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iPod Mini Worldwide Rollout Delayed

Posted by timothy on from the sound-the-tiny-klaxon-immediately dept.

falcon5768 writes "Apparently those 4-gig, $249 little buggers are selling faster than anyone expected.... So fast that the original April rollout worldwide has been delayed till July to keep up with the demand in the states and to get enough in production to meet worldwide sales. Given that there where 100,000 pre-orders alone, does this mean that yet again Apple hit on a niche that no one else (including me) thought would sell. I have been hearing a lot of rumors that the biggest buyer of the iPod mini has in fact been those female tech geeks out there. So much for the idea a $249 4-gig iPod was a mistake." Rob Glaser of RealNetworks, though, claims that not opening the iPod (big or small) to other formats is a real mistake; he wants to see iPod support other proprietary formats (like, say, Real's).

11 of 614 comments (clear)

  1. It's hard to say whether "it's a mistake". by James+A.+M.+Joyce · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The fact of the matter is that Joe Sixpack will not give a crap what format his music is in, and will mock anybody who tries to explain why he should. As long as it works, that's it. iPods will continue to sell regardless of format because unlike we nerds, normal people only store music on their iPods and listen to it from there. They don't swap their shit around as we would like to. So the iPod Minis will continue to be a raging success.

  2. Apple continues to defy the odds by ScooterBill · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I was an original Mac person. Way back with the Apple II, then the Mac, etc. Finally I switched to the PC for all the obvious reasons.

    What got me to buy an iPod was the almost sensual way it felt, the intuitive way it operates and the "cool" factor which is worth a lot to me.

    Of course, I wouldn't go near it until the PC interface came out and I still wish it supported more formats. I know most of the /. crowd is obsessed with specs and functionality but I think the iPod is a thing of beauty. What Apple did with the mini is add a color choice which instantly makes it legitimate to the eye of a woman. Most women I know are much more color sensitive than men. The small size helps too.

    I think secretly I like seeing the Apple logo on my desk full of functional PC crap.

    M

  3. Apple sold two yesterday by valkraider · · Score: 4, Interesting

    To my family... They came out to visit, they had never seen an iPod before, and they have almost zero Apple products in the city where they are from (only 1 CompUSA is the only place that sells Apple products). They all use PCs. I took them to the Apple store, and they walked out with two iPod Minis. They would buy Apple computers if Apple would get some Retail presence in New Mexico - so that they could have a place to buy software and peripherals and such....

  4. Real reason? by Quixote · · Score: 3, Interesting
    I don't mean to diss the Mac crowd here, but how much of this shortage is due to the fact that the minis have 4GB microdrives in them, which by themselves cost more than $250 ?

  5. Re:Slap iPod on ANYTHING and it'll sell... by CuriHP · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I don't think that's necessarily true. I got mine about 2 weeks ago, and I have to say I love it. I run a couple time a week and the mini is several orders of magnitude better than the iPod it replaced (an original 5GB model). If you're doing anything that requires you to move, the size makes a huge difference. At about one quarter to one third the size and weight of my old one, it is a massive improvement.
    I'm sure someone will point out that it doesn't hold all 7GB of my music. Well, . . . , I don't care. It goes in the dock every other day to charge it anyway. Changing some playlists around every week or so doesn't really matter.

    Oh, and I'd have to say that I am tech savvy, I am a computer engineer after all. Now I better switch desktops and finish inserting JTAG before my boss comes by again. ;-)

    --
    If it's not on fire, it's a software problem.
  6. Re:There's a lot of crow sandwiches around here. by austad · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Yeah, well I was one of the people ridiculing them for it. Then I played with one and now I have one. Yeah, it's less than 1/4 the capacity of the one for $50 more, but it's actually not in the way at the gym and fits in my pocket better. Well worth the money for the convenience.

    Now if only they would come out with wireless sharing on it so I could browse other people's libraries at the gym, that would be sweet.

    --
    Need Free Juniper/NetScreen Support? JuniperForum
  7. Comparison not nessicarily needed by SuperKendall · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ...
    the wheel thing is very cool and functionality is a high point. i just dont think people get an iPod because they played with the alternatives and it worked the best.

    The thing is that you can play with them and know that the work really well, without even having used a different model - they work well enough to convince you they would be usable in daily life. That's why I think that functionality may still be a primary reason for choosing them. It would be really interesting to see some kind of breakdown about how many people had had contact with one before buying them as that would go a long way to prove or disprove the theory. My theory comes about from hearing a lot of people relate stories about buying them after playing with one, and seeing people react to them at Apple stores (they show only casual interest as they pick them up, but get really into them when they start using it).

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  8. Re:Why women would adopt it first... by Talez · · Score: 4, Interesting

    i just dont think people get an iPod because they played with the alternatives and it worked the best.

    What crack are you smoking and where can I get me some?

    I got an iPod because scrolling through lists on dpads sucks ass. As soon as I walked into that apple store and touched that wheel I knew that navigating through my MP3 collection wouldn't suck. And then I paid for a 20GB iPod in cash, in full.

  9. Gotta throw in my $.02 by filmsmith · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I was showing my iPod off to a girl a couple of months ago, touting the features and telling her about the smaller pink ones that were coming out soon.

    She oohed and aahed that thing for quite a while (playing with it the whole time) and then asked one of the silliest questions I'd ever heard.

    "Is it easy to use?"

    My only response... "You tell me. You're using it right now."

    She's since bought her own pink iPod Mini.

    fs

  10. Re:why? by Tsuzuki · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I think it's the smaller size, too. A lot of gym freaks and athletes have been buying it since it's easier to run/cycle/work out with than an iPod.

  11. Re:Why women would adopt it first... by glyneth · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My sister bought one because the 128mb or 256mb MP3 player she had didn't hold enough songs for her workout.

    She'd considered buying the larger ones and dealing with the weight, but when they announced the mini, she saved her cash and ordered it for her birthday.

    For her, it was the weight, not the cost. It was equivalent to her purchase of the smaller MP3 player, which is the point most people are missing.

    Oh, and she bought the silver, not the colors. Though she wishes now she'd kinda bought one of the colored ones.