A week after the introduction of the iPod Mini's, the initial furor appears to be dying down. While several have argued concerns about the price, one Wall Street Journal Column (Paid) offers an alternative perspective:
We don't want to sound like some annoying old relative, but these critics missed the rather elementary fact that different people care about different things. For every buyer of an MP3 player who cares about capacity, there's another one who cares about size. Or style. Or both.
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And for plenty of music fans there's no real difference between 1,000 songs and 3,750 -- they're both "enough." As one Slashdotter who saw the light wrote, some people "can't justify $299 just for space, but might justify $249 for style."
Apple does appear to be committed in promoting the new Mini which will be appearing in several television shows in the next 6 to 8 weeks, according to sources.
Regardless, time will tell if Apple has further success with the iPod Mini. Readers are reminded that negative initial reactions are common. Some reader comments from the initial iPod Release in October 2001:
- "I still can't believe this! All this hype for something so ridiculous! Who cares about an MP3 player?"
- "All that hype for an MP3 player? Break-thru digital device? The Reality Distiortion Field is starting to warp Steve's mind if he thinks for one second that this thing is gonna take off."
- "Better bring that price down or you wont sell any of these babies"