U2 iPod: Any Color You Want, As Long As It's Black

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U2 iPod: Any Color You Want, As Long As It's Black

Posted by timothy on Wednesday October 20, 2004 @08:09AM from the fascists dept.

dave writes "Forbes is carrying the story that U2 and Apple will be releasing a custom black iPod that comes preloaded with the band's new album as well as portions of the band's 25-year back catalog. The custom iPod will be made available the same week as the new album, which is slated for release in the U.S. November 23rd. The article also talks about the larger deal which included the advertisement for iPod/iTunes and exclusive rights for iTunes to sell the album online for the first few weeks of release." skyshock21 adds a link to this article in Revolution Magazine.

58 of 489 comments (clear)

Black Ipod? by SoTuA · 2004-10-20 08:10 · Score: 5, Funny

Yay! No more white "mug me please" apparel!
It comes with U2 preloaded? uughhhhh...
1. Re:Black Ipod? by Trigun · 2004-10-20 08:18 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Is it bigger than the white iPod?
  That's what I hear, anyway.
2. Re:Black Ipod? by eobanb · 2004-10-20 08:26 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  The most expensive U2 album yet.
  
  --
  Take off every sig. For great justice.
3. Re:Black Ipod? by The+Clockwork+Troll · 2004-10-20 08:33 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  It's not if you count the cost of therapy incurred after listening to 1993's Zooropa
  
  --
  
  There are no karma whores, only moderation johns
4. Re:Black Ipod? by Ionizer7 · 2004-10-20 10:26 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  It is the same size, but just like black desktop computers, it is ALOT faster.
This will be handy by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-20 08:10 · Score: 5, Funny

For pirating U2's next CD before it's official release!
Colors by DoorFrame · 2004-10-20 08:11 · Score: 5, Funny

I see a red ipod and I want it painted black...

--

--
RumorsDaily
1. Re:Colors by Goonie · 2004-10-20 08:18 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  But I still haven't found what I'm looking for...
  
  --
  
  Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo
  --Andy Finkel (J. Klass?)
2. Re:Colors by Mr.+Bad+Example · 2004-10-20 08:44 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Threads like this always remind me of my favorite fake letter to the editor in National Lampoon (back when it was still funny):
  
  Dear Sirs:
  
  Where the fuck are we now?
  
  Sincerely,
  Bono and The Edge
  Where the streets have no name
Comment removed by account_deleted · 2004-10-20 08:12 · Score: 5, Funny

Comment removed based on user account deletion
Comment removed by account_deleted · 2004-10-20 08:12 · Score: 3, Insightful

Comment removed based on user account deletion
Black now, full spectrum next by slimak · 2004-10-20 08:13 · Score: 4, Interesting

Does this mean that we may be able to get serveral colors in the near future? Blue iPod? OR, will other Apple products ship in black? Something about a shiny black iBook seems cool to me.
1. Re:Black now, full spectrum next by tanguyr · 2004-10-20 08:15 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Something about a shiny black iBook seems cool to me.
  paint. not just for sniffing anymore.
  
  --
  #!/usr/bin/english
2. Re:Black now, full spectrum next by mikeylebeau · 2004-10-20 08:24 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  If you want a shiny black iBook now, just check out ColorWare, they'll do it for you.
Do exclusive marketing things work? by indros13 · 2004-10-20 08:13 · Score: 5, Interesting

I think it's a neat kind of promo, but what about the black-loving non-U2 fan? Will the price be higher?
Also, any word on how successful these kinds of exclusive marketing deals are? I've noticed that Best Buy does a number of these exclusive marketing tricks. Any evidence to suggest that they actually work? (i.e. substantially boost sales, brand loyalty, etc)

--
Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
1. Re:Do exclusive marketing things work? by Waffle+Iron · 2004-10-20 08:18 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I think it's a neat kind of promo, but what about the black-loving non-U2 fan? Will the price be higher?
  Probably only about $3.49 higher.
2. Re:Do exclusive marketing things work? by meme_police · 2004-10-20 08:32 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Unless you know the price of the U2 Edition perhaps you should do #3? What part of "Will the price be higher?" do you not understand?
  
  --
  The meme police, They live inside of my head
I refuse to call it black by whoda · 2004-10-20 08:13 · Score: 5, Funny

So, where can I pick up one of these African-American IPods anyway?
1. Re:I refuse to call it black by WormholeFiend · 2004-10-20 08:25 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  where the streets have no name?
  
