Many foreign products are not available in the USA... that's just life.
Bought the shuffle a week or so ago and use it every day. No problems; it is not cheap or weak. A quick check on Apple's duscussion boards showed no major problems with the shuffle yet... nada about the clip being cheap.
What is it with Apple? Seriously. What's the problem with them? They make brilliant hardware and then get all shocked when it sells.
And it's not like this is an uncommon event. Every single time they release a new product (at least in the last year or two) the get all shocked that it's sold well. And they can't meet demand. Every single God damned time.
I'm really over this company to be honest. I love their hardware and their software and most of their other products, but what's the friggin' point if they're never in stock?
Yeah, I know that they could care less what I think. If this happened every now and then or far less often then I could understand it, but it happens all the time.
How retarded are the frigtards at Apple fullfilment anyway?
And that's my 3.5c worth.
Hi fellow Melbournian (or is that Melbournite?) I'm not from these parts here. The weather is crazy down here!!! WTF!!!
Anyway, seems like you're taking heat. But I understand your frustration. It's only in the past 3 years anyway that Sydney and Melbourne have started to get more attention and good iPod and Mac supply as demand itself has ramped up. In this city, seriously, about every other schoolgirl in their teens has white earphones. When I go for a run, about every fifth person has white earphones.
Your use of "frigtard" is hella funny.
To me Sydney and Melbourne is Apple paradise compared to the frigtards in KL, Malaysia. You'd be fracking shocked, and those in USA/ Euroland would just brush it off -- in KL there are like 6 major Apple Mac resellers, not just iPod resellers, within say 25km of the city centre. The Mac range on display is ultra-fan-fracking-tastically pathetic. One place still had the sunflower-iMac g4 on display as demo model. I asked them if they were selling it and they were like "no, we need it do demo". WTF??!!
And I was asking about MacBooks, they were all like sold out, sold out, no demo models, new stuff, nowhere to be seen. iPods you can play with and listen to, not just locked up in boxes, nowhere to be seen.
For Asia except Japan, I think Singapore is the main HQ for Apple so Singaporeans get first choice to all Mac stuff I reckon, and they treat smaller less wealthy countries (Singapore is pretty much a "developed" country with now 4 million people) like mushrooms - feed em' sh1t and keep em' in the dark.
I looked at Amazon.com shipping of Red nanos out of the US and prices were exorbitant. This is because, as the article mentioned, it comes out of a company called Blue Proton rather than Amazon themselves, and they also don't get the super-bulk-discount shipping rates of Amazon.
Bought the shuffle a week or so ago and use it every day. No problems; it is not cheap or weak. A quick check on Apple's duscussion boards showed no major problems with the shuffle yet... nada about the clip being cheap.
To each his own, I guess, as you said.
In the vein of perceived flimsiness, there's a major psychological component to that. Something might feel like it would be weak, when in real use, it may hold up well.
They quit edu pricing on ipods after the last update. I don't think it makes sense to offer edu discounts for entertainment products anyway.
We'll have to wait until next year's back-to-school season where they usually have the iPod + MacBook edu deals.......
Given how well the iPod sells in general and it's not important to break into the edu market with it (tons of people at college/high school probably has/ is going to get an iPod anyway) .... I guess there's no "need" to edu discount iPods. \
In the vein of perceived flimsiness, there's a major psychological component to that. Something might feel like it would be weak, when in real use, it may hold up well.
FUD from the Internet and my own toying with the real thing for five minutes have contributed to a major psychological feeling of its weakness.
One thing is the clip does seem loose so it needs to be anchored on your waist or a thick shirt/ sweater. I like my SonyE v600i because it has a nice really scratch-resistant big bright *glass* screen, and there is an earphone quite-small-ish clip that is higher up which I can clip to the collar of my sweater/ thin running shirt...
I just bought my second pair of Sony "middle-of-the-road" ear buds. I don't buy anything outrageously expensive since I've already worn out two pair. What wore out is the coating on the wires. The sweat from the back of my neck, where the wires rest, seem to eat through or really weaken the plastic coating on the earphones. Within 4 months they start to tear and I'm left with bare wire. But I guess it depends on how much you sweat.
