The success of a product can usually go one of two ways:  well or bad.  Duh, right?  We all hope that our product moves toward the "well" side of the success continuum.  Because when it goes to far down the "bad" road, we either have to introduce a new product or introduce a new company.  Neither of those is really a great situation.

What happens when a product does so well that it turns into a phenomenon… or a "smashing success"… or a pop culture icon?  Most of the time we enjoy breakneck sales and business growth worth writing home about.  But on rare occasions, our product does so well that it start to move to the scary side of the success continuum.  Sometimes the product itself doesn't spur the "successfulness" as much as the business practices used to sell, promote, and market the product.  In cases such as these, people start throwing an ugly word around:  monopoly.

In the world of technology, computers, and the internet, one company comes to mind when you hear the world 'monopoly'.  Microsoft has been plagued with the monopoly tag for years now and is still working out details overseas resulting from anti-trust lawsuits filed in those countries.  But, as TechWeb points out in "Is Apple Better Off With Microsoft's 'iPod Killer' On The Loose?", the Redmond company convicted of anti-trust violations in a number of countries might be Apple Computer's best bet to stay out of similar troubles itself.

A lawsuit filed in California claims that Apple is engaging in monopolistic behaviors surrounding the way it ties the iPod music player to its iTunes Music Store.  If you own an iPod and have tried to put music purchased from other music stores on your player, you've no doubt noticed that it's not an easy endeavor.  With over 60% of the overall market for audio players and over 80% of the hard drive based player market under its belt, Apple is essentially forcing a lot of people to use the iTunes Music Store to fill their iPods.  And that's not sitting well with everyone.

TechWeb blogger Matt McKenzie makes a great point in his article:  the success of Microsoft's Zune could be just enough to convince judges that Apple's hold on the market hasn't reached the point where it needs to be regulated.  Let's face it.  If the company that brought the word "monopoly" out of cold storage can't snag even a small amount of market share, eye brows are going to raise.  McKenzie may very well be on to something here.  Wouldn't that be just one of the most ironic things you've ever seen?