Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Did Apple Sabotage the ROKR?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the something-to-think-about dept.

JPigford writes "The Apple Blog makes claim that Apple sabotaged the success of the ROKR so as to sway public opinion of MP3 cell phones in general...ultimately to drive more sales to the iPod. By mandating a 100 song limit on the ROKR and having the product flop, Apple was able to put a bad taste in the mouths of consumers so that not only do they drive more iPod sales, but they keep competitors from fighting back with their own MP3 phones."

10 of 502 comments (clear)

  1. Bunk... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I guess the nano scratches were premeditated as well. And the cube cracks. And the exploding powerbooks....

  2. Sucker by flyinwhitey · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's just what they want you to think.

    --
    How pathetic are you that you follow me from topic to topic and waste all your mod points at once modding me down?
  3. Competing interests by aborchers · · Score: 1, Funny

    The reason MP3 wireless phones aren't taking off is the competing interests of the wireless carriers and content distribution services.

    It costs $1 to download a whole song from .
    It costs $2 to download a ring tone (smaller than a whole song) from the carrier.

    Phone manufacturers are caught in the middle...

    --
    Trouble making decisions? Just flip for it.
  4. Aha, that also explains: by Ancient_Hacker · · Score: 5, Funny
    • The Apple III.
    • The Lisa.
    • The 128K Mac.
    • The $400 external 400K diskette drive.
    • OpenDoc.
    • System 7.
    • The Mac TV.
    • The Mac Portable.
    ... all cleverly designed to be turkeys ... ON PURPOSE!
  5. Re:It's probably true by RobotAndy · · Score: 1, Funny

    yeah... cell phones are getting ridiculous. I remember the days when you could count on a cell phone that only had poor phone service. Now you have phones with poor service, disabled features, low-quality cameras and now portable music. How about a ring-tone that does not become perpetually annoying?

  6. And the last thing in the world that would... by Darius+Jedburgh · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...happen is that printers would put secret messages into your printouts that can be read by government agents. What kind of world do people think we live in eh?

  7. Apple figures out a way to screw Moto? And? by Ralph+Spoilsport · · Score: 5, Funny
    This is some kind of a surprise?

    Let's see - Moto strangled the G5, forcing Apple to IBM, and then to finally say "fuck the lot of you" and go over to Intel.

    Ooooh- but then again, Apple pulled the plug on the clones, screwing Moto out of millions...

    Oooooh, but then again...

    Basically, Apple and Moto have been bad for each other for YEARS - this latest notion comes as no surprise.

    RS

    --
    Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
  8. Seriously... by wbren · · Score: 2, Funny

    Slashdot: Conspiracy theories for nerds, stuff that might have happened.

    --
    -William Brendel
  9. Re:Doesn't make sense... by narcc · · Score: 2, Funny

    That's the real genius behind their evil plan!

    1) Make people believe Apple produces the best MP3 products around.
    2) Make sure "iTunes on a cell phone" sucks
    3) Buy stock in white plastic (see: 1 above)
    4) Make people think cell phones suck as MP3 players (if Apple can't get it any better than this...)
    5) Sell more ipods!

    Genius, I say!

    --
    Required reading for internet skeptics
  10. Re:i also heard... by Bug-Y2K · · Score: 2, Funny

    Actually they made System 7.5.3 to drive people to Windows.

    That OS, and the PowerBook 5300. The one/two punch from Apple that sold many ThinkPads and Windows95.

    God did they *suck*.

    --chuck