance. Firm's resources influence timing of entry. The pioneers are small firms while large firms prefer to enter later.

This study analyzed the evolution of a single radical innovation from its inception through growth stage and results may not apply to continuous innovations.

Managers should understand that it is not the first‐in‐market, but the firm that invests in developing its resources and capabilities in marketing, production and continual product improvement that ends up dominating the new market.

The contribution is identified in three areas as the most important for future research of FMA: it considers advantages of both pioneers and followers in an integrative fashion, it looks into how firms' resources and environmental conditions affect performance, and it uses multiple measures of performance.

As a company that has continuously achieved business innovation, Apple in the United States has successfully applied strategic knowledge creation to produce a series of products that integrate various digital devices as well as diverse contents and applications, such as the iPod, iPhone, and iPad, based on a corporate vision of a digital hub concept. At the same time, the redefining of corporate boundaries that expanded Apple’s business in a horizontal direction from the Macintosh PC business to the delivery of music, smartphones, and tablets is also an indication of the evolution of a corporate vision involving Apple’s strategic transformation. This chapter presents the strategic and creative processes that enabled practitioners, including the late Steve Jobs, to demonstrate “strategic innovation capability” by “holistic leadership” at every level of management at Apple and successfully achieve a business ecosystem strategy through “creative collaboration” across diverse boundaries within and outside the company.

The aim of this paper is to explore the potential for learning from customers of a market leader through qualitative marketing research.

The paper presents findings from a study that applies a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods. An online variation of an existing qualitative research method is proposed.

The results suggest that the proposed method can be transferred successfully to an online environment and combines the effectiveness of qualitative research with the efficiency of quantitative research.

A general problem with online research is that it excludes all individuals who are not online. Moreover, the results are limited by the nature of the sample, which only includes German‐speaking respondents. Finally, further research should investigate the differences in depth between responses of online‐ and offline‐conducted interviews.

Offers a relatively inexpensive yet effective solution for product and brand managers to uncover the reasons that drive customers to a market‐leading competitor.

Compared with many other approaches available to product and brand managers, this paper proposes a more realistic and practical method of understanding a market leader through the eyes of its customers.