iPod Mini Countdown

[arn]

Apple's website now reflects a countdown to the iPod Mini's public release. The teaser page reads "iPod mini: The world's smallest 1,000 song digital music player. For Mac and Windows".

Apple also announced that the iPod mini has received over 100,000 pre-orders since its introduction in January. According to Phil Shiller, "The response to iPod mini has been off the charts".

As previously reported, the iPod Mini will be in stores February 20th at 6pm

[ph8te]

Just in Time for the weekend... 6 pm which time? US or where?

[MattG]

100,000 preorders...pretty impressive

[ph8te]

Now all Apple needs to work on is an elegant iPod-Dock for the car. Imagine putting all your fave tunes on the iPod and then docking it to your car-audio system... Way cool idea

[robbieduncan]

Originally posted by ph8te
Just in Time for the weekend... 6 pm which time? US or where?

Unless Apple have changed their roll out this is all US only. Europe (and I assume Australia, Asia and other teritories) are not coming out till March or April...

[iggyb]

Wow. I must say that 100,000 pre-orders are beyond what I thought the initial demand would be...nice!

I'm anxious to hear about the battery life and if they can hold up as well in jarring situations as a flash-memory player (such as working out).

[crees!]

Originally posted by ph8te
Now all Apple needs to work on is an elegant iPod-Dock for the car. Imagine putting all your fave tunes on the iPod and then docking it to your car-audio system... Way cool idea

Alpine has developed a stereo system where you can plug in and access your iPod. It reads the track info, your rating... it even recharges your iPod when connected.

Alpine iPod Ready

With a simple one-cable connection, iPod users will be able to operate key playback features from the Alpine receiver's buttons and have display of playlists, album, artist and songs on the head unit. The iPod can then be safely stored in the glove box or console because it acts like a portable hard drive connected to the head unit through Alpine's powerful Ai-Net system bus. The Alpine connectivity solution also provides charging of the iPod's internal battery.

[Lancetx]

Apple also announced that the iPod mini has received over 100,000 pre-orders since its introduction in January. According to Phil Schiller, "The response to iPod mini has been off the charts".

So much for the predictions by some that it would be an overpriced flop...yet again Apple proves the critics wrong.

[the_mole1314]

I like the pre-order numbers. From what I've heard, the battery life actually exceedes the said 8 hours!

[narco]

Hopefully this will kill all the "$50 more for...", "the mini will do poorly" arguments.

[rjwill246]

Oh, now where were we...? Moments before this news came out I was reading the 'negativos' in these fora. I can barely type for the tears- and my sides are splitting....

[garycruz]

For those who rant that it is too expensive, doesn't mean that other's will not buy it. I've seen comparisons to the Cube, but we are talking a few hundred bucks here, not a thousand.

4GB Lexar Compact Flash = $1,080.00 (solid state memory)
4GB Hitachi Microdrive = $499.00 (stand alone CF hard drive)
4GB Creative Muvo = $299.00 (uses 4GB Hitachi MD)
4GB Apple iPod = $249.00 (uses 4GB Hitachi MD)
256MB iRock 860 = $150.00 (uses flash memory)

You really can't compare the iPod mini to the bigger brother because it isn't the SAME SIZE! You pay for all that technology crammed into a smaller space. I don't see why people don't get that?

As for the many different flash memory mp3 players out there, they don't even come close to 1gb for the price of the iPod mini. And their interfaces are not as elegant.

In fact, the 4gb muvo is considered "cheap" enough to take apart just for the flash drive!
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...essage=7276581

[Dont Hurt Me]

its a regular M.O for Apple to charge a little more for a new product and then reduce price 6 months later. Lets stop the crying. If it says Apple it means you pay more for the best. This is S.O.P. I think those are nice numbers for a product that just shipped. I hope they come out with matching Imacs with a built in dock.

[azdude]

You really can't compare the iPod mini to the bigger brother because it isn't the SAME SIZE! You pay for all that technology crammed into a smaller space. I don't see why people don't get that?

Indeed. I quickly got tired of listening to people complain about the price. It's like:

"Who in their right mind would actually pay $24,000 for a BMW Mini when they could get a 325Ci Coupe for $30,500?!?? Man... BMW are idiots!!"

It's just ridiculous. Form factor does hold value for many people... Hard Drive size is not the only thing everyone cares about.

[Spades]

I wonder what sales of the original iPod have been like lately.

[Sir_Giggles]

Typically, the user who complains about price vs HD space ratios are the same typical PC user who would rather spend hours building their own PCs and spend hours getting their peripherals to work, so that they could save a few dollars off retail.

