As much as I'd like to, I can't see a $99 iPod happening.
Jobs is steadfastly commited to unrelenting quality, but the real price one pays is for the "Apple experience" if you will. Plenty of people have a good chuckle at the idea of the "Apple tax", but that's the best way to describe it. In the end, wether you know it or not, you're paying that extra dough for an iPod because Jobs wants a very specific experience given to his customers, from the packaging, to the interface, to the zen-like simplicity of the operation, even down to the matching white headphones. A $99 iPod would mean that Jobs would have to cut some serious corners, and even though you couldn't keep a $99 iPod on the shelves it would sell so fast, I think that kind of price point would make Jobs too uncomfortable with what he'd have to give up in the process.
Time will tell though...I think a "low-end" iPod is inevitable. It's obvious that the iPod appeals to more than the hardcore, everything-on-CD-ripped-at-VBR-minimum-320kbps digital music crowd, and vision aside, Jobs is no stranger to supporting the less fanatical, with things like the iBook and eMac. So why not make low-capacity iPods?
In my mind, the real question is, how low will Jobs go? Anyone can see why a $99 iPod would be an awesome thing, but look at how much criticism the full-fledged iPod has gotten from the vocal sect. You can practically picture the anti-mac-zealots in the wings, eagerly awaiting to rip apart this supposed foray into mass-market electronics. Considering how many would be bought, even the slightest flaw in a low-profit-margin, low-end iPod would spread like a vocal wildfire amongst owners, having the potential to severely tarnish the reputation of Jobs' beloved company, one of it's greatest assets.
I found x3dFritz for sale, and now I'm really curious. Has anybody found any reviews/hands on for the technology, or even better, reviews of X3d fritz itself? Google has turned up nothing so far.
I picked up an Albatron Geforce Ti4200 for $149 off of NewEgg when I built my current rig, and It's eaten everything I've thrown at it for breakfast. I couldn't be happier.
Then again, I don't feel the need to run things at 34128794x478447848 resolution with 12xFSAA and make my eyes bleed.
When will people learn that buying top-of-the-line hardware just isn't nessecary anymore, and that you pay through the nose for it? By the time games stop running smoothly on my current rig, I can go and buy another 3d card for $150-200, mabye upgrade my processor a bit, and everything'll once again run fine and dandy. Contrast that to the person who has to always have the best, and you're talking huge amounts of money in the long run.
...but I'll be excited when I download it. However, I have more faith in Blizzard than say, Team17, who've promised us patches to Worms Armageddon for even longer.
You can twist around the no extra revenue argument and say that companies have no reason to update "old" games, but you need only look to Half-Life to see how much supporting your fanbase can get you. For Team17 however, I'll be holding off on Worms 3. Not an outright boycott, but I want to at least wait a month or two. Team17 haven't been doing well in keeping up with their games patch-wise, and I sadly don't anticipate Worms 3 to be much different. Hopefully they will prove me wrong and buck the trend.
...is something to happen to the iBooks, specifically the 12-inch models. $999 buys a nice notebook, but those g3 processors are a sticking point. It's good to see them getting upgraded with better video and such, but what Apple really needs to do is cut costs another $100 or so. They could have a dynamite seller in their hands, and a great argument for people to switch, because despite the aging g3 processor, you'd be hard-pressed to get a PC laptop of that quality for under $1000.
As for the 14-inch models? Honestly, I could care less. I don't think 2 inches of laptop screen space is worth the extra weight and size, and I also think it's too much to spend on a g3 processor-based laptop. Like it or not, this isn't like the Pentium 3 vs. the Pentium 4. There's a huge jump in performance between the two, and Apple has made it all but obvious that g3's are going to become a thing of the past. This is why it's crucial that Apple make the push for low-price iBooks now, before g4 becomes a nessecity, and they're back to almost-square-one in prices because they lost all the cost-cutting they could do with the g3.
Basically, if I was Jobs, I'd be playing up the iBook more as the "laptop for the common man". It's light, it's durable, it's easy to use, it's even affordable, compared to most laptops that aren't overglorified paperweights. Sure they're already hot with education, but that should only convince Apple more that the iBook could be huge with the right blend of advertising and price-slashing.
Slashdot Mirror
As much as I'd like to, I can't see a $99 iPod happening.
