Official! New iPods!!!!

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  • Reply 61 of 110
    ipodandimacipodandimac Posts: 3,273member
    "its only 50 bucks more to get a 15 GB..." awesome, so ipod sales go up. clever marketing if you ask me. price will drop in 3 months as stated before, and rio, along with all those other companies i hate, can go bankrupt and fail.
  • Reply 62 of 110
    macmediamacmedia Posts: 152member
    My 3 kids have older iPods and I guarantee you that they're going to want one of these when they get home from school! Maybe it's time to disconnect the cable modem



    As a shareholder I'm fine with what they're doing. The iPod is hot, I want them to make as much from them as they can while they can. I imagine that other shareholders feel the same way. It provides a nice bridge to the 15GB model. My wife today said that she really doesn't need 10GB and would love to have a smaller one to exercise with.



    So you're paying for a small form factor. You're stupid to buy a Flash based player that can't begin to come close to this in storage. It's similar in price to many home stereos but portable. Wait 6 months and it'll be around $200 is my guess.



    This will sell like hotcakes. Hell, Best Buy and the like sold all of their iPods around Christmas without really even trying (our local store had them buried at the bottom of a shelf - it was difficult to see them unless you were looking for them).
  • Reply 63 of 110
    dviantdviant Posts: 483member
    I agree... at $199 (or even $229) retail it would have been a clear advantage over the Rio offering (and others in that range) and would simply OWN that market. Right now its really not a clear divsion from the rest of the iPod line and at its current pricing it gives the competition some breathing room. If Apple continues to refuse to sacrifice margin for marketshare here they will lose. They NEED marketshare now in order for AAC to take firm hold, in order for them to still be in this music business later.



    Someone's comment of Apple missing the opportunity to go for the jugular with pricing is right on imo. They could have crushed competition and STILL had a lot of "hey $79 (or $100) isn't that much more for the big iPod with 3.5x the storage" upsells.



    Sigh. I hope Apple knows what they are doing.
  • Reply 64 of 110
    spcmsspcms Posts: 407member
    Some people seem confused, so:



    the iPod Mini is NOT Flash-based, it has a HD.



    STank u.
  • Reply 65 of 110
    messiahmessiah Posts: 1,689member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Aquatic

    One thing: Apple is getting retarded again with proprietary connections. ADC is dumb. So is the "Dock". What the crap is the reason for the iPod "Dock?" It makes charging a little more convenient but a real pain if you forget your Dock and go anywhere. A regular FireWire port added would be peachy.



    I agree with you about proprietary connectors to a certain extent.



    There was a rumour floating around a while back that Apple were going to ditch the conventional 3.5mm headphone connector from future generations of iPods, because, the headphone socket was physically too large, and it was limiting how small they could shrink the iPod.



    So if their product designers are struggling to fit a 3.5mm headphone jack into the iPod there's no way they're going to be able to accomodate a conventional 6-pin FireWire connector which is considerably larger.



    As products get smaller, manufacturers are increasingly having to turn to proprietary solutions for their proprietary problems.



    The ADC interface is fantastic. Having only a single cable running between the display and the base unit is not only tidy but also easier for newbees to understand.



    I guess if a proprietary connector adds value to a product, or is required, then it's not necessarily a bad thing. It's a different story when a proprietary interface is there purely to limit upgrade paths etc.



    On another note - I was disappointed to learn that the iPod mini isn't flash based. To be honest, I couldn't see how it could be flash based at that price anyway. I think SJ made a very clever sales pitch - giving the impression that it was a flash based player without actually saying anything to the effect.



    I can't help but wonder, that if grabbing that high-end flash market share was Apple's concern, they should have re-introduced the original 5GB iPod. Obviously, the price of a particular product is a big issue in this market - otherwise the buyer would have bought a conventional iPod before now. If Apple wants to grab this market, they should have introduced a very aggresively priced product. Surely they still have the production plans and relationships in place, and surely the value of the 5GB drive has fallen by now.



    It's common sense that given this background, they could have priced the original 5GB unit more aggresively than a brand new product based on an entirely new type of drive. I fear that only the design conscious buyer who doesn't care about price will buy the new iPod mini, and that ultimately the mini will eat into the original iPod's market share rather than the high-end flash market.
  • Reply 66 of 110
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    Contrary to popular demand, people DO shop for price first. That's why every ad you see has "starting at..." in them, why women only buy clothes on sale, and why Wal-mart can sell out of cheap-o DVD players the day after Thanksgiving.



    I'm not convinced the iPod mini's price is low enough. Do I think they will sell well? They might. Do I WANT them to sell well? Of course, or else I wouldn't be griping about it! I just think that when people walk into Best Buy and see cheaper mp3 players (no matter how much crappier, smaller capacity, etc.), they're going to go for them instead.



