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iDESIGN
skill required to make the originals
meant that copycats were doomed to
be less impressive. On Tour, a sub-$100
portable speaker with chrome grilles,
outclassed Altec’s inMotions on looks
and sound, but lacked an iPod dock. By
contrast, the dock-laden, UFO-shaped
On Stage included an iPod dock, sold for
$200, eventually seeing price drops and
sequels with added features - including
remote controls and battery-powered
portability, which the first version lacked.
Myriad clones appeared, as On Stage
inspired other dish-shaped speakers, and
later the bases of hybrid lamps-slashiPod
audio systems. That didn’t stop
JBL from pressing on: it chose On Stage
as the first design to retrofit for iPhone
compatibility, creating On Stage IIIP. And
it continued to work on revolutionary
new designs, such as Radial - a more
sonically impressive, clock-less version
of On Time - and the cheaper, smaller
Radial Micro, both available in black or
white. The company’s first boom box, Go
+ Play, was released under the Harman
Kardon brand name in an effort to
justify its $350 price tag, but if you could
ignore the cost, you couldn’t help but
be impressed by its loud, bass-rich audio
and its thoroughly unique, modern
design. Black with an overarching metal
handle and large circular metal grilles
on front and back, it couldn’t have come
from any other designers. And like its
predecessors, it proved that speakers
could rise above the crowd with great
looks, as well as great sound.
1 2 4 5
3 6 7
1 On Time in white;
black and silver
versions also exist.
2 On Time’s interior
dome light, shown
from the rear.
3 Duet in silver, a $50
computer speaker
that happens to
match today’s iPods.
4 On Tour, a popular
portable speaker.
5 Go + Play, a Harman
boombox.
6 On Stage, inspiration
for many JBL and
competing speakers.
7 Radial and Radial
Micro.
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