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New iPods on the Horizon
RemovableBait writes "Apple Computer plans to introduce more iPods before the end of the year", a company executive said Tuesday. From the article: Executive Vice President Tim Cook didn't say whether the new iPods will come at a press event Apple has scheduled for Wednesday morning. But during a conference call with analysts, he suggested that the iPod Nano won't be the last new iPod of the year."
I want a near indestructible one. Make it bulkier if you have to, just don't let it break.
I know this may look like a really dumb comment in about 4 hrs but I don't see video being THAT useful. You can store a ton of low-res video on the ipod if you just want to watch it there, but the real advantage would be to take it with you to friends' houses for viewing on their TVs. Well, in that case, you want hi-res video, video that will take up quite a bit of room. Hmmm.... Wonder how those geniuses will solve THAT little problem...
Cemil.
It would have to be. Initially content will be Video Podcasts (like NerdTV), music videos, and hopefully TV shows. Also Apple needs to release software that will transcode non-encrypted DVDs or VIDEO_TS forlders, and let "third parties" do the rest.
We will know more later today.
Once all of these features are incorporated into one device with larger than 100GB of storage, I will buy one. For now, I will suffer as being not part of the iPod masses.
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
I'm sure they won't have ogg support, so it means nothing to me.
Just another example of "one more thing" marketing as discussed, say, here: http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,69172,00 .html?tw=rss.TOP.
I wonder -- is preaching to the converted really sustainable though?
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Science -- Sealed, Delivered.
You forgot to add "and this will be the death of Apple". All companies try to captialise "buzz". The iPod has had a great deal of "buzz" for the past couple of years and Apple have done well to keeping pushing the device so as to differentiate the iPod from the competition. Its not as though other companies, even ones with good brands (Sony Walkman), haven't been trying to steal Apple's thunder over this period. So far Apple have succeeded at beating them off.
What a lot of people ignore when comparing the iPod with the other music players out there is the interface. Not the one the users use but the one that allows it to connect. This is the killer app that the iPod has, something that makes it more than just a portable music player. Look at the number of manufacturers that are offering iPod connectivity in their cars. The iPod will continue to grow, it may lose its buzz but, until someone comes along with something that can take its place, it will still provide a solid revenue stream for Apple.
You may think me a tired, old, cynic. I'd have to disagree about the tired bit.
I think if the US can support three cars per four people then saturation of the iPod market won't happen until we get 3 iPods per 4 people; with almost 300 million people, that means over 200 million iPods sold; since Apple is sold 6.5 million in the 4th quarter, and something like 6 million the quarter before, that means we have another 8 years at this rate, less if the sale rate increases.
Of course someone else might catch up; Sony has a good chance, and so does Creative. That still doesn't diminish Apple's sales of course, only reduces it's acceleration as any good MP3 player will grow the market, rather than steal it from another player.
GPL Deconstructed
Do the current models still insert a couple of seconds of silence between every track?
I'd love one, but if they still have this problem, then no way. Nobody would buy a CD player that had the same issue.
You all know what Apple is missing in its line up. A Apple DVR. There is Tivo, MythTV, and Microsoft Multimedia Center. Apple needs to enter the arena.
They have the QuickTime technology.
They have the UI skills to make a better DVR.
They have the Hardware experience.
Wait and see.
Think about it. Why would you buy a iPod Video? Because, you have episodes of Star Track Enterprise, and Lost on your Apple DVR. You want to take them on the road. You need a Apple iPod Video that allows you to quickly download those programs over firewire right to a little hand held video player.
By Apple introducing a DVR they create instant content for the iPod Video. They are struggling to get the Movie Studios on board. So they need another way to create content for the iPod Video.
With out the Apple DVR where is the added value of a iPod Video?
Having had my first 40 gig iPod die under warranty, only to have its replacement have a bad dock connector they wouldn't warranty... and having had my 18 month old G4 iBook die a couple days ago with a faulty logic board... Apple needs to seriously get their act in gear where product reliability is concerned. I've had a 25% success rate of their products lasting longer than 18 months.
;-)
I'm fed up enough with the quality problems that I'm actually debating buying a PC laptop to replace the iBook. And that really makes me ill to think about. I hope I can figure out how to get OSX/86 on it
This model is one of those Steve Jobs things. Most any other company would have kept the Mini in its lineup when the nano came out, but Jobs believes religiously in giving the consumer a pretty clear set of choices that way.
(Sometimes you can see new product lines coming just by looking for the holes in existing ones. We have the middle and high-end iPods, but they're priced high; cue the Shuffle.)
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
Just so someone actually comes out and says what I imagine many have noticed: this week's free track of the week has yet to be released at the iTunes store. If I was releasing an ipod video, I would make sure the free track was a music video that week so there is instant content to promote.
I make sure and give written descriptions and model numbers so they can get it right.
I do this as well. Then a salesman helps them select the most expensive model in stock instead.
I'm an expert in the stuff. The salesman makes them forget that I'm the expert, because that's what he's expert at.
He's also away from home.
KFG