  [/sorry]
2. Re:I refuse to call it black by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-20 08:34 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  I believe the term is 'ipod of color', you insensitive clod!
3. Re:I refuse to call it black by pangloss · 2004-10-20 09:14 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  "The Irish are the blacks of Europe; Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland; and Northside Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin...so say it once and say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud!"
4. Re:I refuse to call it black by commodoresloat · 2004-10-20 09:41 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  you mean iRish.
It had to be said... by afish40 · 2004-10-20 08:13 · Score: 5, Funny

"It's like, how much more black could this be? and the answer is... none. None more black."

--
Thanks a million. Push Start to replay.
1. Re:It had to be said... by JWW · 2004-10-20 08:21 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  ... but can you turn the volume up to 11?
Any color you want by mikeylebeau · 2004-10-20 08:13 · Score: 4, Informative

You could also get your iPod colored however you want from ColorWare.. or buy one pre-colored from them direct. Looks pretty cool.
Downhill battle... by inkdesign · 2004-10-20 08:14 · Score: 5, Interesting

"U2 and Interscope will split a standard royalty for each song downloaded (about $0.60 per download), plus an upfront licensing fee."

Good to know SOMEBODY is getting something approaching a (more) fair cut of online royalties...
1. Re:Downhill battle... by pknoll · 2004-10-20 08:31 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Good to know SOMEBODY is getting something approaching a (more) fair cut of online royalties...
  This is what it will take, I think. A big-name band like U2 or Pearl Jam, maybe REM, saying "screw the system, we're going straight to digital".
  Once it's shown that the electronic distribution model can work - and it may take a big name to try it and see - others will follow suit.
2. Re:Downhill battle... by clifyt · 2004-10-20 09:57 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Why is that?
  
  Its the label taking the risk, not the artist.
  
  Remember the key word is ARTist. They make art. Art is not something that should be liked by all and viewed at as a consumable, but to be relevant it must be liked by a certain percentage of the population.
  
  A true artist would simply give the art away as long as he could afford to sustain himself.
  
  Instead, the artist goes to a label that knows 9 times out of 10 the artist is not going to be a profit center for it, and signs them anyways. These labels bank on the law of averages that says that if they cover enough bases, they will eventually hit gold (and hopefully platinum).
  
  Past that, guys like me like to get paid. I work in the back grounds for artists and someone has to pay me and folks like me. I've done it both ways -- I've been paid from the artist and I've been paid by the label. Wanna know who's screwed me less? The labels. When working on points (or mere fractions of points in my case), the label will lay out all the figures and statistics. The artist will always claim they haven't sold enough to pay any of us, even right after bragging to the girl next to you that they sold billions.
  
  If you actually had a clue as to what it took to put out a commercial grade album these days, you wouldn't be so harsh on the labels. Then again, if I was recording on my own again (i.e., not in a backing capacity), I too would be bitching about not getting paid enough...thats the nature of capitalism...we all think we deserve more.
Re:if only.. by qweqazfoo · 2004-10-20 08:14 · Score: 3, Insightful

You can have my Achtung Baby album when you pry it from my cold, dead hands!
Another marketing tactic by fembots · 2004-10-20 08:15 · Score: 5, Interesting

Are we seeing a new marketing tactic in the horizon?

Eg Buy a DVD Recorder with LOTR extendeder version preloaded? Or TiVo with 10 seasons of Friends?

Oh! It'll be fun if iPod's preloading Beatles songs...

--
Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
1. Re:Another marketing tactic by RazzleFrog · 2004-10-20 08:52 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Michael Jackson owns the publishing rights to most of the Beatles' library not the actual recordings. He can control (or 50% control with Sony now) who covers the songs and who uses them in ads but he can't control the recordings. For those who don't know there are two copyrights on songs - the recording and the music itself.
2. Re:Another marketing tactic by tji · 2004-10-20 09:26 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  > Or TiVo with 10 seasons of Friends?
  
  That's a good idea.. I recently got an HD Tivo, and it had 250GB of empty space that could have been used for sample content.
  
  It could allow for a better user experience, otherwise you have to wait several days for the Tivo to build up a list of programs captured. It could also kickstart the Tivo learning process by providing many programs for the user to rate. If they threw in a couple of more valuable items, like pay-per-view movies, or HBO movies, it would be even more effective.
  
  They could probably even get companies to pay them for the privilege.. I'm sure the networks would love the opportunity to pre-load the pilot episode of their programs on Tivos to make it easy for people to greatly increase the chance that viewers give it a chance.
  
  Even a couple sample HDTV programs would be nice to show off the 1080i video and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio capabilities of the unit..
Note to p2p users by dougnaka · 2004-10-20 08:16 · Score: 4, Funny

Please note that you are NOT allowed to distribute this file online during its iTunes exclusive rights phase.