    I'm thinking the Pepsi promotion might help the iPod mini's cause, though. We'll just have to see, and I'll echo what others are saying: I hope Apple knows what it's doing.



    I've just shaken my head too many times when Apple's released a product that was SOOOO cool that they thought they could put an extra high price on it thinking that the consumer would pay...and they didn't. Can we say the original Macintosh? The Cube? The flat-panel iMac?
  • Reply 68 of 110
    messiahmessiah Posts: 1,689member
    There's no sign of the iPod mini on the UK Apple website, yet.



    In America, the 15GB iPod costs $299 right? That should be about £200, except in the UK we pay roughly £249 for it (about the equivalent of $377).



    I'm guessing that the iPod mini, which you guys pay $249 for, will come in at about £199 give or take. So we are effectively paying $300 for it.



    Nice.



    The general rule of thumb, when calculating the prices of electrical goods in the UK, is simply to ignore the exchange rate, and just swap out the $ sign for the £ sign. That's why Britain is called "Treasure Island" by manufacturers. Toyota cars were a good example a few years back. Certain models were actually built in the UK, and then exported. It was cheaper to buy the cars from the countries that we exported them to, than it was to buy them in the UK.



    I calculated, that it was cheaper for me to visit my friend in the States, by a 23" Cinema Display whilst I was over there, fly back, declare it at UK customs, and pay the VAT - than it was to buy it from my local Apple dealer in Glasgow.



    I feel sorry for the poor sods in Europe who pay even more than UK buyers. The only bonus is that in the UK we get a 12 month warranty rather than the 90 day "comedy" warranty that you guys in the US get.
  • Reply 69 of 110
    asenasen Posts: 93member
    I was watching the streamed keynote, and as soon as Steve said $249, I became more and more convinced that he would finish his sales pitch by adding:



    'There is one more thing; a 2GB iPod mini for $199' (or even $149).



    At the time, I was shocked, shocked, when the 2GB iPod mini never arrived.







    But 3 hours later... I now think this is another Apple masterstroke. The profit margin on this must be fat, and you just know they'll sell in huge numbers.



    Even though I've got a 40GB iPod, one month of pre-keynote rumors convinced me I needed a cheapo iPod for running and stuff. Tonight, I'm faced with paying $249. But I know I really want one...



  • Reply 70 of 110
    satchmosatchmo Posts: 2,699member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by åsen

    But 3 hours later... I now think this is another Apple masterstroke. The profit margin on this must be fat, and you just know they'll sell in huge numbers.



    Even though I've got a 40GB iPod, one month of pre-keynote rumors convinced me I needed a cheapo iPod for running and stuff. Tonight, I'm faced with paying $249. But I know I really want one...







    You and millions of others are under Steve's RDF.
  • Reply 71 of 110
    Cosmo



    Why have iPod sales been increasing? Not because Joe goes to Google and types in MP3 players. He buys because his friends start lusting after it, and so he starts lusting after it.



    People buy design, even in Kansas (Gratuitous big city annoying comment). They also buy for function and convenience, which makes this mini iPod perfect!



    Cheers









    Quote:

    Originally posted by CosmoNut

    Let's go through Joe Consumer's thought process:[list=a][*]"I have this trip I'd like to go on. I need to put my 150 mp3s on a player. Huh. I wonder what players are out there."[*]Joe goes to Google, and types in "portable mp3 player."[*]He sees an ad for iPod on some mp3 site with a bunch of listings for other (under $250 players) and thinks, "I've heard about that iPod. I'll check it out."[*]He clicks, and discovers at Apple's web site that the iPod mini can hold 1,000 songs for $249.[*]"Huh," he thinks, "I don't know that I want to pay THAT much. That other site had some for $179, and those models would still leave some room for expansion when I get more songs. I'll try back there."[*]Apple lost a sale.[/list=a]

    They're ALL portable music players folks. People FIRST look at price, then style, then features. Unfortunately, Apple is marketing the iPod mini in the wrong order.




  • Reply 72 of 110
    Tell me, how does that "scroll wheel" thing work? It says the buttons are under the scroll wheel...



    The wheel is still solid state, isn't it? m.
  • Reply 73 of 110
    messiahtoshmessiahtosh Posts: 1,754member
    If everyone would just stop being so short sighted...$249 is not a lot of money at all. If people know that iTMS and the iPod is the best music experience then they will buy into it if thats what they want to spend their money on.



    Homerun, Apple wins.
  • Reply 74 of 110
    homhom Posts: 1,098member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Merovingian

    Tell me, how does that "scroll wheel" thing work? It says the buttons are under the scroll wheel...



