My complaint isn't so much that the four gig version costs $249, but that there is no cheaper two gig version. Just think about it. Why have people been buying mp3 players with a pathetic 256 MB of storage? The answer is the price. Apple shouldn't be competing in this market on capacity. They should be competing on price. Give me an iPod that costs less than $200!
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4GB 'iPod Mini' and 15GB iPod
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same
they will, forced by the market, within a couple of months, but hey, this is apple, so the months become quarters and so - after al lot of hesitating - they loose battle number x.
they will, forced by the market, within a couple of months, but hey, this is apple, so the months become quarters and so - after al lot of hesitating - they loose battle number x.
pjkelnhofer
macrumors 6502a
My thinking exactly, but what will they price them. They may very well be the same or cheaper then the mini!
Price is much too high...
As others have noted, the price is too high. It doesn't make sense for the 4GB to be only $50 cheaper than the 15GB and still $50 more expensive than the most expensive flash-based player. Yes it can hold more songs than the Rio, but the price is just too expensive for many people.
As others have noted, the price is too high. It doesn't make sense for the 4GB to be only $50 cheaper than the 15GB and still $50 more expensive than the most expensive flash-based player. Yes it can hold more songs than the Rio, but the price is just too expensive for many people.
New ipod
That thing is sexy. As said many times before, many people can't fill a 10 gig or a 15 gig or a 40 for that matter. To me, its a better, smaller ipod in an amazingly sleek aluminum case and fits most people's needs in an mp3 player. The flash players that are 50$ less than it, don't have enough memory.
Also, Too much hype and hope was put into the rumors. To make a decent profit on a quality made hard drive mp3 player, you can't sell it for 100-200$, which a lot of people were hoping and it seemed that these rumors were backed by all these "relyable sources". I think thats why everyone seems to be so pissed about the price. I am happy with the new product,
Good job apple.
That thing is sexy. As said many times before, many people can't fill a 10 gig or a 15 gig or a 40 for that matter. To me, its a better, smaller ipod in an amazingly sleek aluminum case and fits most people's needs in an mp3 player. The flash players that are 50$ less than it, don't have enough memory.
Also, Too much hype and hope was put into the rumors. To make a decent profit on a quality made hard drive mp3 player, you can't sell it for 100-200$, which a lot of people were hoping and it seemed that these rumors were backed by all these "relyable sources". I think thats why everyone seems to be so pissed about the price. I am happy with the new product,
Good job apple.
iChan
macrumors 6502a
i think for what they are, they are fantastic, but for reaching that mass market that everyone is talking about, apple need something else, i don't know what it is... an even smaller iPod?
flash-based anyone?
SJ did say "a new addition to the iPod family", thus implying there will be more to come i think... they are a family of products now...
flash-based anyone?
SJ did say "a new addition to the iPod family", thus implying there will be more to come i think... they are a family of products now...
The $250 iPod mini is a great business stategy for Apple. Just about everybody here was waiting for the low price mini's. And many still were waiting for the $100-150 mini, right? But now that they're damn near the price as the regular iPod, just about everybody is saying, "I might as well pay the extra $50 and get the larger of the two models."
Apple isn't a stupid company. I'm sure that everybody that worked there thought $250 for 4GB or $300 for 15GB? Which one would Joe Consumer buy? Obviously they would fork over the minimal, yet extra, cash for the larger model.
It's smart business, just not entirely ethical.
Apple isn't a stupid company. I'm sure that everybody that worked there thought $250 for 4GB or $300 for 15GB? Which one would Joe Consumer buy? Obviously they would fork over the minimal, yet extra, cash for the larger model.
It's smart business, just not entirely ethical.
