Slashdot Mirror
Dell Launches Flash Music Player
desert island writes "Dell launched a new flash-memory digital music player, named DJ Ditty, to compete with the iPod Shuffle. Both devices are $99 and come equipped with 512 megabytes of memory. The biggest difference between the devices is the Ditty's 1-inch LCD display screen, which helps users navigate their music lists. In addition, the Ditty can receive FM radio and sport a rechargeable lithium polymer battery that can provide up to 14 hours of continuous play."
1. "DJ Ditty" is a stupid name, and likely to get them sued by P. Ditty. (This is the same guy who threatened legal action against "Puffy" forcing them to change their name to "Puffy Ami Yumi.")
:-P
2. 512MB, FM Radio, 1 inch LCD screen... That sounds awefully familiar... You don't think Dell would just be rebranding and pretending they did all this great and competitive R&D, do you?
Nah. That wouldn't sound like Dell. (Which is to say, that sounds EXACTLY like Dell.)
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Funny how the pc-pro with &%#%& advertisement over the text in Firefox, said that the AAC/mp3 format of the ipod is a tie in and this way suggesting that WMA is not a tie in. Very funny.
My wife's sketchblog Blob[p]: Gastrono-me
Both the Napster and Yahoo have unlimited music access for these players. I think Real might also make music available that way. I have used both Napster and Yahoo (with Yahoo now because it's cheaper and I like the attitude of the developers).
You can also find per-song costs to BUY for only $0.79 on Yahoo. Walmart's are $0.88.
The unlimited subscription and cheaper music prices are _not_ available on ITunes. Yahoo/Real/WalMart/ETC are competing with each other to give you a reason to go with them - once you buy an Ipod you are locked into Itunes and Itunes alone.
Damn it is as ugly as sin! Screw that. I'd go for the Shuffle and print out a playlisting from iTunes if I really wanted to know the song order.
I think Apple is right though. Most of the time I don't care about the song order and playing on Random keeps things interesting.
They also aren't advertising for it. In a similar article, they disucss Dell's marketing scheme for this product.
"Dell has launched a digital music player dubbed the DJ Ditty in what it calls its first "word-of-mouth" promotional campaign. The vendor announced the player in the US only with a banner on its website, and stated that it is getting the word out through employees and customer focus groups. Dell has also launched a special multimedia site targeting young buyers. The announcement was so low-key that a UK spokeswoman was unaware of the launch. "We don't get US announcements but I wouldn't be surprised if it were available here soon," she said."
This might have been a viable competitor with the iPod Shuffle, but only if people know about it.
"For Great Justice."
There are lots of similar players on the market. Why is this one better/more newsworthy? It does not even look cool.
Freedom of speech doesn't come with bandwidth.
My sentiments exactly. We just had a major severe weather system move through our area last night (straight line winds, tornados, and 2-3" hail). Having that radio available is what lets most families get into their basements in time to be safe, especially when the power is out. If only for that reason, the radio circuitry should be included with any digital music device.
I use irony whenever I can, but my shirts are still wrinkled...
That's one .mp3 player that everyone I know who has an iPod would never buy. Dell needs to find some designers that know how to make things look good.
As far as i am concerned, the iTunes software is one of the key reasons Apple have done so well. It's easy & effective, whereas I suspect Dell is not. But then I guess we knew that right?
Dell is trying to establish branding for a personal accessory that has a four-syllable name? Especially "DJ Ditty," which sounds like it's being marketed to kids? I can just imagine how that's going to play out.
What about UI? Will it have a proprietary UI? Will it be as easy to use as iTunes?
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
Actually, I believe the iPod Shuffle hardware does have a radio, and a voice recorder, and a display driver. So, the better question is why did Apple choose not to expose them?
The answer was given in an article whose location I don't remember, soon after the Shuffle came out. Apple could not think of a good interface that would fit on a display small enough for the Shuffle, nor could they think of a good interface for the radio and voice recorder. So, unlike most companies (and this is what makes Apple stuff generally better), they left out features rather than make a kitchen-sink player that would do everything, but do nothing well.
The key to good design is often to leave things out.
Maybe for you a radio is a useful feature, but you are in a minority. If Apple don't want to put a radio in the iPod, then they get 50 more profit from each sale (using your figure) by removing a feature that their target audience does not want. Sounds to me like they've already done the cost/benefit analysis.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Will the radio interrupt the music to let you know that the storm's a'commin? Or, do you have to actually switch? If it's the latter, why not pull the plugs out of your ears and turn on the tv?
When you're listening to radio, you're not:
- Buying music from the iTunes store
- Downloading podcasts via the iTunes store
- Buying audio books through the iTunes store
- Using iTunes to manage audio to expose yourself to the above features
I think there's a subtle hint in there.
J
Help, help! I'm being repressed. It's just not right that every electronic device ever made doesn't have a radio built into it. It is the responsibility of any random electronic gadget to save my life, in the event of a disaster!! Help!
Truly, the terrorists have already won, if people are so freaked out that they think having a radio in a device is the difference between life and death. If you are worried about disasters, surely you would buy a decent AM radio (with greater range than FM) rather than rely on a few cheap, miniaturized chips in a device not designed to be a radio or emergency tool?
... and then they built the supercollider.
I think radio is crap, and I live in an area where all channel slots are taken, every one of them is crap.
Why people want to listen to 10 minutes of loud, obnoxious ads for 20 minutes of content is beyond me.
And what about software on the PC side. Shuffle's iTunes integration will no doubt kick the crap out of anything Dell can bundle together. Also the fact that it can play iTunes downloaded songs. I don't think you have appreciated how important these two things are!
Also what REALLY matters is brand and image. People think Apple and even the Shuffle looks cool. So cool they even were the thing on their arm or around their neck.