    The wheel is still solid state, isn't it? m.




    If you reread this thread, I pointed out that you press down on the scroll wheel at one of the four areas to click. For normal operation you just scroll as normal.
  • Reply 75 of 110
    macsrgood4umacsrgood4u Posts: 3,007member
    Quote:

    There's no sign of the iPod mini on the UK Apple website, yet.



    iPod Mini is available in the U.S. next month and I believe in Japan in March and April for the rest of the world. That's why it isn't on the UK site.
  • Reply 76 of 110
    buonrottobuonrotto Posts: 6,368member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MacsRGood4U

    Huh? The iPod Mini has a HD not flash memory.



    Sorry, had the wrong info at that point. Didn't watch the keynote.



    I think the lower price will come through upgrades/ expanding the miniPod's range like the 3 sizes of the regular iPod did before. So while it will be cheaper, it will also be more dated, and the $249 price will remain at the high end. But the $199 model might show up in in the next year, probably sooner.



    I was dead wrong about the iPod the first time, so I'm on the bandwagon for this one.
  • Reply 77 of 110
    Quote:

    Originally posted by galthol

    For $269, I can get the 20Gb Rio Karma. Why I should I pay $20 less for 16Gb less?



    Don't get me wrong, I love the new form factor (I'll have to decide about colors when I see them), and the user interface. It's also nice that the mini is competitively priced with the new 4GB rio that came out today. BUT, the new rio is HALF the weight, and has TWICE the battery life. In light of the terrible PR Apple has gotten about battery life, I am dumbfounded Apple didn't change the battery. Am I missing something?



    Apple is clearly charging a premium for this new form factor. But the new mini doesn't look that much smaller to me (judging from the pics linked above). It worries me that competitors have significantly smaller units with better battery life... all at a comparable price.



    Apple has taken a step forward, but have the competitors taken two?
  • Reply 78 of 110
    I didn't read all the responses, but...



    i wouldn't buy one, why? because for $50 i have more way more capacity, and i don't find regular iPod too big at all. My second gen 10gb is here to stay for some time, even though i don't have any room left on it. 3rd gen is not that appealing to me.



    Now my wife wants one of these minis, she doesn't need all so capacity is not an issue for her. Designwise these things rock.



    You can debate all you want, but it boils down to this: There are people who find it well worth $250 and will pay for it.



    Personally i would hate to see $99 shitty quality flash based iPod.
  • Reply 79 of 110
    messiahmessiah Posts: 1,689member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MacsRGood4U

    iPod Mini is available in the U.S. next month and I believe in Japan in March and April for the rest of the world. That's why it isn't on the UK site.



    Ah! That explains it. Thanks for clearing that up!



  • Reply 80 of 110
    jobesjobes Posts: 106member
    i'm starting to wonder if the ipod mini release in the uk could coincide with the launch of the itunes music store here.



    april sounds like a decent date for launch, one year after the US store went online, and hopefully it'll be enough time for the legal boyos to work out the complexities of european licencing. <muse> i just wonder how many countries they will initially be able to roll the itunes store out for, and if they'll do it incrementally or wait til they can clear all EU-wide sales, country by country. </muse>



    as for pricing, i think if i saw the new ipod mini for £179, that'd be a good price exchange - and i think because it's under the psychological £200 barrier, i think it'll sell well. knowing apple it'll be £199 though. and it'll still sell like hot cakes ...



    and one other thing. the new anodised aluminium is gonna look gorgeous, if the tooling is as good as it is on the G5 and Powerbooks. more importantly, it'll also be MUCH more resistant to scratches on the back than the 'big' ipods. when i got a replacement 2G 10Gb from apple i put in straight in my contour design case, and the bloody thing STILL scratched on the base over time. i also note the apple site mentions it has a recessed screen, which also would alleviate the scratching issue somewhat.



    i think this is a shrewd assault by apple on a lower price point of the market than the ipod has targetted. sure, it's still not £150 or less, but it may be over the next 9-12 months, and it can only force more people to hand over their cash to apple. my missus was looking at the pink mini ipod, thought it was gorgeous, but when she did her sums she thought she'd go instead for the 15Gb model when she buys hers. more space for tunes and divxs, she said. the digital hub, eh?



    PS WTF!!! somebody has spent >$29K on the itunes store? hahaha, lunacy! they'll be buying the full set of these coloured babies, just as a fashion accessory. and seriously, people like this may have more money than sense, but the rich and the movers and shakers of this world are influential on us soiled masses. thinking more about this, i think this can only consolidate apple's premier position in the market, with greater penetration than they could otherwise have achieved.



    edited for spelling and postscript
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