--
My Linux Command of the Day site : LCOD
On a semi related note... by IronMagnus · 2004-10-20 08:16 · Score: 5, Interesting

Instead of mac apple and beatles apple fighting.. why don't they team up and sell a version of the white ipod with an apple graphic on the wheel thats pre-loaded with the beatles' white album.. the marketing writes itself.
Beatles Lawsuit? by the+pickle · 2004-10-20 08:16 · Score: 5, Interesting

As noted yesterday on As the Apple Turns, this could have some ramifications for the lawsuit, as Apple Computer is going to be shipping physical media with pre-recorded songs on it. The argument up to this point was that Apple Computer had never shipped any physical media containing songs (Barenaked Ladies music videos on the Mac OS 8+ system CDs notwithstanding), and thus wasn't in violation of the previous agreement with Apple Records.

I'm curious to see what the Beatles'/Apple Records' lawyers will say about this.

p

--
In Korea, long hair is for old people!
1. Re:Beatles Lawsuit? by djh101010 · 2004-10-20 08:21 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I'm curious to see what the Beatles'/Apple Records' lawyers will say about this.
  
  Well, Apple Computers has continued to do what they agreed not to do, time after time, and continues to give money to Apple Corps, LTD because of it. All I can figure is that it's considered a "cost of doing business" and is factored in already. I can't personally see why U2 of all groups would be what they'd do this with - why not work _with_ The Beatles and release an iPod with the Beatles catalog on it? Now _that_, I would buy, and pay a premium for even (since I own the whole thing in several formats already). Hell, the Beatles collectors would probably buy a ton of these, leave 'em unopened, and so on. What better than a sale with no support costs post-sale? Seems like a natural to me...
2. Re:Beatles Lawsuit? by iphayd · 2004-10-20 08:28 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Actually, that is completely false. When iTunes first came out, Apple shipped all consumer Macs with a variety of songs in a "iTunes Sampler". This was prior to the iTMS.
How Much of the Catalog? by Mad+Martigan · 2004-10-20 08:18 · Score: 5, Insightful

black iPod that comes preloaded with the band's new album as well as portions of the band's 25-year back catalo

Sure, it's cool that the iPod is black (although, I can't seem to find any pictures of said iPod. I'd love to see what it looks like), but I think the real question is how much of the band's catalog is preloaded onto it? If you are a U2 fan, and the device contains, say, even 50% of the catalog, that's pretty significant value added. Of course, if you're a U2 fan, you probably own those albums anyway, so maybe not.

Still, I guess it's a nice marketing gimmick by Apple. Exclusive rights to seel the music (online, and for a little while at least), some ads out of a pretty popular group, and a million trillion news outlets covering the story and producing even more press. Kudos, Apple.

--
... turning to the 3-D map, we see an unmistakable con
Hidden Message in name by FerretFrottage · 2004-10-20 08:18 · Score: 3, Funny

in reverse....dopi2U

--
"Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change."
Bono's a moron by goldspider · 2004-10-20 08:20 · Score: 5, Funny

Ya'll see that commercial with him pimping the iPod? He counts "Uno... Dos... Tres... Catorce" in Spanish. Now I may not be the most educated man on Earth, but I know sure as shit that fourteen does NOT come after three!!

--
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
1. Re:Bono's a moron by glenrm · 2004-10-20 08:24 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Maybe he is trying to be cool, I don't know I was never good at cool...
  
  --
  Onward to the Aether Sphere!
2. Re:Bono's a moron by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-20 08:26 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  No, it does.
3. Re:Bono's a moron by fr2asbury · 2004-10-20 08:27 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Well it sure as heck doesn't come BEFORE three. ;-)
4. Re:Bono's a moron by Edgetho007 · 2004-10-20 08:35 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Actually I think the new album is their fourteenth.
U2 References by Eberlin · 2004-10-20 08:20 · Score: 4, Funny

My Karma's bound to take a beating for this but oh well...

This portable mp3 player seems nice and I've been shopping around for a while but I still haven't found what I'm looking for.

Does it have additional GPS functionality in case I get lost where the streets have no name?

They initially went with Rio but with the faulty hard-drives, the "Rio Lemon" just wasn't going to be popular.

They were also pitched a deal with Microsoft but Bono didn't like the idea of Ballmer dancing to Mysterious Ways...and Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me for that matter.

I heard the new black ipod is nature-proof and can be used even in places of high elevation.