Nobody wants that ugly thing from Dell, especially with the Dell logo so visable. Can you imagine anyone with that around their neck. It looks like a lighter. The only people who would have it around their neck will be young boys who like like geeks and nerds (and hence were even aware of the extra features). The 'oh so cool' people will stick with the shuffle and will act free advertizing to everyone else.
Mark my words, this player will rapidly die. After a few news articles like this, nobody will ever talk about it again. I honestly don't think it stands a chance against the Shuffle.
Well, as usual, I haven't read the article but my first thought was "I wonder what crappy propietary file system this will use" ?
:) but I despair at the ridiculous overengineering of most MP3 players. It's almost worse than under engineering.
I have an "el cheapo" portable MP3 player and the best thing about it is it uses a "bog standard" FAT32 file system. No fancy, unnecessarily complicated databases type structures (hello iPod) and, even better, no retarded over complicated interface software (hello iTunes) which attempt to "manage" your collection and then ends up losing or deleting stuff (hello iTunes which deleted loads of MP3s off my friends hard drive when he borrowed an early iPod from a mate)
To put data on my player you simply plug it into a USB Port (I use it from both Linux and Windows) and shortly thereafter it shows up as a removable drive. You then just copy & paste files across (optionally using as many, or as few, folders as you wish). If the files you put on the device are MP3 or WMA (sadly not Ogg) then they show up in the players menus and it will play them back. If they're not they simply take up room until you move them off to another machine or delete them etc. etc. So not only will it play music I can transport data with it.
In my humble opinion all these other "fancy schmancy" iPod style players (which I am assuming this Dell will emulate) are complete crap. Absolute over engineered bollocks. Why do you need special drivers to talk to a flash based device ? Why do you need crappy management software to talk to a flash device ?
So sorry for the rant (which was probably somewhat off topic
As usual, "Keep It Simple Stupid"....
Sky subscribers are morons. They pay to be advertised at !
That's a unique brand of self-delusion you've got going there.
I assume that you are referring to the T10, since it's the only competitive product to the shuffle in iRiver's lineup. However, I have a hard time imagining anyone ogling it. It's quite ugly, I assure you. It reminds me of the "sport radio" that I got for free with my checking account about 10 years ago. If you turn the T10 yellow, it's a a dead ringer.
But since you've mentioned making informed decisions, it might be worthwhile to note that the shuffle isn't targeting the low-end, I'm-too-cheap-to-buy-a-real-player market, it's positioned as something you fill up with music then listen, get this, on shuffle. No need for a screen.
If you do want a screen, there is the nano. And nothing on the market looks better or is "sexier" than that thing right now.
There's no reason to get down on somebody else's choice just because you don't have the most popular player on the block. The iRiver isn't a bad little product. It's got a good feature set, good battery life, and a color screen [though it's nigh useless for the number of songs it holds]. You should at least admit that the iPod is a good product across all its categories, and it overwhelmingly succeeds in one of the few differentiators left in the market: design.
*everything* is Orwellian to cats.
Here's what counts: ...to you
...to you
price
functionality
batteries
Here's what doesn't count:
appearance (unless you wear transparent trousers and are incredibly vain)
size
weight
a funny circle thing [- note, some people call this 'usability']
corporate branding
Have you ever considered that people other than you might have different priorities? The market seems to put quite a premium on size and weight, and it makes quite a difference when exercising.
No joke. It is pure hype that makes people think the Ipod is well designed.
You don't know anything about design. Maybe you've been walking around acting like you do, but you don't. Your friends like you too much to stop you when you start talking out of your ass. They cringe inwardly, but they just smile and nod outwardly. I'm here to relieve you of your delusion. You're welcome.
The click wheel is a terrible interface. What, is there a little piece of string in there that connects the click wheel to the menus? The screen menus go up/down/in. Wheels go around. The metaphors just don't link up at all.
And yet, dispite this, the vast majority of human beings are able to figure it out within a few seconds of picking it up. Just like they can figure out that a steering wheel goes left and right, or that a volume knob controls quiet and loud, they can discover that clockwise is down, counter-clockwise is up, and pushing in means 'in'. How do you explain this? Is it perhaps that people are able to understand new things that don't precisely align with what they knew before? Inflexible adherence to metaphors (precisely what you're suggesting is preferable) is one of the quickest ways to design a shitty interface.
Don't become a regular here -- you will become retarded.
One person's sheer opinion, I suppose.
Weasel out of fixing them? I took my iPod to the Apple store near me and as my iPod was under warranty, they replaced it right there in the store, a model they hadn't sold for 10 months. Out of warranty low battery replacement iPods (every battery wears out with repeated use, obviously) will cost you $59... to get a whole new iPod of the type you originally owned. They call it their "Battery replacement program".
Tens of millions of us think it's a triumph of both substance with style. From iTunes to my ears, it's an easy, very well thought out process that is extremely intuitive. It does what it does, and does it the best. I can add things as I see fit later, or not. I like that choice. The iPod has by far the widest array of accesories than any other player on the planet. If I feel like I need a radio, and would even like to record the audio, I can. Keeping it as simple and as intuitively easy as possible is the core. That's part of Apple's mantra, and we should be thankful for them filling the void...
"The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel Boorstin
The 512MB iRiver T10 is $45 more than the 512MB iPod Shuffle and $65 more than the 1GB iPod Shuffle. The 2GB iPod Nano is only $10 more than the 1GB iRiver T10. Personally, I would rather pay the extra $10 for 2GB as opposed to 1GB, and have a usable color LCD display, great interface, looks great, is the right size, plays *very* nicely with iTunes and iTMS. Radio and recordability may be nice features for some people and thus make a difference, but I never once used either of those on any of the walkmans or other nonPods I've ever had.