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Creative Gunning For the iPod

yashchopra writes "CTZ is running an article where Creative's main goal in 2005 is to take away market shares from Apple's iPod music player, which they believe is very possible. The publication also have some information on the upcoming flash MP3 player standards that we will see this year. "While many companies are looking forward to their flash MP3 players, Creative has other plans. Creative was one of the most popular exhibitors on the show floor with their Zen Micro and Zen Touch players on display. Creative's sole goal this year is to take away some market shares from Apple's iPod. The company believes it to be a possible task, as iPod is limited to iTunes when it comes to purchasing music online and with Creative's products, you will be able to purchase music from major online vendors. The ability to download and listen music from any major online retailer and the price are what Creative is using as their marketing strategies to compete against Apple's iPod. But other than that, Creative's products look very much like the iPod with a few changes."

17 of 696 comments (clear)

  1. My week is now ready by mordors9 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can start my week without concern now. I have had my death of the ipod (or apple) article so all is right with the world.

  2. News Flash!!! by iPaqMan · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ford is trying to take market share from GM!!

    Of course Creative wants to take market share from Apple. Why is this news??? Are nerds oblivious to simple economics?

    Man, this must really be a slow news day.

  3. Please by asliarun · · Score: 4, Funny

    Let us not compare Apples to Oranges.

    Sorry, couldn't resist :-)

  4. Creative needs to improve reliability by lga · · Score: 4, Funny

    If Creative want to take market share from Apple then they need to increase reliability. I got my wife a Zen Touch for christmas, and it went back to the shop just two weeks later because it kept locking up.

    I did everything Creative recommended, the built in scan-disk, formatting the disk, upgrading the firmware but in the end it was still locking up nearly every time the thing was turned on! A quick google search turned up posts on the creative forum that showed that I am not alone in this problem. Even reviews of the player mention that it froze up, but most just gloss over it.

    It is a shame that the player had these problems because my first impression of the Zen Touch was a quality player. It's made from metal, not plastic, has a good screen, fantastic battery life. Altogether better construction and design than the iPod and cheaper too.

    I'm giving them a chance to replace the player when they have stock but I'm not impressed by these problems and my next purchase probably won't be a Creative product.

  5. Re:Any major retailer? by jest3r · · Score: 4, Funny

    funny .. allofmp3.com works fine with my iPod

  6. In other news.... by zwilliams07 · · Score: 5, Funny

    A haze from crack smoking has unexplainably engulfed Creative's HQ during the statement.

  7. How about.. by Chicane-UK · · Score: 5, Funny

    Less talk and more action. When companies TALK about doing something, but actually don't seem to actually be DOING a lot of anything, people lose interest.

    Creative have been at this for long enough, and I don't see why they don't just channel all this hype up into a bloody good product rather than releasing products which try and keep up with what Apple are doing. Nothing of theirs that I have seen so far has been particularly innovative - just one big game of catchup.

    Make the killer product ffs and then wow us with it..

    --
    "Hey! Unless this is a nude love-in, get the hell off my property!!"
  8. Re:Partnerships by TheRaven64 · · Score: 4, Funny
    I can see this being the year of partnerships.

    No, no, no. This is the year of High Definition. Didn't you see the keynote?

    --
    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  9. I never get it the first time by GarrettZilla · · Score: 2, Funny

    Was I the only one who read "Creative" as an adjective and "Gunning" as a gerund, implying that the iPod was being converted into some sort of imaginitive weapon which might be carried by ESR?

    --
    Ecce potestas casei!
  10. Re:Any major retailer? by kantai · · Score: 2, Funny

    Wow, it's in the grey area. I congratulate you on your lawfulness.

  11. Re:To Mr. Sim by idiot900 · · Score: 5, Funny

    The new Mercedes CLS 55 AMG makes me want to crap. The new BMW M6 undoubtedly makes me want to crap everywhere.

    This is called diarrhea. I don't think it's the cars that are causing it. Please see your physician.

  12. Re:Partnerships by supergiovane · · Score: 3, Funny

    You've said it. Really, what Creative needs to do is to add Myrinet support to its players.

    Now, that would be bandwidth, with the side advantage that you could even stop imagining a beowulf cluster of those.

    --
    Signatures are for stupids.
  13. Re:Close isn't going to cut it by flagstone · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's like, how much more black could the Acer be? And the answer is none. None more black.

    (Oh, and the true winner for ugly Apple products is this one.)

    --
    These people have looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined.
  14. Re:To Mr. Sim by vjmurphy · · Score: 4, Funny

    " How are you winning? What is your battle cry?"

    I think the battle cry is "Not in the face, not in the face!"

    --
    Vincent J. Murphy
    Spandex Justice
  15. Re:No Radio on iPod by the_2nd_coming · · Score: 2, Funny

    why are you spending all that money for a personal FM radio when you can spend 20 bucks or less for a good personal FM radio?

    if I wanted a radio I would have gotten one.

    --



    I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
  16. Re:Any major retailer? by Lars+T. · · Score: 2, Funny

    And in other countries it is legal to buy dope and marry a 14 year old. Now try to go back to America with your drugs and new sex partner.

    --

    Lars T.

    To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck

  17. Re:Creative wins in sound quality by valkraider · · Score: 5, Funny

    My friend was bitching about the quality of his ipod on his $1000 sound system so I hooked up the Creative Nomad Zen Xtra. The sound was louder, with less loss of quality. The difference was frankly, amazing. And the Zen cost $100 less.

    I knew a guy who was saying some stuff, so we did comparisons and junk, and found out that everything I own or bought or borrowed from another guy totally are better than other things that I don't have.

    (this has been a Slashdot product review)