Again with my SonyE v600i, earphones/cables holding up well in runs and sweat and stuff so far for about 1+ month... Hope it doesn't develop the problems you've had.
Heh. ...Anyways I don't think that's available anywhere outside the US. Maybe one could get it off eBay for like $5.00 since it's sh1te.
Quote:
Originally Posted by backtomac
......As far as the FUD about the durability of the shuffle, it was tested at Ars and went through all kinds of abuse. They dropped it, stepped on it, dropped it from a three story balcony, dropped it in a glass of beer (nice amber looking beer to boot) and drove over it WITH A CAR. Only driving over it with a car broke it! If it ain't tough enough for you, just how would you use it?
The thing about Shuffles is I can't visually choose a song or playlist. I don't care what order songs are in a particular playlist (it's shuffled within playlists) ..... but I *definitely need* to choose a particular playlist... If I have sleepy music while running or running music while going to bed, that would be unfortunate.....
Heh. ...Anyways I don't think that's available anywhere outside the US. Maybe one could get it off eBay for like $5.00 since it's sh1te.
The thing about Shuffles is I can't visually choose a song or playlist. I don't care what order songs are in a particular playlist (it's shuffled within playlists) ..... but I *definitely need* to choose a particular playlist... If I have sleepy music while running or running music while going to bed, that would be unfortunate.....
That's an inherent weakness in that model. It's to small for a screen. The Nanos your model if you want to see a playlist and choose your song. I was taking exception to Deckard's claim that the shuffle is flimsy and cheap. That may be his opinion but the review I saw at Ars suggests otherwise. I do sympathise that getting Apple products can be frustrating but that's a result of Apple's products being very strong and popular at the moment.
Shuffle is pretty nice. Of course I believe you got to be careful and don't abuse it. is a small thing so you can always get in trouble if you don't take care of it.
Then get a Zune. No supply problems there. As far as the FUD about the durability of the shuffle, it was tested at Ars and went through all kinds of abuse. They dropped it, stepped on it, dropped it from a three story balcony, dropped it in a glass of beer (nice amber looking beer to boot) and drove over it WITH A CAR. Only driving over it with a car broke it! If it ain't tough enough for you, just how would you use it?
Yeah. I read that Ars Technica review. Pity it was for a gen 1 Nano though.
Have you ever took the time to realize sometimes is not completely Apple's fault.
Being in a smaller market share put Apple's not in the priority list of many vendors. Also Apple must be somewhat cautious when predict the amount the units to produce. It's note asy to foresee the huge success of their products.
There are a lot of factors. It's true that shipping delays are common, but that's living with Apple. For many years it's been like that. If you don't like then go buy a Zune like have been said here before.
It's normal for foreign countries to not get all the products offered in the USA. I am a foreigner and I experienced that in my country with many manufactures, not just Apple. If you don't like it then move to America. (by the way that would be a silly because Australia is a very nice place)
I enjoy bitching about Apple? Well, hang me from the nearest tree... could have sworn that I said 'Apple's logistics' people. But hey, you only read what you want to read I guess.
I enjoy bitching about Apple? Well, hang me from the nearest tree... could have sworn that I said 'Apple's logistics' people. But hey, you only read what you want to read I guess.
I believe it was "the frigtards at Apple fulfillment". Problem is, they can't fulfill what they ain't got to fulfill with... More "frigtards at Apple supply-chain-management" but ultimately I think it's the high-up bean-counters that have to set some sort of parameters on how much to make when and how to ramp that up including extra dough for the contractors to ramp up their production............ Historically Apple has been very conservative, which *can be* frustrating as I mentioned before.
You can ask that about every generation of product. As memory density gets higher, and there have been new announcements in that area, it will happen. Of course, Apple has to change the design so as to entice buyers of the old model to move on.
The nano 2gb will have to be bumped slightly if they go 2gb with the shuffle... But of course the nano is different with a screen and all that. But you're right, design changes may need to happen.
