What is it about the iPod ??
Posted by: David Stewart on 27 December 2003
Help me out here - someone! I'm struggling very hard to see just what it is about the Apple iPod that -
Unless I'm missing something absolutely crucial here, this thing is an MP3 player, allbeit one with an enormous storage capacity, but anyway, who on earth needs to carry around with them over 300 hours of non-stop music?
Granted it does support the "CD quality" AAC file format, but as this is available only to the tiny percentage of potential users who have Apple Mac computers and not to the vast majority with Windows, this feature hardly seems to fit into the 'Major Life Enhancing Benefit' category.
Add to that it needs firewire or USB 2.0 (which not every PC has!) to feed its all consuming hunger and its tough to see just what all the fuss is about.
To pay nearly £300 pounds for this 'box of tricks', strikes me as faintly ridiculous, given in 6 months or so there'll be something bigger, better and far, far cheaper to do the same job. Anyway you can buy MP3 players now, with 12 hour music storage capacity for less than £50 and surely that's enough to meet most peoples needs.
The cynic in me fears this is just another example of marketing hype over-riding consumer common sense, or is it perhaps the last death rattle of a computer company trying desperately to stay in business? Hopefully somebody out there can answer the riddle
David
[This message was edited by David Stewart on SATURDAY 27 December 2003 at 10:39.]
1. Justifies its awesome price-tag.
2. Causes it to walk off store shelves in such alarming numbers.
3. Threatens to make it the 'must-have' lifestyle accessory of the year.
Unless I'm missing something absolutely crucial here, this thing is an MP3 player, allbeit one with an enormous storage capacity, but anyway, who on earth needs to carry around with them over 300 hours of non-stop music?
Granted it does support the "CD quality" AAC file format, but as this is available only to the tiny percentage of potential users who have Apple Mac computers and not to the vast majority with Windows, this feature hardly seems to fit into the 'Major Life Enhancing Benefit' category.
Add to that it needs firewire or USB 2.0 (which not every PC has!) to feed its all consuming hunger and its tough to see just what all the fuss is about.
To pay nearly £300 pounds for this 'box of tricks', strikes me as faintly ridiculous, given in 6 months or so there'll be something bigger, better and far, far cheaper to do the same job. Anyway you can buy MP3 players now, with 12 hour music storage capacity for less than £50 and surely that's enough to meet most peoples needs.
The cynic in me fears this is just another example of marketing hype over-riding consumer common sense, or is it perhaps the last death rattle of a computer company trying desperately to stay in business? Hopefully somebody out there can answer the riddle
David
[This message was edited by David Stewart on SATURDAY 27 December 2003 at 10:39.]
60 quid for a replacement battery - what's it made of solid gold - sounds like a sweet little earner for Apple to me 
There's a company called MD Battery that do a direct replacement for the iPod M8541 battery ("as supplied to Apple from Danionics") for only £44.65 full retail (inc VAT).
David
There's a company called MD Battery that do a direct replacement for the iPod M8541 battery ("as supplied to Apple from Danionics") for only £44.65 full retail (inc VAT).
David
It does look sweet but I well pissed off with apple for starting to charge for iphoto, apparently they have a new version out which actually moves reasonably quickl, but you have to pay 
More and more like Microsoft everyday.
More and more like Microsoft everyday.
quote:
Originally posted by garyi:
It does look sweet but I well pissed off with apple for starting to charge for iphoto, apparently they have a new version out which actually moves reasonably quickl, but you have to pay
More and more like Microsoft everyday.
I think Apple are really shooting themselves in the foot if they don't keep at least iPhoto and iTunes as free downloads. The small amount of income generated from ilife will be swamped by the pissed of Mac users who don't upgrade to a new Mac.
Of course, if they announce free downloads after people have paid for ilife, then they will get pissed off too!
iTunes is why the music store is sucessful, and it's sucessful because it's free. I think iDVD and iMovie shouls also be free - these apps sell Mac hardware after all. And the 'integration' is part of the Mac appeal.
Regards
Stephen
PS Can you copy direct to an iPod via iTunes and miss out the HD?