Although WE are all disappointed with the $249 pricetag, you have to realize that a cheaper iPod just means that many more iPod users. Yes it's only $50 less than the 15 gig, but that's $50 that a lot of people don't have.
just to chime in:
mini's look great, but why would anyone pay $249 for it? apple really blew it on that price. $199 would have been SOOOO MUCH SMARTER.
mini's look great, but why would anyone pay $249 for it? apple really blew it on that price. $199 would have been SOOOO MUCH SMARTER.
maelstromr
macrumors 6502
i don't understand this. steve said the mini ipod is supposed to go after that low-end cheap-o mp3 player market.
how is a $250 ipod competing with the 100 dollar mp3 players?
steve is kinda clueless, if you ask me. he said he feels that 4GB is big enough to take the music that you want with you. i don't care what steve feels, i would have been happy with an ipod that held only 60 songs. i was waiting the whole keynote for the ipod, and was getting out my credit card to buy a mini ipod that i was expecting to actually compete with the low end mp3 players.
all i want the ipod for is to bring it to the gym with me, and maybe in my car sometimes, just to listen to a good hour and a half worth of music. i don't need my entire library, or even half my library. steve is missing the point. he thinks you have to have mass storage for an mp3 player to be worth something. no!! you don't!!
250 dollars for a portable music device is NOT competing with the cheap-o players! it's competing with the 15 GB ipod! it's competing with it's bigger brother!!
i was so excited that i was going to get an ipod somewhere in the 100 - 175 dollar range. i would have been happy with a 150 dollar ipod that held only 100 songs. i would have been MORE than happy.
this is the only time i've critized apple for anything they have made. but this time, all they did was make another high-end mp3 player. $250 is high end! it's almost a 3rd of my bi-weekly paycheck!
c'mon steve. this is not competion for the flash player market. this will not help you bring your market share up. a 50 dollar cheaper ipod is just an incentive to buy a lower end model for someone who was on the brink of buying an ipod anyway. someone like me who's 22 years old, lives on his own, is just starting out in life, is not rich by any means, is in no way attracted to this ipod. sure i want one. but i can't get one.
i'm sad to say i have to go out and get a low quality mp3 player. and god forbid i have to use my home windows machine and musicmatch to get the music on my my lame-o not cool mp3 player. thanks steve. thanks for giving us another ipod which only looks different.
god. ok. my rant is now done. no more negative apple comments from me from now on.
how is a $250 ipod competing with the 100 dollar mp3 players?
steve is kinda clueless, if you ask me. he said he feels that 4GB is big enough to take the music that you want with you. i don't care what steve feels, i would have been happy with an ipod that held only 60 songs. i was waiting the whole keynote for the ipod, and was getting out my credit card to buy a mini ipod that i was expecting to actually compete with the low end mp3 players.
all i want the ipod for is to bring it to the gym with me, and maybe in my car sometimes, just to listen to a good hour and a half worth of music. i don't need my entire library, or even half my library. steve is missing the point. he thinks you have to have mass storage for an mp3 player to be worth something. no!! you don't!!
250 dollars for a portable music device is NOT competing with the cheap-o players! it's competing with the 15 GB ipod! it's competing with it's bigger brother!!
i was so excited that i was going to get an ipod somewhere in the 100 - 175 dollar range. i would have been happy with a 150 dollar ipod that held only 100 songs. i would have been MORE than happy.
this is the only time i've critized apple for anything they have made. but this time, all they did was make another high-end mp3 player. $250 is high end! it's almost a 3rd of my bi-weekly paycheck!
c'mon steve. this is not competion for the flash player market. this will not help you bring your market share up. a 50 dollar cheaper ipod is just an incentive to buy a lower end model for someone who was on the brink of buying an ipod anyway. someone like me who's 22 years old, lives on his own, is just starting out in life, is not rich by any means, is in no way attracted to this ipod. sure i want one. but i can't get one.
i'm sad to say i have to go out and get a low quality mp3 player. and god forbid i have to use my home windows machine and musicmatch to get the music on my my lame-o not cool mp3 player. thanks steve. thanks for giving us another ipod which only looks different.
god. ok. my rant is now done. no more negative apple comments from me from now on.
These will not be hot and will not be carried at Walmart. They are still priced way to high to "compete" with the lower priced MP3 players and most people will just go ahead and buy the 15 gig iPod if the do choose the iPod. At most, the only ones buying these will be Mac Addicts who buy everything Apple comes out with...
I still have quite a few friends that laugh at me for paying $300 for a "music" player - aka iPod. Its going to have to come way down before the Average Joe becomes interested in it.
stevestella
macrumors newbie
That $579 figure is Singapore dollars, you're mixing currencies. I freaked out at first but following your link I noticed "S$" which led me to look closely at the top of the webpage that says "Creative Singapore"
New Ipod mini and actions....
