Apple should definitely make (insert niche market appliance here)

13»

Comments

  • Reply 41 of 52
    banchobancho Posts: 1,517member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Chris Cuilla

    I am predicting an iRemote that is basically an iPod like interface - HD + Wifi card for...$49? $59?



    If I'm not mistaken Apple charges $39 for the little wired remote that comes with the larger capacity iPods. I wouldn't count on what you're asking for at anywhere near that price. Sort of neat idea though...
  • Reply 42 of 52
    Quote:

    Originally posted by apple_a_day

    Yes you can, Apple stores don't have an "other room" with a silk drape for a door...and I dont see them comeing soon either, although it does have a greater chance than the iPc, a sub $1000 Mac that runs windows



    Just imagine. A black cape with a glowing apple logo, but in the middle it has a big black X. Little do the customers know that the X doesn't stand for Os X
  • Reply 43 of 52
    lucidalucida Posts: 104member
    How about an Apple HiFi, with built in Airport Express... let's you plug in and instantly play your iTunes library on it from anywhere in the house.



    Controls on the front (and on the remote) would ping back to your Mac through Airtunes so you can control the playlists etc...



    Maybe a LCD on the front could display your library?



    It could even have a dock for attaching your iPod.
  • Reply 44 of 52
    chris cuillachris cuilla Posts: 4,825member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by lucida

    How about an Apple HiFi, with built in Airport Express... let's you plug in and instantly play your iTunes library on it from anywhere in the house.



    Controls on the front (and on the remote) would ping back to your Mac through Airtunes so you can control the playlists etc...



    Maybe a LCD on the front could display your library?



    It could even have a dock for attaching your iPod.




    I think they released Airport Express so that they would NOT have to release a stereo system.
  • Reply 45 of 52
    chris cuillachris cuilla Posts: 4,825member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Bancho

    If I'm not mistaken Apple charges $39 for the little wired remote that comes with the larger capacity iPods. I wouldn't count on what you're asking for at anywhere near that price. Sort of neat idea though...



    True, however the day before Apple announced Airport Express...Airport base stations cost at least $200.
  • Reply 46 of 52
    moosemanmooseman Posts: 126member
    ,,,I think they ought to go into the market with the largest number of customers. A consumer tower.



    "We'd rather sell iPods than consumer machines" was what they said, or something along those lines.



    I know it would cost far too much to take an ATX sized mobo, stick it in an ATX sized case and sell it for $699. Why there would only be as much profit in that as there is revenue in iPod Minis. But what the hell do I know.
  • Reply 47 of 52
    chris cuillachris cuilla Posts: 4,825member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mooseman

    ,,,I think they ought to go into the market with the largest number of customers. A consumer tower.



    "We'd rather sell iPods than consumer machines" was what they said, or something along those lines.



    I know it would cost far too much to take an ATX sized mobo, stick it in an ATX sized case and sell it for $699. Why there would only be as much profit in that as there is revenue in iPod Minis. But what the hell do I know.




    You seem to be, as are many others, operating under the presumption that price is the barrier to entry for many personal computer buyers. This may or may not be the case. And it may or may not be the only case. I am likely to believe that it is not the only case, and perhaps even the most significant one. I also suspect that Apple knows this and is acting accordingly. Perhaps they have resigned themselves to the fact that the Mac is a niche machine. Okay. But there are other things they can do with their skill and expertise that many people will buy.



    For example, iPod. Is it expensive? Yes. But it is way cool and I don't need to spend another $200-$300 on things to do something useful (like applications software). This is the problem the Mac presents. The Mac also suffers from a "compatbility myth" that is a barrier to purchase. iPod doesn't. Airport Express doesn't. iTunes doesn't. For example.



    I can see Apple continuing to expand their product portfolio and revenue diversity along the lines of iPod (and other such things).



    Let's stop trying to pigeon-hole Apple into being "the Mac company". You'll notice that they rarely refer to themselves as "Apple Computer" any longer...simply "Apple".



    While it is true that a substantial % of their revenue still comes from Mac, I think it is good to see that they are diversifying this and selling other products.
  • Reply 48 of 52
    snoopysnoopy Posts: 1,901member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Chris Cuilla

    You seem to be, as are many others, operating under the presumption that price is the barrier to entry for many personal computer buyers.









    And you seem to be operating under the presumption that the only reason for such a request, like having a Mac consumer tower for $699, is the low price. IT folk seem to like the expandability of PCI cards, if I can believe what I read. They like being able to configure a box in a variety of ways, which cannot be done with an AIO. Also, I hear they like PCI cards for maintainability. If the function on one card fails, they only need to replace that one card, not repair or replace the whole computer. It doesn't matter whether it works this way in practice or not. If that is the way IT folks think, that is what influences their buying decisions.



    Apple could design a very small tower or large cube as a multi-purpose Mac, for consumers, enterprise and education. Apple could get an advantage over x86 vendors by providing only PCI express, no conventional PCI slots. This approach would eliminate bridge circuitry and the standard PCI connectors, and thereby cut manufacturing cost. These items will burden the x86 PCs for several years to come.
  • Reply 49 of 52
    @homenow@homenow Posts: 998member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Chris Cuilla

    I think they released Airport Express so that they would NOT have to release a stereo system.



    I think that you are mostly right, but notcompleatly. It looks to me like Apple is putting a series of porducts together that will "Wire" you home for sound. Airprot Express is missing the freedome of choosing the music you are listening to in the room that you are listening to it. This is the main reason that I feel that it is not "the" solution that Apple had in mind, but rather it is a step along the way to that system of products.



    I think some sort of remote controll is a no brainer addition to the "network" as it stands now. I don't think that the iPod is that remote either, because if one person in the family takes the iPod out for a walk then the remote is gone. It is also redundant to have the music on the Mac and the iPod. The iPod is also too expensive to have a dedicated iPod to every room in the house that has a sterio and an extra one or two for the family member "on the go". It would make more sense to me that the device is as inexpensive as possible and works in conjunction with the Express which is currently on the market. This means that it would be a WiFi device as opposed to BlueTooth or IR since that is not included in the current design. The big question is price, if it opperated as a Universal Remote along with iTunes/Airport support then they might be able to charge 30-50 each and sell multiple devices to a household, but over $50 and I think it is getting too expensive as a universal remote. They may sell one per household, but their goal should be to sell 2 or more per household.
  • Reply 50 of 52
    a virtual computer compositor!



    You can have a H.264 iSight aimed at your computer at home and you can access it by using a portable phone/cam/ipod when your out. you can see what your computer at home is doing and using voice you can control it and maybe send you files via email to your phone/cam/ipod. Genius!



    Or a random kernel panick generator for those who have recently switched. It would make them feel at home.



    Sorry for piss taking
  • Reply 51 of 52
    chris cuillachris cuilla Posts: 4,825member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by snoopy

    IT folk seem to like the expandability of PCI cards, if I can believe what I read. They like being able to configure a box in a variety of ways, which cannot be done with an AIO. Also, I hear they like PCI cards for maintainability. If the function on one card fails, they only need to replace that one card, not repair or replace the whole computer. It doesn't matter whether it works this way in practice or not. If that is the way IT folks think, that is what influences their buying decisions.



    IT folks are morons. What on earth are they going to use the slots for? Network? Built in? Video? Built in? Sound? Built in.



    Quite the contrary. IT folks want a single, stock, consistent box that they can shove down the throats of 2000 people. I have never been in a shop where it has been anything but standard, stock machines...all the same. The AIO is perfect for this situation.



    But that aside...if they want the PCI slots...well, as I understand it, the PM has slots.
  • Reply 52 of 52
    banchobancho Posts: 1,517member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Chris Cuilla

    IT folks are morons. What on earth are they going to use the slots for? Network? Built in? Video? Built in? Sound? Built in.



    Quite the contrary. IT folks want a single, stock, consistent box that they can shove down the throats of 2000 people. I have never been in a shop where it has been anything but standard, stock machines...all the same. The AIO is perfect for this situation.



    But that aside...if they want the PCI slots...well, as I understand it, the PM has slots.




    Agreed (except maybe for the moron part ), IT at my company puts Dell's on the desks of people who need PCs. The particular model they give you is a standard crap desktop with *every* function integrated on the motherboard and *not* on any PCI cards. Using PCI cards for network/modem/sound would be a huge step backward and is not necessary (I know there are some nice upgrade sound cards for PCs but in geneeral my statement is true especially in a business environment). IT *never* does anything to these machines except load the company approved disk image (there are about 8000 people where I work).



    In all honesty they would be much *better* off distributing AIO designs since when they give you new machines during refresh they also give you a new monitor. Most of the machines they provide only have 17" monitors now so an eMac would be ideal for most of the people here...
Sign In or Register to comment.