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Apple Hawks Madonna iPods
danamania writes "Apple's latest promotion is a gimmick with Madonna, Tony Hawk or Beck's signature, or a No Doubt logo, on an iPod. It seems Apple's really pushing the iPod as a too-cool fashion accessory as much as a too-cooler MP3 player... is Maddie's signature worth an extra USD49 over the standard iPod?" Instead of $50 for the engraved signature, you can spend $20 to print "Madonna's Signature" in beautiful Helvetica.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Apple start shipping iPods with 'special tracks' from artists.
I bet the RIAA wold love that.
This would make more sense if the iPod came preloaded with a bunch of music from the artist whose name is engraved.
because i'm sure all these artists understand that the iPod is often used to store illegally obtained music files. can this be construed as tacit approval? what would hilary rosen say?
or perhaps musicians realize that like the VCR the iPod MAY encourage piracy but it has plenty of non-infringing uses. just like gnutella....
smd4985
How about ipods in *different colors*?? It worked for the iMac, and is a better choice than the signature of the 'flavor of the month'. Cmon, THINK DIFFERENT, indeed.
Better yet, a clear, removable face plate that can cover photos or art of your OWN MAKING.
That sounds more like Apple to me...
I don't want to get flaimed for this - but honestly - this idea of of a Pop-Star, Skater guy, Loner, and Indy group signing an Ipod baffles me.
I'm all for people who want to get an Ipod - i'm sure it's a cool toy - as well as i'm sure it like all other toys has its +'s and -'s
But WHY? would you be more incligned to buy a Palm Pilot or a Zaurus if it had any of these signatures on it?
Ave Molech Setting
Actually, it's a hell of a lot more interesting than that. And I'm astounded that nobody's guessed it yet.
.Mac, the OS, iTunes, the iPod, and QuickTime 6/AAC, they're the only ones who are in a position to make a real end-to-end, easy-to-use digital music distribution system happen.
.Mac "one click" system, which Apple licensed from Amazon and already uses in iPhoto for buying photographic prints on line. The only DRM will be the stuff we've already go built into the iPod that makes it inconvenient, though of course not impossible, to copy music off of it once it's been put on.
See, the deal is that Apple's management-- Steve more than anybody else, really-- sees the record companies kinda dropping the ball. People are happy with MP3-quality music, and they want to be able to buy it over the Internet. Current systems for doing that just suck. Since Apple controls
In the future, you'll (assuming we can cut a deal with Apple Records on that nasty trademark matter) be able to plug you iPod into your Mac, browse a library of songs via iTunes, and download them directly to your iPod over broadband or AirPort. Micro-payment (well, semi-micro; on the order of a dollar per song) will be handled through the
When we go live with this-- which we're hoping to do by the end of next year at the latest-- we're going to need some big names. That's why we've been talking to Madonna, No Doubt, Beck, Dave Matthews Band, Moby, and some others.
Basically Apple is trying to do an end-run around the record companies and the RIAA. It's not done yet, and it may not work, but the foundation is there and all that's really left is to sort out the legal details.
If anybody finds out I've posted this, I'm out of a job, and I'll probably end up with my ass in court. Hope this "anonymous coward" thing works as advertised.
Wouldn't it a heckova lot cooler to use flexible displays or electronic paper wrapped around the iPod so you could customize the external appearance yourself? Skins for physical devices -- now THAT is cool!
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
I've got 4 Apple ][gs', two of which are the "Special Woz Edition" - I don't recall them being more expensive when I purchased them; if memory serves well it was first-come-first-serve.
That said, this iPod/Madonna/Tony Hawk/etc. does seem to be a departure from the above; would you pay extra for a "Steve Jobs iPod"? Would you have paid extra for the Woz edition of the ][gs? I think back then in my early Apple days (read: Apple as a religion) I might have actually considered it, and would certainly be tempted by a Woz edition iPod (LOL) - but non-Apple celebrities? I dunno, it cheapens the allure of this product enhancement if you ask me..