We should remember that last year the iPod range was not changed for like a block of at least 8 months. They were still selling strong. But Ives and Jobs and peoples took their time wisely to create a killer holiday lineup that might extend all the way into mid-2007.....
The nano 2gb will have to be bumped slightly if they go 2gb with the shuffle... But of course the nano is different with a screen and all that. But you're right, design changes may need to happen.
We should remember that last year the iPod range was not changed for like a block of at least 8 months. They were still selling strong. But Ives and Jobs and peoples took their time wisely to create a killer holiday lineup that might extend all the way into mid-2007.....
If you look at the sales numbers, the 8 GB model is lagging. Apple's original idea of going to 2 and 4 GB has proven to be correct. People are more interested in price than memory. I wonder if the color has anything to do with it.
If you look at the sales numbers, the 8 GB model is lagging. Apple's original idea of going to 2 and 4 GB has proven to be correct. People are more interested in price than memory. I wonder if the color has anything to do with it.
Yes, looks like the memory thing is like 4GB is great for songs and data, 8GB is perhaps in no-mans-land. Not enough for serious data backup, too much for just music without tv shows and movies.
Edit: If you look at the demographics as well for the 2GB and 1GB nanos and shuffles respectively, they are just nice for data that students/ younger people carry around on pendrives - it's all enough for music and some important files. Any more-geeky person would have an external 40-60gb USB drive or just burn CDs/DVDs for backup. 4GB is a nice "luxury" iPod nano upsell where you get a good decent size memory for the price, not too much memory, and you get... colours...! ...$199 is a nice sweet spot. Of course, $79 for a Shuffle is like, hell, I'll just get one more iPod...
I think Apple tried to replicate the success of the black MacBook. They had several advantages in making Black the well, new black.
1. Increased features
2. Apple laptops have NEVER been black
3. Wide, distinctive price AND feature gap between black MacBook 13.3" and cheapest MacBookPro
Opposed to the current situation
1. As you mentioned, increased memory but no additional features
2. There have been black iPods and continue to be offered
3. No price gap between black iPod nano and black iPod video
4. Lots more features for no price gap in the black iPod video
Comments
Bought the shuffle a week or so ago and use it every day. No problems; it is not cheap or weak. A quick check on Apple's duscussion boards showed no major problems with the shuffle yet... nada about the clip being cheap.
To each his own, I guess, as you said.
What is it with Apple? Seriously. What's the problem with them? They make brilliant hardware and then get all shocked when it sells.
And it's not like this is an uncommon event. Every single time they release a new product (at least in the last year or two) the get all shocked that it's sold well. And they can't meet demand. Every single God damned time.
I'm really over this company to be honest. I love their hardware and their software and most of their other products, but what's the friggin' point if they're never in stock?
Yeah, I know that they could care less what I think. If this happened every now and then or far less often then I could understand it, but it happens all the time.
How retarded are the frigtards at Apple fullfilment anyway?
And that's my 3.5c worth.
Hi fellow Melbournian (or is that Melbournite?) I'm not from these parts here. The weather is crazy down here!!! WTF!!!
Anyway, seems like you're taking heat. But I understand your frustration. It's only in the past 3 years anyway that Sydney and Melbourne have started to get more attention and good iPod and Mac supply as demand itself has ramped up. In this city, seriously, about every other schoolgirl in their teens has white earphones. When I go for a run, about every fifth person has white earphones.
Your use of "frigtard" is hella funny.
To me Sydney and Melbourne is Apple paradise compared to the frigtards in KL, Malaysia. You'd be fracking shocked, and those in USA/ Euroland would just brush it off -- in KL there are like 6 major Apple Mac resellers, not just iPod resellers, within say 25km of the city centre. The Mac range on display is ultra-fan-fracking-tastically pathetic. One place still had the sunflower-iMac g4 on display as demo model. I asked them if they were selling it and they were like "no, we need it do demo". WTF??!!
And I was asking about MacBooks, they were all like sold out, sold out, no demo models, new stuff, nowhere to be seen. iPods you can play with and listen to, not just locked up in boxes, nowhere to be seen.