Asked if the band actually uses the product, Bono admitted that both he and The Edge owned One...but they're not the same.
I'm holding out by WormholeFiend · 2004-10-20 08:22 · Score: 5, Funny

for a Type R iPod in green/purple chameleon paint, and a "spinner rim" scroll wheel.
1. Re:I'm holding out by Rude+Turnip · 2004-10-20 08:34 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  I hear the sticker gives you a few extra gigs of storage space!
  
  --
  Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
backup the songs? by MCS · 2004-10-20 08:22 · Score: 5, Interesting

Lets say I bought this new ipod, and I had to format it for some reason.

Now will I be able to get the preshipped songs back on it? Will I be able to transfer them off the Ipod (or install CD) to make a copy for my (fair) use?
Not really "custom" by Dirtside · 2004-10-20 08:29 · Score: 4, Insightful

Maybe this is just nitpicking, but the word "custom" usually means "built to custom specifications for a particular customer." Customer. This is really just a special promotional edition iPod that is being mass-produced. Kind of misleading to call it "custom."

--
"Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
Obvious by blackmonday · 2004-10-20 08:34 · Score: 4, Funny

I'm still waiting for the black and yellow sriped STRYPER edition. Hello?
Very slick marketing... by Proteus · 2004-10-20 08:38 · Score: 4, Insightful
Once again, Apple demonstrates that they've mastered the art of slick marketing. This new iPod should definately appeal to a few categories of people who don't already own an iPod:
- Those who don't like the whiteness
- Those who are fad-driven, since this will be the "latest cool thing"
- Those pondering an iPod purchase, but who were undecided might see extra value in the preloaded songs, and be pushed to buy
- U2 fan{boy|girl}s: they will buy because the black iPod screams "I'm a U2 fan".
I expect that this promotion will be rather effective, and we'll see Apple running similar promos in the future. Also, the poster who predicted changeable iPod covers (a la cellphone faceplates) is, IMO, right on the money.
--
We may not imagine how our lives could be more frustrating and complex—but Congress can. – Cullen Hightower
Vertigo has topped the iTunes download charts.... by acomj · 2004-10-20 08:40 · Score: 5, Insightful

Forbes says "Vertigo has topped the iTunes download charts since its debut three weeks ago". The itunes chart..

Is this the new metric on song popularity? It would seem to very accurate because you can track who would be willing to pay for a song rather than on an album by album basis..
Re:iPod and music piracy... by rco3 · 2004-10-20 09:03 · Score: 4, Insightful

...or C) Apple has realized that there is a large segment of the population that wants to carry around mp3s, etc., of music that they've ALREADY BOUGHT and have THEMSELVES RIPPED so that they can listen to all of their OWN music wherever they go.

That's still legal here in the US.

When *I* rip songs, they average about 8 MB each. That's about 7500 songs, or (calculated by compression ratio) about 7.5 full discs per gig. Call it 10 discs to account for stuff that's not 72 minutes. Hmm, 600 CDs. I don't have that many, no - but I've got more than 200. And having more than 400 is not that hard to imagine.

Maybe Apple aren't out to contribute to music piracy. Maybe they really want to help people to listen to THEIR music the way THEY want to. ...or maybe D) each song averages 110k each, and Apple thinks that people want to carry around enough music to occupy the rest of their lives, and in fact are planning a subcutaneous model for 2006?

Myself, I'm betting on A) or C). Don't forget that the iPod can be used as storage, too...

--

Ce n'est pas un vrai mouvement de robot!
I don't think that's what he says by Zlurg · 2004-10-20 09:18 · Score: 3, Interesting

Who says it has to be Spanish? LOTS of languages use uno, dos and tres as their first three numbers. I'll tell you what, though, there are a couple that use quatro-variants as #4, pronounced entirely differently from Espanol...
...say, akin to "KAT-ruh"
I know this because I once owned an Italian car called the Masarati Quattroporte, pronounced "KATruh-port"

And by the time I get this posted, I'm sure 6 others will point out that 14 DOES come after 3.
The preshipped songs are by U2. by commodoresloat · 2004-10-20 09:52 · Score: 3, Funny

Hopefully, once you reformat, they will be gone forever.
Re:Damn thats sexy... by Anonymous Coward · 2004-10-20 10:39 · Score: 3, Informative

Sexy? You want sexy with an iPod?? Here ya go!! (warning: nsfw)

Hehe. :)
It's the wild colour scheme that freaks me... by Dixie_Flatline · 2004-10-20 10:41 · Score: 4, Funny

Every time you try to operate one of the weird black controls that are labelled in black on a black background, a little black light lights up black to let you know youve done it.
That is SO true by GrodinTierce · 2004-10-20 15:09 · Score: 3, Funny

I swear it's totally for real! Check this out if you don't believe me.

:)

--

Tierce
Who sponsors your feelings?