Now, if they had an iPod where you could get HELLO KITTY etched on the back, they will probably destroy the market for anything else.
I would not mind an iPod, but this is a stupid idea. Most of the people stupid enough to want a pointless celebrity endorsement on their purchases are too young for an iPod.
Star Wars lunch boxes sell well to the to young to know any better, but I don't think many in this demographic have the spending power for consumer electonics.
The only positive side I see is that surely some or all of the people they pick will turn out really unpopular. There has to be an iPod equivalent of the Jar Jar Binks lunch box.
I picture the price list this way:
Madonna iPod $349
Regular iPod $299
Mariah Carey iPod $149 (with bonus laser/bubblejet printable sticker slightly larger than signature)
Now I'm no Apple fan, but they may have a good idea here. Forget the scrawls. They are useless and ugly. However, looking at the No Doubt one, that's not a bad idea. They just need more options. I'd love if I could get various band logos of bands I liked scrawled onto an IPod, not just one, but logos of all the bands I like. Apple could have a large database of band logos and let you choose a bunch to throw on it together, make it look sortta raggadly put together.
>People are happy with MP3-quality music, and they want to be able to buy it over the Internet. Current systems for doing that just suck.
.Mac "one click" system
:-/
Not again. Apple is going to re-package emusic? Seriously, in what way does emusic suck? I get the whole album. It's one click. I get all I can download (well, I hear they cut you off at 100 albums a month). I suppose it might be nice for the client to also download the artwork for free, but feh, who cares that much?
>Micro-payment (well, semi-micro; on the order of a dollar per song) will be handled through the
Oh, I see. Sorry to say, it's dead before it hits the ground then. I hate micropayment BS, and that easily adds up to more than buying the real CD for me. Emusic has the best idea, IMHO.
>The only DRM will be the stuff we've already go built into the iPod that makes it inconvenient, though of course not impossible, to copy music off of it once it's been put on.
So, it's actually _worse_ than emusic, then?
It feels to me like another "let's take an idea, slap a nicer interface on it, and charge ungodly amounts" Apple standard idea then.
Just my two cents.
(For all though that haven't seen it yet, emusic is there. Try it and be amazed. It's totally free, for the first few songs. And, trust me, their 128 kbps is about as good as any 192 kbps I've encoded at home).
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
Recently at a motorcycle show I learned that one BMW's newest bikes, the F650CS, comes with an iPod when you purchase the bike: this page has details ...cute
Funny this should also be posted today:
.
Man arrested for leaking Apple documents
by Jim Dalrymple, jdalrymple@maccentral.com
December 11, 2002 4:10 pm ET
Apple on Wednesday filed a civil complaint in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Santa Clara against a former contract employee for leaking documents. In addition, according to court documents filed last week, the District Attorney in Sacramento, California is also pressing criminal charges and the man has been arrested.
Jose Lopez -- who was contracted by Apple through the Volt Services Group -- and an unnamed person referred to as Doe 1 are named in the civil complaint filed by Apple this morning. Lopez worked for Apple as a contractor last summer when schematic drawings and other details about Apple's Power Mac G4 were released on the Internet.
"Apple has filed a civil complaint against Jose Lopez, previously employed by Apple as a contractor, who we believe stole Apple's trade secrets by posting schematic drawings, images and engineering details of an unannounced Apple product on the Internet," an Apple spokesperson said in a statement to MacCentral today. "Innovation is in Apple's DNA, so the protection of trade secrets is crucial to our success. Our policy is to take legal actions where necessary to preserve the confidentiality of our intellectual property."...(more)
>Dude, if you don't work for emusic, you're going to have to present some kind of credentials or something. This is the biggest-- and lamest-- sales pitch I've seen in a Slashdot comment in a long, long time.
:-) I did on the advice of another random poster on metafilter, and it was well worth it (not many big name bands, though).
Honestly, I don't work there. It's just one of the few services I buy that I am truly satisfied with. It was everything I expected, and in this day and age, that sorta surprised me (in a good way).
Like I say, try it out if you don't believe me.
If you've got any questions, fire away.
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC