Slashdot Mirror
Apple Ends Delay, Sets iPod Mini Worldwide Launch
dncsky1530 writes "Apple Computer said Wednesday that it would end the waiting and launch its iPod mini digital music player around the world on July 24.
The release ends a three-month delay of the iPod mini's debut outside the United States. In March, Apple said it would postpone the mini player's release because of stronger-than-expected domestic demand and slow production of the device's hard drives."
Second, as the iPod mini uses a different battery and it has only been in people's hands for several months, no one can speak to the average longevity of the battery in these models.
Third, and I am sorry if this is rude, it's not hard to educate yourself about this before you ask a question in Slashdot that just makes you sound like a Troll.
Boom Shanka
Then again /. has been consistently wrong on the popularity of Apple products. If I recall correctly, /.'s general opinion was that the ipod would be unsuccessful as well.
seSales, Point of Sale software for OS X.
While I used to agree with you. Why spend $50 less for 11GB less space...
There is a 6 week wait for these things as they can't get the parts and or build them fast enough.
As has been hashed out many times here before, they aren't competing with the $299 15GB iPod, they are competing with the $199 512MB flash players. Does it look like a better deal now?
As for the size, when you look at the numbers in print it doesn't seem that much smaller, when you hold one of each in your hand the size difference is significant.
Miniaturization costs money: look at the prices we pay to have those tiny cellular phones compared to the communi-bricks from the late 80's. You're saving a half the weight, half the volume, getting a more "durable" (scratch resistant) outer body. If you had no interest in using more than 1gb of storage the iPod mini is a pretty good deal - even compared to the big ipod for a number of reasons, some examples may include:
1. The guys at my gym that want a smaller iPod to run with. The iPod mini is about half the size of the already small iPod.
2. People that have 4gb or less of music digitized or possibly people who will only ever want to listen to 1,000 songs before returning to their computers to change the list. Using iTunes it's only a half-dozen clicks to switch from "sync playlist x" to "sync songs in playlist x, y and z" - wait a few seconds and you're ready to go.
That's prefect for a lot of people who are used to selecting a couple of CDs in the morning for the commute to work. Buying an additional 11gb of space isn't a better deal for these people, it's a waste of $50!
3. People who just like "cute" or "blue". There are some people who see the iPod as a fashion accessory - $250 isn't a lot compared to a designer belt or purse.
4. People who just don't have $299 to spend on the "big boy" ipods but still want to be part of Apple's "digital lifestyle". The fact remains that the only portable player you can (easily) use your iTunes Music Store tunes with is made by Apple. Also, Apple has arguably one of the best interfaces for a portable MP3 player of this kind, and it's digital jukebox software has been well received too - some people are willing to sacrifice a few gigabytes of storage if they thing they will end up with a better overall user experience.
$50 may not seam like a lot to some of us, but for someone like my younger brother working part time at subway in high-school that's a fair size chunk of his monthly income. They may decide to purchase the 'best quality' by whatever measure they use - rather than the highest specifications.
first off, it's a lithium ion battery. if you recharge it from empty 500 times in 18 months, regardless of the manufacturer, the battery will die. second, it's not a bug, it's called physics.
- tristan
Something I forgot to add: If the iPod Mini makes people say "Hey, the 15 GB iPod only costs $50 more and gets you almost 400% as much space - why get the small one?!" then Apple has just 'upsold' you to another (better) item. Apple doesn't care if you compare the cheapest iPod to a more costly one because in the end it will still be money in the bank. You didn't think to compare to the Creative MuVo 2 or one of the Rio players - just another Apple product: that makes me think that the iPod mini is perfectly priced/marketed. If the only competition for the iPod mini is another iPod then what does Apple have to lose?
I ordered a Pink miniPod for my girlfriend on 6/28. My estimated ship date of 7/12 was changed to 7/27 a day later, and I live in the U.S. Is Apple stockpiling minis for the worldwide release, or is pink just a really popular color? Perhaps a disgruntled/bitter Apple employee noticed the words "love" and "birthday" in the engraving and decided to ruin both for us. Oh well. I only bought it to be able to touch and see it myself, and her birthday was the excuse I needed to order it. And yes, all of my relationships have been as much of a sham as this one. If only I had one of those symmetrical faces with small features, like on television...
The Australian Apple online store had nearly 14,000 preorders in the first 2 hours after they became available, so I'd say they're going to do rather well with the iPod Mini. :)
Actaully, at that point, I think it's called chemistry.
After the mini came out, I see even more iPods and about 1/3 of the 'pods that are waling around are minis (a lot of idiots seem to enjoy showing them off, either on armbands, by carrying them, or having them attached to their belt). I call them idiots, because only an idiot would show off something that easy to rip off that's that expensive. On more than one occasion I've realized that if I wasn't such a bum, I could probably grab one and run away with it before anyone realized... although I'm not a fast runner, so that's not feasible, I'd get caught and have the shit beaten out of me before getting arrested...
...spike
Ewwwwww, coconut...
It proves that consumers are interested in aesthetics with feasible capacity in preference to just raw storage capacity. After all alot of consumers don't have more than 4GB of songs.
Additionally iTunes makes it easy to make good use of that 4GB. Good options to automatically control what music is placed on the device.
First off, I absolutely love the ipod mini and I want one. But some of these criticisms are reasonable. #2 - the edges ARE sharp. I mean, you won't slice your wrist with it or anything but they are sharp. I think it's kind of cool, myself, with the aluminum it looks kind of industrial in a way. #3 - you're right, but the effect is the same as paint coming off. Where it used to be pink, there's now a silver spot. Which makes me want the silver one. #4 - the 2nd gen white ipods got it right - I think this is a step backwards. I like that the controls are on the wheel, but the wheel is not nearly as easy to use or sensitive. But even granted all those complaints, I want one. The only thing stopping me from buying one is that I already have a 30 gig white one....