Jobs is steadfastly commited to unrelenting quality, but the real price one pays is for the "Apple experience" if you will. Plenty of people have a good chuckle at the idea of the "Apple tax", but that's the best way to describe it. In the end, wether you know it or not, you're paying that extra dough for an iPod because Jobs wants a very specific experience given to his customers, from the packaging, to the interface, to the zen-like simplicity of the operation, even down to the matching white headphones. A $99 iPod would mean that Jobs would have to cut some serious corners, and even though you couldn't keep a $99 iPod on the shelves it would sell so fast, I think that kind of price point would make Jobs too uncomfortable with what he'd have to give up in the process.
Time will tell though...I think a "low-end" iPod is inevitable. It's obvious that the iPod appeals to more than the hardcore, everything-on-CD-ripped-at-VBR-minimum-320kbps digital music crowd, and vision aside, Jobs is no stranger to supporting the less fanatical, with things like the iBook and eMac. So why not make low-capacity iPods?
In my mind, the real question is, how low will Jobs go? Anyone can see why a $99 iPod would be an awesome thing, but look at how much criticism the full-fledged iPod has gotten from the vocal sect. You can practically picture the anti-mac-zealots in the wings, eagerly awaiting to rip apart this supposed foray into mass-market electronics. Considering how many would be bought, even the slightest flaw in a low-profit-margin, low-end iPod would spread like a vocal wildfire amongst owners, having the potential to severely tarnish the reputation of Jobs' beloved company, one of it's greatest assets.
I found x3dFritz for sale, and now I'm really curious. Has anybody found any reviews/hands on for the technology, or even better, reviews of X3d fritz itself? Google has turned up nothing so far.
I think these people got hit in the head a few too many times with the ol' pigskin.
I picked up an Albatron Geforce Ti4200 for $149 off of NewEgg when I built my current rig, and It's eaten everything I've thrown at it for breakfast. I couldn't be happier.
Then again, I don't feel the need to run things at 34128794x478447848 resolution with 12xFSAA and make my eyes bleed.
When will people learn that buying top-of-the-line hardware just isn't nessecary anymore, and that you pay through the nose for it? By the time games stop running smoothly on my current rig, I can go and buy another 3d card for $150-200, mabye upgrade my processor a bit, and everything'll once again run fine and dandy. Contrast that to the person who has to always have the best, and you're talking huge amounts of money in the long run.
...but I'll be excited when I download it. However, I have more faith in Blizzard than say, Team17, who've promised us patches to Worms Armageddon for even longer.
You can twist around the no extra revenue argument and say that companies have no reason to update "old" games, but you need only look to Half-Life to see how much supporting your fanbase can get you. For Team17 however, I'll be holding off on Worms 3. Not an outright boycott, but I want to at least wait a month or two. Team17 haven't been doing well in keeping up with their games patch-wise, and I sadly don't anticipate Worms 3 to be much different. Hopefully they will prove me wrong and buck the trend.
...is something to happen to the iBooks, specifically the 12-inch models. $999 buys a nice notebook, but those g3 processors are a sticking point. It's good to see them getting upgraded with better video and such, but what Apple really needs to do is cut costs another $100 or so. They could have a dynamite seller in their hands, and a great argument for people to switch, because despite the aging g3 processor, you'd be hard-pressed to get a PC laptop of that quality for under $1000.
As for the 14-inch models? Honestly, I could care less. I don't think 2 inches of laptop screen space is worth the extra weight and size, and I also think it's too much to spend on a g3 processor-based laptop. Like it or not, this isn't like the Pentium 3 vs. the Pentium 4. There's a huge jump in performance between the two, and Apple has made it all but obvious that g3's are going to become a thing of the past. This is why it's crucial that Apple make the push for low-price iBooks now, before g4 becomes a nessecity, and they're back to almost-square-one in prices because they lost all the cost-cutting they could do with the g3.
Basically, if I was Jobs, I'd be playing up the iBook more as the "laptop for the common man". It's light, it's durable, it's easy to use, it's even affordable, compared to most laptops that aren't overglorified paperweights. Sure they're already hot with education, but that should only convince Apple more that the iBook could be huge with the right blend of advertising and price-slashing.