Letters to the Editor
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Fix the old ones first!
Instead of introducing new iPods, Apple should repair the thousands (millions?) of broken iPods out there. My iPod Mini died in August, just 5 months after the warranty expired. So did many other iPod Minis of the same vintage. (I’m calling it “The Month the Music Died.”) But Apple refuses to recognize this as an “event.” Their Tech Support suggested that I purchase a new one . . .
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iPhone price
Apple is looking to sell as many iPhones before it releases a new version for Europe with 3g, perhaps a better camera and 16gb of storage.
Also the prices will give much pain to Nokia, SE and other competitors
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Oh, God
Only Apple makes products that break. Over at the NY Times blog, there's a ton of people ranting about how they're "fat," and "16GB is ridiculous," and every other thing. One would wonder if a certain company that makes the Zune has paid shills -- or if somehow, the dominance of the iPod is too much for people who always felt that only Bill Gates has the right to dominate any computing field.
That said, I agree. I think this is an amazing field of products. From $79 to $499, including the iPhone at $399, this is a amazing group of products. My only disappointment? No Beatles anouncement, or concert.
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Starbucks isn't free
At least where I live you need a T-Mobile subscription. $9/day or $40/month for connectivity. If you think that's free, feel free to pay it for me.
I for one am not real impressed with a 16GB MP3 player for this price. Not when the 'classic' 160GB unit is the same price. It's not as if I intend to stuff it with all that content but the price differential is enormous. It's a matter of perceived value.
I feel like Apple is trickling out features a little at a time to intentionally piss people off. Are there removable batteries yet? Did they make the flash RAM iPod a little more durable perhaps water resistant yet?
I do like the rapid price cut on phones, that was a smart move. I only hope they don't do the obvious - stop making the lower end models, discount the hell out of them, work down the inventory and proceed with upscaling the line back to the original price point. If I wanted prices to NEVER EVER go down for 30 years I'd go out and by more Microsoft code. Thanks.
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Wall Street still hates Apple
"They're going to clean up."
Of course they are. And the knee-jerk Wall Street reaction is? The stock heads South. Apple must be the only stock you have to sell on the rumour and buy on the news.
They still don't get it. And as long as they think Apple is in the computer business, or that they're somehow threatened by Microsoft or Sony, or that they're not the most innovative company in the world, they never will.
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@(~~~~), re Starbucks
When I said free, I meant it. Starbucks will give free Wi-Fi access to the iTunes Wi-Fi Store -- you pay T-Mobile nothing.
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I'm going to wait for the cheap, unlocked knock off
While I think Apple does us all a service by proving that certain futuristic devices have a market (and I still weep for the Newton!), in general it's always best to wait for the Chinese and Korean companies who make products similar to (but slightly less stylish than) Apple products. Such products also have two important advantages: easy-to-replace batteries and an absence of DRM. My iAudio MP3 player connects to my computer via USB 2.0 and runs for many hours on a single AA battery (which can be rechargeable). It also allows me to record ambient sounds and listen to an embedded FM radio - and it never crashes. It serves as a USB thumb drive if I need one and there is never anything standing in my way when I want to take music from it and load it onto a friend's computer. Fair use baby! More than fair!
I love the new touch screen iPod's built-in WiFi, though I don't think it will be made very useful. It'll be better than the Zune's completely useless WiFi, but it won't allow me to sync with random computers or download music from random locations.
I'm certain a Korean knock off will show up some six months from now that will basically be a pocket-sized laptop replacement - able to run third party software on some sort of Linux backend. It'll be clunky and unsexy, but it'll have WiFi, scads of storage, and I won't have to wonder what to do when its batteries eventually die.
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Give me an Archos
I'll take an Archos 605 over any of the Apple stuff.
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Does this belong above the fold?
Is this newsworthy, has Salon become yet another purveyor of lifestyle porn?!?
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Stopped just short
Apple product development seems to be on the verge of releasing the next big thing...and then comes up just short. This ipod is essentially a handheld computer. I'm sure many people who only use their computers for email, web browsing, music and video will actually start giving up their home computers - or more likely, not replace them when they become obsolete. But instead of a truly revolutionary product, that would be able to seriously erode the market for personal computers, they handicapped it by putting in a puny hard drive and locking it against third party applications. Fix that, and all of a sudden, you have a fully functioning computer that fits in the palm of your hand.
This is one of two things that has long frustrated me about Apple. They have brilliant engineering and industrial design departments, and their marketing people are very creative...and this coming from someone who's part of what is probably the hardest demographic to market to. But they always move in baby steps. The cynic in me says it's so they can release the next little upgrade in 3-6 months and sell it to you all over again.
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And let me add
That while the new touchy interface and WiFi is neat - I would prefer they stuff the cost improvements into making a better iPod overall. I really can't get around the n-1 level of technology implicit in a 16GB player being passed off as 'new'. When it has the storage of the 5G/30GB model I just broke then I will be happy. I also would like to throw away the BlueTooth dongle for my wireless headphones - actually I did already, I lost it. Replacing it is $50. If the iWhatever had BT built in I would be impressed.
My sense of it is that Apple may be sniffing their own paint a little bit on this one. People are NOT going to sit on a WiFi connection downloading a GB's of content. It's too slow. On the other hand it looks like Starbucks sees this as an opportunity to toss out all their CD inventory and save money that way. If that's the case and they're not passing that on to me then I will be pissed off about it. Kewl costs me money.