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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.