Apple's New Thing (iPod)
- Jobs reviews Apple's "digital hub" concept announced in January. Speaks of the Mac as the focal point of one's digital lifestyle.
- Jobs mentions early November as ship time for iDVD2
- (from macminute:) Apple introduces iPod, a digital audio player (MP3, MP2, more) with a 5GB hard drive (1000 songs). 20 minute skip protection. FireWire-equipped, first such music player. 10 hour battery, lithium-polymar ("most advanced battery; more advanced than laptop batteries"), takes 1 hour to charge. Size of a deck of cards: 2.4" wide, 4" tall, 3/4" thick.
- (from macminute:) Backlit LCD display, playlist support, ID3 tag support, very fast and easy to go through list of songs and playlist with a scroll wheel. Interfaces with iTunes.
- iTunes 2 coming in November
- iPod will ship November 10
- iPod price = $399 (see it at the Apple Store)
Here's a link to Apple's iPod product page. It's worth nothing that this device doubles as a 5GB portable firewire HD for moving files here and there. While there are larger capacity, HD-based, portable MP3 players out there--all of them are larger than the iPod (significantly so). The iPod seems to hit a 'sweet spot' between size and storage capacity, while offering impressive battery life. $399 is a touch higher than many would anticipate, it seems.
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dh
THIS THING IS AMAZING!!!
It's not jus ANOTHER mp3 player. It's a BREAKTROUGH mp3 player!
Let's go over this:
- 5 GB ULTRA-SLIM hard drive, all in a tiny and beautiful enclosure the size of a deck of cards. Does ANY mp3 player out there have anything like it? Didn't think so. Only HUGE CRAP ASS ONES like the Nomad Jukebox. This fits in your palm or in your pocket!
- FIREWIRE! Steve transmitted 1Gb of data onto the device in about 2 minutes. 1Gb!!! Does ANY mp3 player out there do this? Didn't think so. You have to wait 5 hours for your Nomad Jukebox to load up.
- 20 minute anti-skip protection. 20 minutes! Does ANY mp3 player out there have this? Didn't think so.
- Powered OFF THE FIREWIRE BUS. Hook it up to your firewire port and it not only downloads songs. IT CHARGES! Does ANY mp3 player out there have this? Didn't think so.
- DOUBLES AS A STORAGE DEVICE! You can not only carry your music on it, BUT YOUR DATA!!! Does ANY mp3 player out there do this? Didn't think so.
- 10 Hour battery! Recharges in just 1 hour!!! Does any mp3 player out there have such an advanced battery made out of lithium polymer? Didn't think so.
- Auto-sync! Hook up the player, and it downloads your mp3 collection. You don't even have to push or click anything! Does ANY mp3 player out there have this? Didn't think so.
- Apple's beautiful and intuitive interface! The interface in this thing reminds me of the first macs. This is the macintosh revolution of mp3 players! It is so amazing. You can browse your songs by artist, album, playlist, genre, anything! All with a few buttons and an awesome scrollwheel. Wait 'till you use one and you will see how amazing it is. Does ANY mp3 player out there provide this easy of use and make mp3 listening so practical? NO!
Apple hit a HOME RUN with this thing, and just as always proved that there's no one that can make products like them. Way to go Apple!
If Apple had gone with something completely and utterly new, it would probably go down the hole that the cube and the newton went down... they were ahead of their time, and suffered because of it. Apple can't have another disaster like the Cube, so they decided to stay just a bit ahead of the game. As long as apple markets it effectively, I think it's gonna do really well.
The product really looks great, give it a chance guys!
Originally posted by mikedman
---The one on thinkgeek fits in your hand
But it doesn't store 5Gb of music does it? Just like I said. What's your point then?
----Again it works as a USB drive
Ummm... no. It works as a FIREWIRE drive. And it's an mp3 player, not an external HD. THAT'S what is so awesome. And no other mp3 player does this. What's your point then?
----I think apple hit more of a double on this one. Before you pop that vein in your forehead remember this is a discussion forum... and we are discussing the new device. In my opinion this device is not ground breaking, its apples take on an mp3 jukebox.
Oh I thought we were discussing the wat against the Taliban... wtf
In your opinion it's not groundbreaking. But fact is it is, since it brings revolutionary technologies and innovations into the realm of mp3 players.
I like it and if it were $200-$299 I'd buy one. But at $400 you are getting into the price range of a new computer.
That's true. But as every product, it will go down later. The Nomad Jukebox cost $500 when it was introduced and now it's like $250.
My recently laid-off ass can't justify paying that much money for something that is slightly cooler that the competition but with a faster transfer and better design.
-Slightly cooler?- Give me a break. If you can't see the amount of innovation and potential in this thing in the area of portable digital music devices it's no wonder you are laid-off.
Especially at $399... Apple is selling into its existing user base without expanding to new markets, and by marketing an overpriced Mac-only MP3 player to the Mac audience, it will be inadvertently biting into future iBook and iMac upgrades because people don't have an unlimited amount of cash to spend on computers -- at some point, especially in this uncertain economy, people are going to make a choice and draw the line somewhere.
Yes, it's evolutionary as far as MP3 players go, but not revolutionary. You can't be revolutionary unless you can't sell it to everyone (i.e. PC and Mac users alike) and make the brand pervasive.
If it really wanted to hit a home-run, Apple would have kept the 5GB HD and MP3 functionality while adding a color LCD screen and Newton/Palm front-end functionality. Check out this Sony Palm/MP3 player for $499:
http://www.sonystyle.com/vaio/clie/peg_n760c_index.shtml
Apple could have bested them by adding a FireWire port and a 5GB hard drive, iTunes integration, Entourage/OSX synching, etc., and keeping the $399 price point. Now *that* would have been truly revolutionary!
In its current incarnation, the iPod will fail because it's being sold into a relatively small market, and due to its limited functionality and high price. It's another Cube, and I can't understand why it's so plainly obvious to us but not to Apple.
Firewire 400MB/s, iPod
USB 1.2MB/s, Archos
10 hour battery, iPod
8 hour battery, Archos
4.02" x 2.43" x 0.78", iPod
4.5" x 3.2" x 1.3", Archos
6.5oz, iPod
12oz, Archos
MP3 to 360 Kbps, MP3 VBR, WAV, AIFF, iPod
MP3, Archos
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