In doing so, they're making the same amount of money as a Chinese or Taiwanese assembler in a third world country, yet they value their money but not their time. Makes sense.

And to those who will wait for the iPod Minis to drop by at least $50, are really not interested in getting an mp3 player anyway. Their logic is so flawed. Here's the reason why. Suppose you decide to wait 6 months as is typical of Apple before they drop the price. Since they will be buying at $199, their logic is saying that for just $50 more... they would rather deny themselves portable music for 6 months? Break it down, that's about $8 a month (or about 25 cents a day) they are not willing to pay to have music. No wonder they won't buy! THEY ARE SO FRICKING CHEAP; as to not pay 25 cents to listen to their music. Obviously this tells you two things, 1) they don't value their music, 2) they are unbelievably cheap (or stupid).

So it's this logic which I find bemusing, when people say they are gonna wait until it drops $50 in price as if it's some sort of magic number. Why not $149, or $99 dollars before they buy. What a bunch of morons! You know who you are.

[Dippo]

Originally posted by Sir_Giggles
Typically, the user who complains about price vs HD space ratios are the same typical PC user who would rather spend hours building their own PCs and spend hours getting their peripherals to work, so that they could save a few dollars off retail.

In doing so, they're making the same amount of money as a Chinese or Taiwanese assembler in a third world country, yet they value their money but not their time. Makes sense.

Some people just like to build computers and enjoy the time spent building and tweaking their systems. Also, you never know what you get when you buy a complete system from some vendors.

Also, I am not going to buy a mini iPod, because I just don't listen to music enough to justify the cost. (a $199 mini iPod wouldn't change that)

[sparks9]

Originally posted by Spades
I wonder what sales of the original iPod have been like lately.

According to the Apple store the original iPod is not even among the 20 best selling products in the store, while the mini is nr. 1 (and has been since macworld).

[eazyway]

Originally posted by ph8te
Now all Apple needs to work on is an elegant iPod-Dock for the car. Imagine putting all your fave tunes on the iPod and then docking it to your car-audio system... Way cool idea

This is an absolute must. My next car needs to be able to dock an ipod.

[iggyb]

Originally posted by Sir_Giggles
Typically, the user who complains about price vs HD space ratios are the same typical PC user who would rather spend hours building their own PCs and spend hours getting their peripherals to work, so that they could save a few dollars off retail.

In doing so, they're making the same amount of money as a Chinese or Taiwanese assembler in a third world country, yet they value their money but not their time. Makes sense.

And to those who will wait for the iPod Minis to drop by at least $50, are really not interested in getting an mp3 player anyway. Their logic is so flawed. Here's the reason why. Suppose you decide to wait 6 months as is typical of Apple before they drop the price. Since they will be buying at $199, their logic is saying that for just $50 more... they would rather deny themselves portable music for 6 months? Break it down, that's about $8 a month (or about 25 cents a day) they are not willing to pay to have music. No wonder they won't buy! THEY ARE SO FRICKING CHEAP; as to not pay 25 cents to listen to their music. Obviously this tells you two things, 1) they don't value their music, 2) they are unbelievably cheap (or stupid).

So it's this logic which I find bemusing, when people say they are gonna wait until it drops $50 in price as if it's some sort of magic number. Why not $149, or $99 dollars before they buy. What a bunch of morons! You know who you are.

Errrr......what the he// are you talking about? People that are saying about purchasing the iPod mini at $200 are referring to their price/value ratio in their heads. You can use that same argument if the iPod mini was introduced at $299, and dropping $50 in the next 6 months. It's about what the consumer decides is worth buying. Me, I purchased a 40GB iPod. Yes, it's expensive, but I think it's worth it. Obviously, many people don't. If the price dropped a hundred dollars, are the people that rush out and buy it morons because they could've been listening to it for 6 months now?

[.a]

Originally posted by sparks9
According to the Apple store the original iPod is not even among the 20 best selling products in the store, while the mini is nr. 1 (and has been since macworld).

does anybode believe in those charts ?¿! for sure ipod mini is nr 1, but all the other stuff ... it looks too weird to me ...
.a

[ioinc]

Originally posted by Lancetx
So much for the predictions by some that it would be an overpriced flop...yet again Apple proves the critics wrong.

more of an overpriced success!

[QCassidy352]

Hopefully this will kill all the "$50 more for...", "the mini will do poorly" arguments.

There's a sucker born every minute.

[pkradd]

On sale at 6 PM means the local time from Pacific to Eastern and all in-between. East coasters get first dibbs on the mini.

[wdlove]

The pre-sale figure is very impressive. Selling like hot cakes certainly applies.

Now to see if the "all hands on deck" for the 20th will produce any other surprises.