Price Reality Check

[Beholder of Truth]

Re: Tooooo expensive piece of stuff.

Originally posted by mymemory
May be the Hard Drive would crash because of the movement like in the Powerbooks that for no reason the hard drives always die and that is because you can not move a Powerbook with the drive running.

Whoa... who's the one on pot? Make sure not to blabber all over your shirt. And next time try using a comma.

I have 3 powerbooks, and their HDs have never crashed, even though I move them a LOT and have even dropped them.

Apple does a lot of stress testing on their products like hitting them, dropping them, heating them, all while they're working, and they have to pass the tests. So stop bs-ing.

 

[gamgee5273]

Cory, we're complaining about the price because we think it's too expensive, not because we can't afford it (if I weren't getting married in a month, I could drop the cash - not credit - for two right at this moment). I, personally, am complaining because I find that there is a myth that Apple is too quick to sell things at too high a price - and your average, everyday user believes that myth and the same myth is reinforced by things like the iPod. Nevermind that you can buy an iMac for $799 or an iBook for $1299 because Apple doesn't hype that the way they should, therefore Joe Average doesn't think a Mac is in his range. So, when a new Apple product comes out and it's supposed to be a "consumer" product there is going to be concern about the price. Remember the concern about the original $1299 iMac price? The original Cube configuration? This is the same concern.

 

[gamgee5273]

Oh, and I agree with Beholder: the hard drive isn't an issue. I've never had a problem with my PowerBook G3 and its HD in the more than three years I've owned it.

 

[blackpeter]

iPod - Apple - & Money

All those kids in high school / college who got mom & dad to buy them a PowerBook in September will demand the iPod for Christmas (or what have you...).

Steve is just trying to get as much value out of the 'oooh - ahhh' factor as he can. Look for a less-expensive (perhaps updated?) iPod in February 2002.

BTW - I disagree with the idea that Apple is viewed as financally 'out of range' for most people. While I agree that most PC users think of Apple as a platform that offers less options in regards to the use of 3rd party hardware & software, I think that most people know what stuff costs (simply put). It's true that Apple dosen't push their entry level iMacs the way that a company like Dell pushes it's $999. machines. But then again, anyone with the least bit of interest in an iMac can (with a phone call - trip to the mall - or a trip to apple.com) discover that they can get one for $799. Apple's quality does come at a premium, but the real hurdle for the company is overcomming the average PC user's 'fear-of-change.'

 

[SPG]

perspective

I was building up a nice digital video studio exactly two years ago with a pair of G4's and as I remember the best deal for a firewire harddrive on the market then was $500 for 20gigs (and they're loud and big).
As a fullsize 5gig firewire drive $400 would've been right in the ballpark then. Add the fact that it's self powered, 1/10th the size, and comes with some damn good headphones and a great mp3 player interface and the price really isn't that out of line for today, okay maybe $100 out of line with what we'd all consider just right. Anyhow, what's the price-performance going to be of the next iPod? If I need a self powered 5gig HD and mp3 player now, I won't worry, I'll just buy the most appropriate solution and it's nice to know that Apple is offering a viable solution.

 

[evildan]

iPond Water

It really is too bad. Apple has come out with a wide selection of great products in the last few years. Honestly, even though I'm an Apple lover, I had my doubts about the company's ability to make it. But then, to my suprise, "say hello to the iMac!"

WOW, what a great idea. This machine, was inexpensive, looked great, easy to use and buy... heck I wanted one and I didn't even need one.

That single product changed apple. It sold better than any of their other products. (I think that last popular product Apple had before the iMac was the Performa - which I owned).

I was very happy, and proud to be an Apple loyalist. Still it was a bit of a toy, and the professionals around me were still able to mock my fancy for the company. Then the new line of g3's came out... WOW another great score... infact I bought one. Then from no where, laptops, and a whole 4 part product philosophy was born.

Here is Apple's 4 part product philosophy. (which Steve Jobs himself announced in a Keynote Address)

2 Portable Machines
--> One professional (the G4/G3 laptops)
--> One for the average consumer (the iBook)

2 Desktop Machines
--> One professional (the G4/G3 tower)
--> One for the average consumer (the iMac)

This was a rebuilding philosophy. Simple product line, so everybody knew where they fit.

