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Why iPod Mini is a smart move for Apple
Ample Dave writes "Ars Technica has an analytical article up right now that looks at Apple's strategy with the (many would say overpriced) iPod Mini. I have to admit that I bought into the rumors of a dirt cheap iPod Jr., and thus was very disappointed when the real price of $250 was announced, but this article changed my mind. It leads me to wonder about Apple's other pricing games. You an see this kind of thing with the eMac and iMac, too."
I'm as much as an Apple fanatic as most of em; I've got my two Dual G4s, my powerbook, and my 3rd generation 20Gb iPod, and I'd agree with this article completely except for one thing...
It costs an extra $120 to get all the accessories that should come with the damn thing! Why is it so much extra to get the armband, the dock, and the remote? For $250 the should be included.
On the other hand, high-end MP3 Players (like the new Rio, whatever it's called) are almost $200, but for another $50, you get a much larger capacity.
I think it's worth it, I'm a student and can't afford it, but I would buy one if I weren't poor.
And no, I'm not a Mac User/Activist
you've just been upsold by $50
Did you bother to read the article? The whole point is that the device is not expensive at all when compared to what else you can get in the smaller storage capacity market for that price.
At the very least, it's competatively priced, and given the iTunes support and the superior UI, it's probably a no-brainer for anyone looking in that general price range.
The original iPod had 5 GB of storage. The mini iPod has 4 GB for now, but in a year what will it have? This is a new form factor that will become more and more attractive over time. At some point (three years from now?) it won't matter that a mini holds 80 GB and a normal iPod holds 160 GB, the smaller size will be enough of an advantage to go for the mini. At some point the mini will simply be the iPod. Then the larger one will move on to video.
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>>So why would anyone buy the Mini?
Smaller form factor and colors. For a lot of people this stuff really really matters.
I run and I would much rather carry the Mini, than a full size ipod. Plus, I only have 3 gigs of music, so I really wound't get much more value out of a 40 gig player.
Jeff
The iPod Mini has also had an interesting side effect. Before Apple announced it, everybody thought that paying 300$ for the lower iPod was crazy, and that it was greatly overpriced. Today, most people believe that the 300$ iPod is the best option available, and that it is reasonably priced. Definitely, these Apple guys are marketing geniuses...
What is wrong with selling things with a little more dash and flash? Color beeps? The new beetle? Reminds me of the old story that Motorola enginner were atonished how their beepers starting selling only cuz they offerent different colors. Not some new whiz bang feature.
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you get much larger capacity in a much larger form factor and a much crappier interface, a much larger weight, and no system integration.
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Because:
A) Like it or not, they're a major industry player.
B) They're a competitor to Microsoft. Possibly the most significant competitor.
C) We need more competition in this market.
D) MacOS is Unix-based, and Slashdot has a Unix-centric userbase.
I thought those were pretty good reasons, personally.
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You're thinking like a geek. Extra space? Removable what? These are the responses you'll get from an iPod mini customer. If you show them the larger, white box, they'll point at the mini and say "this one is cuter and smaller". And if you get a savvy ipod mini shopper, they'll say "1700 songs...more than I have or plan on getting".
cat
Can you burn everything you buy with MS's music store to CD?
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To a great many people, 4GB (if they even understand the concept of a gigabyte, some people actually don't bother themselves with such things!) is a number sufficiently high that a higher number is needless. For someone that isn't going to fill 4GB, buying a 15GB player is spending money on features they don't need/want.
However, for many of these same people, small form factor is desirable, as are colors.
It's funny how many geeks don't get that not every potential iPod customer thinks in terms of data storage.
You will always find the other MP3 players at less than MSRP and you will never be able to purchase the iPod at anything other than MSRP. Barring farfegnugen freebies, of course. iPod minis are purely fashionable.
Why would someone spend $250 for 4 gigs in a iPod Mini, when I can by a brand new Dell Dimension 2400 with 40 gigs of space on it for only $400! That's only $150 more dollars for 36 more gigs of memory!
It's ridiculous that they could charge that much for something with no storage in it at all. I don't care if it's a little smaller. It's absolutely a crime that they should even insult us like this.
Well, the other side of the "accessories sold seperately" coin is - you could get stuck paying for items you don't want or need, if it's all bundled in at one price.
I'd never use an armband with a portable music player, for example. I tend to put them in my inner coat pocket in the winter, and other times, just leave them in my car, on my desk at work, or wherever I want to use them.
Even the remote, which I thought was a "must have" option for my iPod at first, is little more than a toy to me now. (As often as not, I use my iPod to listen to music in my car - so I can't make use of their wired remote in that scenario anyway. I just have a Griffin iTrip plugged into the top of my iPod.) It's fine for when you're actually using the earbud headphones -- but I don't find it that much more of a problem to just reach down and use the iPod's controls themselves for volume or to skip tracks.
As they say, "There's no such thing as a free lunch." When you buy something with "free bonus accessories" in the box, you can be sure you paid for them in the price of the item.
leather case
You'll never see one of these coming with an iPod. It's not because Apple is cheap, either (leather is cheap anyway) but because Steve is a vegetarian. Also, the Jaguar pattern on their box was rendered by Pixar because Steve didn't want to use a real Jaguar (hint, you have to take the skin off to get it that flat)
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