iPod clone

psgamer0921 · November 27, 2004 8:36PM

http://www.dapreview.net/comment.php?comment.news.697

I can't believe this. I don't think it'll last a week before a lawsuit comes from Apple.

ime · November 27, 2004 10:30PM

Its ugly. Kind of looks like the U2 iPod but uglier. The nav wheel isn't as slick as Apple's. I'd doubt if this product goes anywhere.

macsrgood4u · November 28, 2004 6:51AM

If the touch wheel "behaves" the same way as the iPod, I kinda like the fact it is completely enclosed behind the casing. No way dust or dirt or any liquid can get behind the wheel. But it shows just how unappealing black can be, especially when the color is matte finished. It will be interesting to see what Apple does about the touch sensitive wheel, particularly since it seems to have a click feature as well. I was under the impression the click feature was patent pending by Apple.

jambo · November 28, 2004 7:41AM

Moving to Digital Hub...

psgamer0921 · November 28, 2004 11:23AM

Here's a gallery of it:

http://www.dapreview.net/gallery/dis...album=99&pos=0

Oh yeah, and it's not a click wheel, it's a bump wheel

smircle · November 28, 2004 11:27AM

ALDI, where it is sold, is the Wall-Mart of Germany. They will sell tons of this and Apple Europe is much to lazy do do anything.

It is also considerbly cheaper than an iPod (199? vs 329?, same HD) and offers some features the iPod does not posess (like a battery that can be exchanged). Since german buyers have become rather stingy in the last few years, this thing has every chance to put a real dent into Apples sales over here.

macsrgood4u · November 28, 2004 11:58AM

Smircle.

So far other companies have come up iPod "killers" with more features and replaceable batteries and lower price...... and guess what? They haven't made a dent to any great degree in Apple's current dominance. So what makes you think a player being sold only in Germany so far can do it?

Figgetit. It ain't gonna happen.

smircle · November 28, 2004 12:48PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MacsRGood4U

So what makes you think a player being sold only in Germany so far can do it?

Well, I was talking about Apple's german market

Aldi is a chain that sells about anything from groceries to beverages, so they have lots of stores in every city here. Some years back, they started to offer low-cost PCs and have succeeded in grabbing a huge portion of the PC and laptop market. To give you a measure, their annual revenue is like 25bn ? compared to Apple's 6-8bn. So, they are a market force even though the percentage of their revenue coming from digital electronics is very small.

Since Apple Eu is just a bunch of fat pussies sitting around, their market share is free lunch to anyone who is clever enough to slash prices. Since the Medion player is less than 2/3 the iPod-price, they will sell like crazy. It does not end the Apple dominance world-wide, but it points to what is about to come out in the US as well: cheaper players that are "good enough". I hope Apple remembers how they lost the desktop computing war...

BTW: this is the first player sold based on the same portal player architecture, with a very similar UI and a scroll-wheel of sorts. And I got the distinct feeling that whoever developed this player did so not only for the German market - I believe it will soon show up in the US with a different brand label attached.

rolandg · November 28, 2004 1:03PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MacsRGood4U

Smircle.

So far other companies have come up iPod "killers" with more features and replaceable batteries and lower price...... and guess what? They haven't made a dent to any great degree in Apple's current dominance. So what makes you think a player being sold only in Germany so far can do it?

Figgetit. It ain't gonna happen.

Don't be so sure about it...

1. Apple does hardly do any advertising outside the US or in place where there is an Apple event. They began airing the U2/Vertigo-commercial a couple of weeks ago after at least 2 years of total TV abstinence.

2. In the US, Apple has a fairly dense web of retail stores, while you have to put up with the nosey and impolite folks at third party shops (GRAVIS, COMSPOT network to name a few).

3. There are severe availability problems.

4. Germans nowerdays shop by price/numbers only. Apple's 20 GB iPod is 329 EUROs compared to ALDI's 199 EUROs PLUS the ALDIpod has USB on the go camera synch, a SD/MMC-card slot, built-in recording etc. Most of these features are poorly implemented as test (a German consumer magazine, usually very contra-Apple) reports, but they don't print that in the advertisement, so in the end it's same storage, more features for less money - the dealmaker for most people.

Add to this that ALDI (and most grocery discounts for that matter) have become the prime source of computers and consumer electronics for most. This is due to a heavily biased reporting of the most widespread computer publication over here, ComputerBILD.

5. It has a interchangeable battery. Very important due to the fact that once your iPod's battery dies, you surely are out of warrenty and the exchange is very expensive. And Medion offers three years of warrenty - no questions asked. Apple's Hotline is horrible even if the law is on your side.

6. Musicload claims to be the number one source for music downloads in Germany. And they sell WMAs. Oh, and they heavily advertise.

murk · November 29, 2004 8:54AM

Aldi also has stores in the US. There are always a few pieces of Medion stuff there, including laptops. Haven't seen this player yet. A friend bought a Medion Graphics tablet that's about twice the size of my 6x8" Intuos for $49.

iPod clone

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