Then the Cube came out... it really didn't fit in any of those categories. I found it ironic that Steve Jobs had just said how this was the "tried and true" product line that they were going to stick with - - then they released the cube.

But forget about that, the cube was COOL!! I mean who here didn't want one? I know I did. But the price... wow, a tad too high. But really that was it, that was the only thing I could hold against it. Oh - except for the fact that it really couldn't be expanded. But it didn't have a fan... and it would be a great additional system for my home office.

That's right about the time the economy was going down hill. People didn't want to buy a novelty item. They needed to be practicle. People didn't want to buy the cube. They had no reason to. Apple still offered the professional and average consumer lines, that's all they needed. But then again the cube wasn't built for everyone.

I overlooked the cube's error, I thought I'd still pick one up in a year or two if the product line was still around... I don't think I should hold my breath.

Then there seemed to be a... well... a dry spell. Nothing was really comming out -- yeah g4's and dual proccessors hit the market... but my attention was on the operating system crisis. OSX... would it be all we wanted? I think with the release of 10.1 it is on it's way to being just that.

Then say hello to the iPod.... Ahh no thanks, I don't think I will. As I was reading this thread the phrase "vote with your pocketbook" came up. Very well said, I don't like the price, I like the product, just not the price.

I can afford it, that's not the issue, it's can the average consumer afford it. Becuase, after all, this is a product for the average consumer. You're not going to just sell this to rock stars and millionaires. The middle income bracket holds the largest number of consumers.

I believe the reason the iMac was so popular was becuase it targeted the middle income families. The iPod - just in it's name - would suggest that it's geared to the same audience... but the price is out of their range. $300 is in range. The iPod should either be priced at $300 or they should change the name to the "gPod" or "4walk" or something like that. And forget about marketing it as an mp3 player... no it's a firewire drive with mp3 playing features.

Or release two iPods -- one for someone looking for an mp3 player and the other for the consumer who wants the FireWire drive.

I bet if Apple did that the iPod for everyone would sell better than the iPod for the professionals, even if it had less features. Just like the iMac out-sells the professional line of desktops and laptops.

It's the yen and yang of marketing... using your low-end products to support - and justify - your high-end products.

Apple was built to be the best company - but it was also built for us, not big business (like IBM was). This is the "hippie computer company" for everybody.

Think different... how about Price Different.

I'll keep buying Apple products, I only hope the average consumer will follow me. Do you think they will?

 

[jefhatfield]

re: tfaz1

fear of change is what makes it hard to switch to apple but now that windows xp is out, osx might look familiar to the new windows operating system and both run on similar languages which CompTIA says is some version of UNIX, though all the programmer friends of mine agree or disagree with that last comment to varying degrees

since microsoft borrowed the osx gui interface, that can be a good thing in the long run since the two os's must look alike to a brand new user or to a new windows user so change is not as scary anymore (but it will take time for the two os's to be dominant)

 

[kaneda]

iPod more than MP3 Player

"I certainly am not going to buy a $400 mp3 player. Perhaps some will, but I can't imagine this ever being a big seller, not with this limited of a scope."

iPod is more than Mp3 player...it is a portable HD, you can store files. But the main feature is an Mp3 small compact Mp3 player.

So you spend 400 for small portable HD, and Mp3 player...

 

[mjsmith]

Originally posted by arn
regarding copying MP3's off of iPod

The device does not use a digital-rights management scheme. When it auto-syncs to iTunes, the iPod can only connect to one copy of the software on one Mac. But a manual mode allows the device to share songs between any number of Macs.

I read that when you sync to another Mac you loose your existing MP3s. If the manual mode allows this shareing OK but how about the family with one Mac and two or more iPODs.
I guess my wife and I must always use the manual mode.

Any thoughts on how to load pics from a digital camera to the iPod? I guess a firewire card reader would work as well as firewire from the camera to the iPod????
Mark

 

[akuma]

Originally posted by mjsmith
Any thoughts on how to load pics from a digital camera to the iPod? I guess a firewire card reader would work as well as firewire from the camera to the iPod????
Mark

I don't think that you'll be able to hook your DV camera directly to the iPod to transfer pics/video. Although that would definately be nice, the iPod doesn't have the interface to do it directly (someone correct me if thats wrong).

The only way you would be able to transfer is to get the data onto the mac then transfer it to the iPod.