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Apple Releases New Touch Screen iPod
JSM writes to tell us that Apple released a new version of their popular iPod music player today that boasts, among other things, an iPhone-like touch screen and Wi-Fi capabilities. "The iPod Touch will feature the Safari Internet browser and, like the iPhone, play YouTube videos. Apple also announced a new version of its iTunes music store that will allow users to buy songs wirelessly. iTunes will also sell customizable 99-cent ringtones for the iPhone."
The should have called it the "iPod Newton"
For a device that seems to play video well (and made for it) 8/16 GB doesn't seem like enough. Especially since the "ipod classic" comes in 80/160GB flavors at the same price point( with a small not so good for video screen).
Otherwise it looks nice.
iPhone 8GB price drop from $599 to $399.
At that pricing, they could sell 5M units by the end of the year. That's a very aggressive move for market share.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Phatpod iPod Nano - Like your sleek device for workouts? Too bad, go get a Shuffle - BONED
$.99 ringtone on top of $.99 to buy the song (certain songs only) - BONED
Starbucks "integration" - now my iPhone will spend a few extra seconds every time I hook up to a Wifi access point looking for coffee music - BONED
We managed to fit really nice HDs in iPods, but not the new Touch iPod - but you get a few millimeters back - BONED
$599 to $399 price drop in 2 months - EXTREMELY BONED
iTunes Store wireless - kind of cool. Wish they'd do the same thing with TV shows in music (that's what I'd be inclined to buy in an airport somewhere)
All in all, a particularly boneworthy afternoon.
They didn't bring the touch screen to the larger capacity "classic" models. I'm curious as to why they're striving towards dropping actual hard drives in favor of flash memory. Some of us like the large capacity, but would also like some of the nifty features that they're bringing in to the flash models. Why can't they drop the "classic" models and just make them touch screen as well?
Apple released some nice products today, but had some disappointing moments as well. First, the new ipod classic looks nice and the bump to 160gb is nice. The other announcements were not as exciting. The new nano looks ugly and didn't get a storage bump. The ipod touch looks very nice, but they should have used the 160gb hdd from the classic instead of flash.
The iPhone news was the biggest let down. For all the talk of Apple "redefining" the cellphone industry, the event today showed that they have no intentions of being anything other than just another gouger. The write-up was wrong. Ringtones aren't $0.99, they are $0.99 for songs that you purchased already from itunes, so they are $1.98 and you can't use music that you got from other sources.
The other nice move was dropping the price on the iphone. I personally think this is a great move, even if it is a slap in the face to all the early adopters (henceforth referred to as "suckers"). It was also a nice fuck-in-the-ass to all the ebayers who are sitting on $200 losses now.
Yeah, it's notable that they've kept the "iPod Classic", as well as this new model, which seems to be aiming for a market between the iPod and WiFi tablets like the Nokia 770. Also the new iPod Nano looks a bit... retarded.
I don't understand the impetus behind removing all tactile controls from a portable audio player.
The iPod is already harder to use than many other brands with buttons if you're driving, cycling, jogging, or walking and want to be able to adjust volume or start/stop without looking at the device. With a fair amount of practice you can learn to orient the iPod and manipulate the scroll wheel without looking at it. Is this even theoretically feasible with an iTouch? Or am I going to have to dodge imbeciles swerving all over the road while scrolling through their playlist even more than I do already?
Apple really seems to be in a state of flux right now with their iPod/iPhone lines.
The release of the iPhone went well, but it's really pricey and historically first gen Apple products do little more than set the paradigm and show future promise. By the time we get second and third gen iPhones they'll probably be pretty amazing and a lot cheaper. Just comparing my second gen iPod to the advances made in say, the fourth generation (third introduced major changes, but fourth is where it stabilized design, went color, and started to move more heavily into video) are pretty staggering.
At the same time they're trying to reconcile the popularity of the iPhone with their ongoing iPod line and their iPod Nano line, but without dropping the core functionality of the iPod to such a degree that they lose business (i.e. by cutting the space to make room for the new features). As a result we have a mish-mash of product lines going on right now each of them with flaws.
If anyone out there is interested in purchasing a device now is probably the worst time. Give Apple a year or so and we'll start seeing further consolidation into a more stable product line that better integrates the features of each of their currently available products. Eventually I expect we'll be getting an 80 Gig iPhone with wi-fi and third-party apps, probably in only a year or two based on the way things have been moving so far.
When they stop making changes and start introducing only gradual improvements (like when the video iPod simply came out in a model with more storage) that's the time to go grab it. Based on their past performance though, I'd suggest waiting until then.
