CNET Accuses Apple of Over-Hyping Launch

An anonymous reader writes "A columnist at CNET is questioning whether Apple over-hyped last week's launch. From the article: 'Jobs' announcement of a new leather case for the iPod was especially ridiculous. Like the queen announcing a new toaster in Buckingham Palace. It seemed odd that Jobs was troubling himself to introduce fashion accessories to Apple's products.' Is Apple a victim of its own success? Can it hold a low-profile product launch anymore -- or do we inevitably expect too much?"

Comments

Re:I didn't see much Apple hype...

[pomo monster]

Yep. Look how the author of the article tries to let him/herself (the media) off the hook:

'...it was undoubtedly a mistake for Steve Jobs to make these product announcements himself, and at the hallowed Apple Town Hall in Cupertino, California, where the iPod was first unleashed. Who wouldn't have expected more?'

Except back in 2001, the iPod's introduction was a tiny little thing: a Mac-only MP3 player, albiet with the typical Apple attention to detail and design. No one expected much. I don't think Apple in its wildest dreams hoped it would be the crossover (Mac to PC) success it is today.

It's ridiculous to think Apple using that auditorium should automatically mean "earth-shattering announcement."

Ghetto-Blaster?

[TubeSteak]

My biggest complain is that these nimrods keep calling that stereo thing a "ghetto-blster"

I'm assuming that most of these bloggers and columnists lived through the 80's and should know WTF a Ghetto-Blaster looks like

For those of you who lived sheltered lives during the 80's and early 90's, a Google Image Search for Ghetto Blaster is highly informative.

Oddly enough, the GIS turned up no pictures of automatic weapons in the first few pages. Cause that's the other thing that comes to mind when I think about ghetto-blasters.

Re:I didn't see much Apple hype...

[MBCook]

I agree. Apple's "hype" was sending out a little note saying "Join us on date xx for an announcement". It didn't say "for a huge" announcement, or an earthshaking one. It said nothing about that. They could have used the occasion to announce a stock split for all they wrote.

However the Apple sites, along with other sites (I bet CNET is guilty of this too) instantly took this as "They are announcing the tablet Mac!", or "They are announcing the video iPod", or "The new Newton is coming!".

They were responsible for all the hype.

And the announcement of the Mini wasn't anything to sneeze at either. It means that now all consumer Apple computers (except the Laptops) are on Intel processors.

On a side note, I wish they would make a new Newton. I would love one. Apple is so good at interfaces.

PS: Also, the guys over a Penny-Arcade have gone Mac and they really like it so far. Check out their post about it (and the comic). They said they'd provide more details tomorrow (Monday).

Obligatory reminder:

[Artifex]

Slashdot coverage of the iPod.

from the well-thats-not-very-exciting dept.

Re:Downward spiral.

[richdun]

The Mini was definitely the most important part of the announcement. I guess Mac-heads aren't used to thinking like this, but remember - Intel releases new chips all the time, and sells them directly to consumers. The Mini and iMac are both socketed, so whether you think a Core Solo or 1.67Ghz Core Duo is a big deal or not in a Mini, XtremeSystems has already upgraded theirs to 2.16Ghz. An upgradeable CPU that doesn't require some third-party solution a year or two later? Not a big deal to PC users, but for the Mac, its the first in a hopefully long line of greater flexibility in Mac hardware.