The consumer electronics universe vs. Apple, part (fill in number here). Looks like U.S. consumer electronics retailer, Best Buy, is joining up with MP3 manufacturer and marketer SanDisk, and Microsoft and Apple competitor Real Networks to stage another attempt at unseating Apple from its throne atop the digital music player market -- a title it has held for years and years with excellently-designed hardware, intuitive interfaces and slick and integrated software.

There are plenty of opponents to Apple's closed infrastructure when it comes to the iPod/iTunes universe, but customers don't think so -- or they would not have made the iPod the best-selling digital music player ever. I often have conversations with types that believe Apple consumers just don't know any better than to purchase items within a closed infrastructure.

These folks generally miss the point entirely -- it's all about a great customer experience, with formats, open-source methods and feature sets a far (far) second place, if that. Apple has made me an admirer just because of the intense focus on the customer experience combined with design that is near-perfect, in my opinion. All this gushing (let the comments start!) from someone who doesn't even own an Apple product at this time.

Has Apple stalled in the iPod-release marketplace? It's been just about one year since Steve Jobs announced the latest iPods, the iPod nano and iPod with Video.

Does the market need a new iPod every six months? According to some, the perception of a dated product can be just as destructive to sales as anything. Keeping a brand like iPod fresh on the minds of every consumer is a constant battle, although judging by iPod sales, no harm has been done -- yet.

Competitors have been busy releasing new models with boatloads of features, better designs and on more timely schedules than Apple. I seriously doubt Apple has "hit a wall" as this Cnet article suggests, although it is true that the competition has seen a flurry of activity in the last year. The last iPod released was the 1GB iPod nano in February, which was just a different version than the previously-released 2GB and 4GB models. Has anything really stalled?

If anything has stalled, Apple's sales are not showing it at all, as the iPod still commands 75% of the digital music player market as well as being the most popular music player on the planet. But I'd like to see categories here (flash or hard drive-based, and by physical capacity). Apple continues to have a huge advantage that just keeps being glossed over -- the strong and incredibly easy-to-use integration of the iPod and iTunes store -- which sells music, television shows and even distributes podcasts.

The competitors, including Microsoft's upcoming Zune, will continue to churn out products at lower price points with many more features than every iPod. Does that mean a sale gained? Hard to say -- but SanDisk is the #2 player in this market behind Apple, and it's getting better every day.

Brian White has worked in various executive positions in technology and telecommunications and now focuses on editing and writing.