Now if the new iPhone-without-the-Phone-part had bluetooth, all my problems would be solved..I could tether it to my Verizon Treo 700WX, and have a good, usable web browser, without the crappy speeds from AT&Tingular. So close..
I don't understand why there's no Mail application on the new touch. They give us Safari for web browsing, but no email client? It doesn't make sense. Sure there are those that will say that you can use web mail with Safari. But why would you want to use web mail designed for a desktop screen instead of an email app designed specifically for the iPod/iPhone?
Web mail sucks anyway. Besides, you couldn't configure a web mail client to auto check your email - say every time you have WiFi access. I really hope they include Mail at some point very soon in the future. Otherwise I think people will probably try to hack the Mail app on the iPhone to run on the iPod.
Oh, and no Google Maps either!? WTF!
infested with jello like fishes no melotron wishes
Anytime Apple announces a new product and omits the anti-gravity feature, the stock takes a hit for the next day or so. That's when I add to my AAPL holdings.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
That truly is a steep drop in price. Have their supply and production costs dropped that much, or are they sacrificing margin in the expectation of recovering it in subscription fees? I tend to suspect the latter, which amounts to subsidized pricing.
No, Apple is maximizing revenue. It is called walking down the price curve. Everyone has a different willingness to pay, some much higher than others. If you make a product available to everyone at a widely acceptable price you lose revenue from those who would have paid more. So you introduce a product at a high price point that only a few are willing to pay and slowly reduce the price over time. This way all sales are closer to what the various individuals were willing to pay. Note that there needs to be an absence of substitute products. Sometimes this strategy fits in well with initial production and supply problems. However in this case I expect it is mostly revenue maximization.
Try the open-source, rockbox replacement firmware! http://rockbox.org/
It breathed new life into my iRiver h100, and beats the crap out of the default apple firmware on my girlfriend's iPod video.
It doesn't do everything yet (like play videos), but you dual boot if you need to.
On a related note, one great thing about iPods is the firmware recovery routine...
Yes, 16GB of flash memory isn't enough.
... by creating a huge demand for flash (or other suitable) memory, there's more motivation to produce higher capacity & lower prices thereon.
... but this tact will get you something better sooner.
/. ... but by creating the demand, the supply has appeared.
Yes, they could jam a hard drive in there.
BUT
Yes, you might not have the capacity you want now
Wasn't long ago the idea of a flash-based iPod was seriously scoffed at on
Can we get a "-1 Wrong" moderation option?
welcome to the world of consumer electronics.The same thing happens with next-gen DVD players, CPUs, the works.
While it would have been great to get the iPhone for $399 instead of $599, the price drop does not bother me much. It's like complaining that the steak you bought and ate last week was a raw deal because it's cheaper today.
Early adopters already know this. If price is your major consideration, you'd be waiting until next year, when you'll likely get more features for same/less money.
A microphone. VOIP with WIFI is kinda useless without a mic...
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
No, that's an estimate by a single group on the cost of the components. Manufacturing, etc. never entered into their stupid calculations.
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
After they buy a 99 cent (or $1.39) song from iTunes, people accept that they should pay another 99 cents to be able to have that song play when someone calls them? Why do people keep putting up with this kind of crap?
Those who fail to understand communication protocols, are doomed to repeat them over port 80.
It could be because the maximum capacity of the touch iPod is 16GB.
Dude, I hear you, but as you no doubt also know, part of business and economics is also reinforcing the sense of value for those who already bought in. Deflating the price 33% is pretty aggressive, and likely to alienate early adopters. It's also a departure from the classic Apple tactic of discontinuing older brands as newer ones come in. In other words, up at that end of the price spectrum, the pickings were pretty slim, so they needed to slide down. The iPod touch is almost an admission that they suspect the AT&T contract was a dealbreaker.
So no, it's damage control, much like your multiple postings.
Bingo! Basically, they figured that they'd sell a metric butt-load for the first two weeks regardless of price, so they decided to price them ludicrously to take advantage of that. It's economics 101. Early adopters pay through the nose - especially in consumer electronics. The same thing happened with the Razr - it came out at $400 or something crazy (with a contract), was super-popular, and then when the rage started to die down, the price started dropping. The iPhone is a slightly more extreme example of this, but it's not a new concept, especially in the fast moving mobile phone market.
If you didn't think the phone was worth $600, why did you pay that much for it?