For Asia except Japan, I think Singapore is the main HQ for Apple so Singaporeans get first choice to all Mac stuff I reckon, and they treat smaller less wealthy countries (Singapore is pretty much a "developed" country with now 4 million people) like mushrooms - feed em' sh1t and keep em' in the dark.
I looked at Amazon.com shipping of Red nanos out of the US and prices were exorbitant. This is because, as the article mentioned, it comes out of a company called Blue Proton rather than Amazon themselves, and they also don't get the super-bulk-discount shipping rates of Amazon.
Part of the Mac appeal is its scarcity
Bought the shuffle a week or so ago and use it every day. No problems; it is not cheap or weak. A quick check on Apple's duscussion boards showed no major problems with the shuffle yet... nada about the clip being cheap.
To each his own, I guess, as you said.
In the vein of perceived flimsiness, there's a major psychological component to that. Something might feel like it would be weak, when in real use, it may hold up well.
They quit edu pricing on ipods after the last update. I don't think it makes sense to offer edu discounts for entertainment products anyway.
We'll have to wait until next year's back-to-school season where they usually have the iPod + MacBook edu deals.......
Given how well the iPod sells in general and it's not important to break into the edu market with it (tons of people at college/high school probably has/ is going to get an iPod anyway) .... I guess there's no "need" to edu discount iPods.
In the vein of perceived flimsiness, there's a major psychological component to that. Something might feel like it would be weak, when in real use, it may hold up well.
FUD from the Internet and my own toying with the real thing for five minutes have contributed to a major psychological feeling of its weakness.
One thing is the clip does seem loose so it needs to be anchored on your waist or a thick shirt/ sweater. I like my SonyE v600i because it has a nice really scratch-resistant big bright *glass* screen, and there is an earphone quite-small-ish clip that is higher up which I can clip to the collar of my sweater/ thin running shirt...
I just bought my second pair of Sony "middle-of-the-road" ear buds. I don't buy anything outrageously expensive since I've already worn out two pair. What wore out is the coating on the wires. The sweat from the back of my neck, where the wires rest, seem to eat through or really weaken the plastic coating on the earphones. Within 4 months they start to tear and I'm left with bare wire. But I guess it depends on how much you sweat.
Again with my SonyE v600i, earphones/cables holding up well in runs and sweat and stuff so far for about 1+ month... Hope it doesn't develop the problems you've had.
Then get a Zune...
Heh.
......As far as the FUD about the durability of the shuffle, it was tested at Ars and went through all kinds of abuse. They dropped it, stepped on it, dropped it from a three story balcony, dropped it in a glass of beer (nice amber looking beer to boot) and drove over it WITH A CAR. Only driving over it with a car broke it! If it ain't tough enough for you, just how would you use it?
The thing about Shuffles is I can't visually choose a song or playlist. I don't care what order songs are in a particular playlist (it's shuffled within playlists) ..... but I *definitely need* to choose a particular playlist... If I have sleepy music while running or running music while going to bed, that would be unfortunate.....
Heh.
2008?if it's still around!
Heh.
The thing about Shuffles is I can't visually choose a song or playlist. I don't care what order songs are in a particular playlist (it's shuffled within playlists) ..... but I *definitely need* to choose a particular playlist... If I have sleepy music while running or running music while going to bed, that would be unfortunate.....
That's an inherent weakness in that model. It's to small for a screen. The Nanos your model if you want to see a playlist and choose your song. I was taking exception to Deckard's claim that the shuffle is flimsy and cheap. That may be his opinion but the review I saw at Ars suggests otherwise. I do sympathise that getting Apple products can be frustrating but that's a result of Apple's products being very strong and popular at the moment.
I have mine and I love it.
I don't think is cheap and flimsy at all.
Then get a Zune. No supply problems there. As far as the FUD about the durability of the shuffle, it was tested at Ars and went through all kinds of abuse. They dropped it, stepped on it, dropped it from a three story balcony, dropped it in a glass of beer (nice amber looking beer to boot) and drove over it WITH A CAR. Only driving over it with a car broke it! If it ain't tough enough for you, just how would you use it?
