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Apple Updates iPod
TheRaven64 writes "Apple seems to have quietly updated the iPod Photo and iPod Mini lines. The Mini now comes in 4GB and 6GB flavours, priced at $199 and $249 respectively. The iPod Photo now comes in a 30GB flavour for $349 - only $50 more than the 20GB iPod with a mono screen and shorter battery life."
Another interesting note is that they only sell the regular iPod in the 20GB flavor now. They got rid of the other sizes. Guess iPod photo for everyone is the plan.
My main question is: how long before Apple eitehr (a) reintroduce a PDA or (b) morph the iPod into one?
It would, I believe, take the market from PalmSpringSourceOne but also a large chunk of the consumer Windows PDA market (the business market being firmly Outlocked into place).
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Unfortunately, I can't find this item anywhere on Apple's site. Anyone else have any luck?
PDA's do it.
iRiver's do it.
iPod's running linux seem to be able to do it.
Stupid hardware crippling! It's pathetic!
Notice, though, that you can step up through [almost] the entire line by $50 increases...
512MB Shuffle: $99
1GB Shuffle: $149
4GB mini: $199
6GB mini: $249
20GB iPod: $299
30GB Photo: $349
** MISSING **
60GB Photo: $449
That what was all this school was for... to teach us how to solve our own problems. -- janeowit
I just noticed something.
The AV cable, which I believe came with the iPod Photo, is now extra. Same deal with the dock.
The older models came with both a USB 2.0 and a FW cable. The new ones come with only a USB 2.0 cable.
On the plus side, Apple is clearing out the old stock. Check the "Special Deals" page. 40 GB and 60 GB with
Apple Earphones
AC Adapter
FireWire cable
USB 2.0 cable
iPod photo AV cable
iPod photo Dock
Carrying Case
$379 and $479 respectively.
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
While Its great that they have set the price down for the mini, they have cut the firewire cable, and the power adaptor at the same time, leaving apple users with older computers stuck with their USB 1.1 connectors...
I guess that they are really looking to get into the windows users' pockets instead of the Zen micro... Its 19 for the firewire cable, and 29 for the power apadtor, so price cut isn't really a pricecut..
For thoose who have USB2 and take their laptop everywhere its a bargain after all..
more interesting is the camera connector:
The new iPod Camera Connector is an optional accessory that enables customers to connect their digital camera to iPod photo and import their photos into the iPod. By simply connecting the iPod Camera Connector and a digital camera*, customers can easily transfer digital images to their iPod photo, providing tremendous storage space so they can take more pictures. Imported photos are immediately viewable on iPod photo's crisp color screen, and can also be brought back to iPhoto(R) on the Mac or various photo applications on the PC. The iPod Camera Connector is expected to be available in late March for $29.
Not bad but not as good as it looks either. Note that no iPod comes with the dock any longer, and the iPod photos do not come with a firewire cable either (the older 4G iPods came with both firewire and USB 2.0 - the 20GB still does).
Probably not a big deal for a lot of people, but not having a dock myself I can tell you I wish I did, and as I have not yet been able to get my iPod working reliably with USB 2.0, it's nice to have both cables. (Plus it means I can leave one connected to my PC at all times, then bring my USB cable with me wherever I go and use the iPod as a portable hard drive.)
Apple would charge something like $70 for the firewire cable and dock separately, so you're not really getting that much (if any) value over the old 40GB iPod photo when you also factor in the smaller capacity.
I also sort of lament the fact that with each new revision, the iPod becomes less of a luxury product and more of a commodity... but that's inevitable, I guess.
The difference is beween "cool" and "hip".
The iPod is still cool, but it's too popular to to be hip any more.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Notice, though, that you can step up through [almost] the entire line by $50 increases...
...and the line's pricing stops just shy of the Mac Mini's base price, too.
It's getting to the point where, no matter how much money you have, you can buy a complete product from Apple. And the amount of money you have determines which product you buy, too - no pricing collisions, just a steady progression where customers can self-select their position on the Apple pricing ladder...
normal(adj)- people who don't sit on slashdot all day wondering why everyone else isn't building robots [DECS]
Heck, the classic iPod is overkill, too. That overkill is what makes it such a great little device. Think about it--when the original iPod came out, more than a few people were saying "who in their right mind pays several hundred dollars for a glorified Walkman?"
Thing is, though, the iPod really re-introduced us to portable music. Yeah, there were other high-capacity players on the market first, but it was the iPod that really got the ball rolling. Looking back, I'm struck by how non-portable 'portable' music used to be. Now, I have my entire music library with me wherever I go--and I take it for granted that I don't need to lug a bigass CD folder and swap disks to get the music I want. It seems like a small difference, but the net effect is quite significant. With just a slight reduction in the overall space and inconvenience of listening to music on the go, I've found that I'm listening to a whole lot more music--and really enjoying it.
The iPod Photo may just end up doing much the same thing for photographs (and, in another few years, movies.) Right now, my photographs are split between "old" photos in boxes and bulky albums, and "new" photos on a comparatively small laptop. The laptop is nice, but it's still significantly more of a pain to carry with me than an iPod.
It isn't that much of a leap of the imagination to see the iPod Photo doing the same thing for your photo albums as the iPod did for your CD collection. Going to grandma's? Load up the baby pictures on the same miniscule device as the driving music (and 'Bananaphone' to keep Junior happy). Plug it into her TV, and you've got an instant, large-format slideshow that grandma doesn't need to squint at through her reading glasses. Got a slideshow to go along with your thesis presentation? Don't bother with the laptop, just bring your iPod. Hell, just wanna show your friends that fish you caught on vacation? It's already on your iPod, which you'll have on you for the drive, anyhow!
Sure, it's easy to say that it's "overkill"--but then again, so much about the iPod is already overkill. A CD player is perfectly adequate for playing music on the go, after all. What makes the iPod so successful, though, is that this "overkill" is just enough to make a pretty radical change in one's music listening habits. Jobs is betting that it can do the same with your photo viewing habits--and to be honest, he may be right. Luckily for him, even if he's dead wrong, it's still the same awesome music player it has always been--and the added photo functionality isn't likely to turn many people off...
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
It worked on me...
:)
My wife keeps stealing my iPod Mini (4GB) when she goes to the gym, so I said I was going to buy her one.
She said she would be happy with the iPod Shuffle at $99, I told her we would get least the $149 1GB version.
Now with this announcement, I will just go ahead and get her a iPod Mini (4GB) @ $199, since she loves mine so much.
So, Apple got another $100 out us!
I think Apple is doing a lot of things right lately and I'm about to jump into the Mini Mac wagon once my bonus check comes next month.
If I really like it, I see a PowerMac in my future next year. I will have to give it a long evaluation, since I have used PeeCee's for many years, I want to give them a honest evaluation before judgement. I am a UNIX gearhead though, so I think I'm going to love the new Macs.
Bwah? They changed the price of the iPod? But the 40 gig iPod cost $399. That's just how it is.
So I head over to store.apple.com. What else have they changed? iPod photo? 60gb?! Only $449! Sign me up!
So for only $50 more than I'd expected to pay, I get 20 extra GB, and a color screen.
Apple is my new favorite company.
Off topic, does anyone know where the Apple call center is? Cute accent...
Stupid like a fox!