And the average person doesn't care that much. Anyone interested in this has a cellphone. It's a given that they're paying SOMEONE for cellular for the next two years. It's not additional cost, just lock-in.
If they didn't drop the price of the iPhone anyone thinking of getting one would look at the price and think: "Wow, I could buy an iPod Touch, and a normal cellphone, and it's still cheaper than the iPhone!"
They figured you would only put the music you actually paid for on this one. Oh, wait - it has 15.9 GB free now.
Why can't U just link the product page instead of making us search around the store?
That's not really the point. I don't have a problem with it being thin, but I find the trade off between a few millimeters thickness and 64GB of storage to be unacceptable.
Anyway, your comment about a "digital brick" is misleading. 80GB iPods are all of 10.5 mm thick. The new 160GB model only adds 3mm to the depth. I have a hard time believing that adding decent storage to the touch iPod would turn into a brick.
Long live the king. The new Newton rises.
You might as well wait a little longer for 10.5/Leopard then. No need to buy Tiger unless you feel you have to have it RIGHT NOW like.
(I havent verified it but I assume Leopard also has PowerPC/G4-5 support.)
Parent has a good point. Good things happened to other people, bully for them. No reason I should be any less happy just because others are now better off. Unless they're better off because they're taking something from you that you didn't want to give, why not just be happy for them? There's plenty of things to be upset about, no need to add to the list.
Dude, I hear you, but as you no doubt also know, part of business and economics is also reinforcing the sense of value for those who already bought in. Deflating the price 33% is pretty aggressive, and likely to alienate early adopters.
The flaw with your logic is that your are assuming that these early iPhone buyers are part of a rational market. They are not. Those early adopters already got want they wanted, winning the pissing contest, first on their block, attention, etc. Anyone with half a brain new that these high prices were temporary. Also, may were hard core Apple fans. Some of these people may kick themselves for not waiting, but they will not abandon Apple.
Sorry, I feel no pity. If it was worth $600, then you got a fair deal. If it wasn't, why did you buy it? The RAZR was something like $400 when it first came out; now it's typically one of the "freebie" phones you can get with any service contract.
Unless you actually *need* the latest and greatest (top of the line CPU to keep up with heavy server loads, for example, or the biggest HDs you can find), the only value added in buying early is bragging rights. And those are usually trumped when your friend buys the exact same thing a month later for 30% less. Lesson learned, I hope.
https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
I fail to see why you would be upset at this. So what that another guy can buy that iPhone at a deep discount? You too can buy another phone for $200 less, so you also benefit from the price drop as much as the next guy.
Remember, they aren't really taking anything away from you by lowering the price of their current/future products, they are simply giving everybody more value for their money.
Obama likes poor people so much, he wants to make more of them.
BZZZ! Wrong. Had Apple suddenly lowered the iPhone's price out of nowhere, it might have suggested that the company needed to boost sales in the same manner as Sony's PS3 price cut. However, what really happened was that Apple released a very popular product that nearly a million people were happy to pay $600 to buy within the first two months.
Apple then released the iPod Touch, which delivers 60% of the iPhone's features - no cell, no Bluetooth, no camera, no mic or speakers, but largely everything else: the iPod and the "Breakthrough Internet Device!!" The iPhone's price had to drop. Anyone who wanted an iPhone got their phone, and now millions more will grab one at the lower price. People complaining about the $200 price drop should take some consolation from the recent $600 price drop on the significantly improved iMac, and the fact that the iPhone's hardware price is only a small fraction of the price with service. So ownership of the iPhone didn't drop by some monumental huge percentage, but merely from $2000 to $1800 across its two year contract.
The iPod Touch uses a flash drive, whereas the now "Classic" uses a platter-based hard drive.
Apart from the price differences on these, there's also the size and power consumption to consider.
If you are in the business of re-selling stuff (eBay, ticket scalping, etc.) then you are taking a certain risk which is a part of business and nothing to be bitter about: can't take the heat stay out of the kitchen, and all that...
On the other hand, if you bought your iPhone for personal consumption, then you still have what you paid for in its entirety. Whatever Apple does to the future price does not affect you (other than perhaps make your gadget a thief magnet), and there is still nothing to be bitter about.
I really wish I could understand why some people are upset about price drops.
Obama likes poor people so much, he wants to make more of them.
You might be able to, but its a bad idea. Good way to wear down the life time of the drive. Its a music player, not an external hard drive ... if you want a HD, go buy one.