Yeah. I read that Ars Technica review. Pity it was for a gen 1 Nano though.
Man you enjoy bitching about Apple.
Have you ever took the time to realize sometimes is not completely Apple's fault.
Being in a smaller market share put Apple's not in the priority list of many vendors. Also Apple must be somewhat cautious when predict the amount the units to produce. It's note asy to foresee the huge success of their products.
There are a lot of factors. It's true that shipping delays are common, but that's living with Apple. For many years it's been like that. If you don't like then go buy a Zune like have been said here before.
It's normal for foreign countries to not get all the products offered in the USA. I am a foreigner and I experienced that in my country with many manufactures, not just Apple. If you don't like it then move to America. (by the way that would be a silly because Australia is a very nice place)
I enjoy bitching about Apple? Well, hang me from the nearest tree... could have sworn that I said 'Apple's logistics' people. But hey, you only read what you want to read I guess.
chill out, mate!
Given such a small form factor for the new Shuffle, do you think it's possible they'll be able to move to 2Gb storage in the same size?
You can ask that about every generation of product.
As memory density gets higher, and there have been new announcements in that area, it will happen.
Of course, Apple has to change the design so as to entice buyers of the old model to move on.
Yeah. I read that Ars Technica review. Pity it was for a gen 1 Nano though.
Then try this review. It is about gen 2 shuffle.
http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/shuffle.ars
I enjoy bitching about Apple? Well, hang me from the nearest tree... could have sworn that I said 'Apple's logistics' people. But hey, you only read what you want to read I guess.
I believe it was "the frigtards at Apple fulfillment".
You can ask that about every generation of product. As memory density gets higher, and there have been new announcements in that area, it will happen. Of course, Apple has to change the design so as to entice buyers of the old model to move on.
The nano 2gb will have to be bumped slightly if they go 2gb with the shuffle... But of course the nano is different with a screen and all that. But you're right, design changes may need to happen.
We should remember that last year the iPod range was not changed for like a block of at least 8 months. They were still selling strong. But Ives and Jobs and peoples took their time wisely to create a killer holiday lineup that might extend all the way into mid-2007.....
The nano 2gb will have to be bumped slightly if they go 2gb with the shuffle... But of course the nano is different with a screen and all that. But you're right, design changes may need to happen.
We should remember that last year the iPod range was not changed for like a block of at least 8 months. They were still selling strong. But Ives and Jobs and peoples took their time wisely to create a killer holiday lineup that might extend all the way into mid-2007.....
If you look at the sales numbers, the 8 GB model is lagging. Apple's original idea of going to 2 and 4 GB has proven to be correct. People are more interested in price than memory. I wonder if the color has anything to do with it.
If you look at the sales numbers, the 8 GB model is lagging. Apple's original idea of going to 2 and 4 GB has proven to be correct. People are more interested in price than memory. I wonder if the color has anything to do with it.
Yes, looks like the memory thing is like 4GB is great for songs and data, 8GB is perhaps in no-mans-land. Not enough for serious data backup, too much for just music without tv shows and movies.
Edit: If you look at the demographics as well for the 2GB and 1GB nanos and shuffles respectively, they are just nice for data that students/ younger people carry around on pendrives - it's all enough for music and some important files. Any more-geeky person would have an external 40-60gb USB drive or just burn CDs/DVDs for backup. 4GB is a nice "luxury" iPod nano upsell where you get a good decent size memory for the price, not too much memory, and you get... colours...! ...$199 is a nice sweet spot. Of course, $79 for a Shuffle is like, hell, I'll just get one more iPod...
I think Apple tried to replicate the success of the black MacBook. They had several advantages in making Black the well, new black.
1. Increased features
2. Apple laptops have NEVER been black
3. Wide, distinctive price AND feature gap between black MacBook 13.3" and cheapest MacBookPro
Opposed to the current situation
1. As you mentioned, increased memory but no additional features
2. There have been black iPods and continue to be offered
3. No price gap between black iPod nano and black iPod video
4. Lots more features for no price gap in the black iPod video
..................................