That's irrelevant.. you should only pay as much as an item is worth *to you*. If it was worth the price you paid, then you've lost nothing. If not, you should have waited longer and/or bought something else. Just because you didn't properly anticipate the rate of decay doesn't mean Apple has somehow wronged you -- it was your mistake, not theirs. People make the same mistakes every day in the stock market, so you're not alone. Some people bought houses anticipating a continuing price increase. At least you only bought a phone and you (hopefully) realized from the start that you wouldn't be able to resell it for more than you paid.
At any rate, I'd bet that if you're persistent enough, you can probably get a refund for the difference and/or make an exchange for the next model up. It's in Apple's best interest to keep happy customers, so they'll probably do what they can to make you happy.
https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
I've read through a lot of comments and I'm seeing a lot of people discussing the iPhone price drop (which is pretty huge) and how it's a smack in the face to early adopters.
Question: If a company purchases a few million additional components which is used in both the iPhone and ipod touch wouldn't that drive the cost down of the iphone?
To me I see the Ipod touch as an iphone in a different suit. And since the iphone is only available in the US market their new phone (or a lot of the required components) just opened up to a massive market including Japan, UK, Canada, etc.. Also, the early adopters who went out and spent the money only proved the market was ready for such a change in user input.
So to all future buyers of the iphone, you just lucked out. At least Apple appears to be bringing the cost savings back to the consumer. . or this could be an evil scheme to take over the phone market!
We also know that Joe Average is fully willing to pay $1.98, especially for both song and ringtone. Ringtones at $2, $3, even $4 are a completely proven market - a MASSIVE market. People ARE willing to pay. And you know what? For $0.99 over what I've already paid, I'm not sure I wouldn't either.
-Daniel
There's also the fact that it's an iPhone with the phone taken out. The options page is blank, and they haven't changed anything about it except remove some iPhone features. The space is also poor if you're going to be storing those wide screen vids on there, and now the iPod classic seems like a mid-range iPod, and the iPod nano now looks like something you get out of a cereal box. I think they really had a much more solid line up before, and this new lot is a step back.
// MD_Update(&m,buf,j);
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they attack you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
Yeah, but does the SD card have an aluminum case, color screen, control wheel, or LiPo battery?
Any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
My music collection was once 1000 songs too. Ahh, 1999. A great year. I guess this is why there are different iPods for different tastes. The Touch is for people who love eye candy (and possible the bigger screen for movies) the shuffle is for joggers and athletes, and the nano is for people who like cute things. For me, I'll probably always stick with the iPod Classic for its huge capacity, as my music collection is about 20 gigs and growing by about 25% each year. For me, the best part of having an iPod is bringing EVERYTHING with me because I'll never know what I want to listen to/watch while I'm on the go.
Random rants about technology: http://technorants.blogspot.com
Actually, with the Nike+ features and its solid state memory, the nano is the best bet for runners and athletes.
I personally could care less about the touch screen interface, as I've grown quite used to navigating with the click wheel on my iPod without looking at it (like when I'm playing songs in the car and want to skip tracks, etc. without taking my eyes off the road). The tactile feedback is necessary there and not provided by the touch screen.
For my purposes (mainly listening to music in my car on long trips and during my daily commute), the higher the capacity, the better. That being said, I won't be moving on the new iPod Classic as it suffers from what I considered the one drawback of all the previous flagship iPods, the moving parts of the harddrive.
What I was really hoping for with this release was some large capacity solid state memory iPod with a click wheel. I didn't get that, and so will probably not move on a new Apple device this time around.
Now, my listening habits are personally kind of all over the place, but most of the time I like to put my iPod on shuffle and skip around through my songs randomly. Given that, a huge capacity isn't really necessary; even if I listen to only half of the songs that can be stored on an 8 gig device, I'll still have about 100 hours of music. Given the battery life on these things, I would never go that long before plugging it into my computer where I'd have the opportunity to swap songs around.
All that being said, with the recent price drop on the iPhone (and the fact that I already have AT&T as a carrier), the iPhone is kind of the best buy option here. Especially since it offers the prospect of consolidating my two most frequently used handheld devices. The one draw back: it's not compatible with any FM transmitters yet, rendering it useless in my car!
Eek!
So you missed an opportunity you didn't know you'd have. Even so, you got a product you wanted for a price you were willing to pay. Whether they changed the price yesterday or not, you'd still have an iPhone and the same amount of money in your pocket. The effect of this change on you is zero, and yet you're angry.
That's fine, I suppose everyone gets irrationally angry sometimes. But your persistence in attempting to justify your anger belies your inability to allow reason to inform your emotions. It's a weakness that, sooner or later, will hurt you deeply.