If you are unhappy about the price, tell the Apple marketing people! They will get the message to the right people, and we will see what happens.
REMEMBER: Be nice/polite in your emails to the marketing folks. If your a jerk they will just delete your email and figure your a crackpot!
If you are unhappy about the price, tell the Apple marketing people! They will get the message to the right people, and we will see what happens.
REMEMBER: Be nice/polite in your emails to the marketing folks. If your a jerk they will just delete your email and figure your a crackpot!
Re: What the Heck is Apple Thinking???
(RANT)
EVERYONE is overreacting to the price, and anyone calling Apple greedy should know more about the business and the pricing of new hard drives.
RIO 4GB PLAYER = $250. MAKE SURE YOU CALL IT GREEDY, TOO.
(/RANT)
I hope Apple will incorporate the form factor and the material of the Mini to the bigger sibling, because the chrome back and the buttons really look dated now. Until then, I will keep using my original 5GB.
(RANT)
EVERYONE is overreacting to the price, and anyone calling Apple greedy should know more about the business and the pricing of new hard drives.
RIO 4GB PLAYER = $250. MAKE SURE YOU CALL IT GREEDY, TOO.
(/RANT)
I hope Apple will incorporate the form factor and the material of the Mini to the bigger sibling, because the chrome back and the buttons really look dated now. Until then, I will keep using my original 5GB.
Amen! I couldn't have said it better myself. Let's just hope that Apple keeps coming up with more "dismal failures" like these! 😉 These iPod minis will prove to be a hit as well in the coming months.
One thing I would be interested in knowing is the flash memory cache.
When I bought my 2G 20gig iPod, Apple was still marketing them as appropriate for wearing while running. Several thousand hard restarts later, I think we all know that the iPod is not the optimal piece of hardware for runners. That is why I have a <$100 flash player also.
If this iPod mini can be used reliably while running (whether due to more cache or different hard disk technology), I would buy one in a heartbeat. That's a fairly small niche for Apple though, and I agree with everyone who thinks the $249 price point is too high.
When I bought my 2G 20gig iPod, Apple was still marketing them as appropriate for wearing while running. Several thousand hard restarts later, I think we all know that the iPod is not the optimal piece of hardware for runners. That is why I have a <$100 flash player also.
If this iPod mini can be used reliably while running (whether due to more cache or different hard disk technology), I would buy one in a heartbeat. That's a fairly small niche for Apple though, and I agree with everyone who thinks the $249 price point is too high.
Its a matter of psychology...
I'm not a shrink but $199 is a psychological price point.
yes the new mini ipods are cool and yes they well sell (probably better than most expect) but they will not dominate the market the way they could have.
IMHO the only reason Apple screwed up is they missed the chance to break that psychological barrier. It really was a chance to take the iPod to the next level, like 10 million sold.
I'm not a shrink but $199 is a psychological price point.
yes the new mini ipods are cool and yes they well sell (probably better than most expect) but they will not dominate the market the way they could have.
IMHO the only reason Apple screwed up is they missed the chance to break that psychological barrier. It really was a chance to take the iPod to the next level, like 10 million sold.
It is true about Apple's history of overpricing everything. When are they ever going to learn that in order to capture the market they need to make more affordable products?? There is a reason that something like 98% of computer owners are PeeCee users. PeeCees have something that many Apple products do notan affordable price tag. I think that is what people really want, above all. Unless you are already a Mac fan, why would any unknowing person shopping for a computer choose something so expensive over something much cheaper?
What does the ipod mini use for storage?
What does the ipod mini use for storage? Is it flash? Or is it a hard drive?
Can anyone provide conclusive proof?
If it is a memory-based player, it's a super-duper bargain at $249.
What does the ipod mini use for storage? Is it flash? Or is it a hard drive?
Can anyone provide conclusive proof?
If it is a memory-based player, it's a super-duper bargain at $249.
ZildjianKX
macrumors 68000
Anyone else think it was really dumb to compare the price to the $199 high end player? They topped every spec they compared it to, so its natural to think they would match or beat the price... wrong... blah.
I am disapointed with the price.. BUT..
The mini comes with a Dock, Belt clip, and an armband..
with an estimated value of $70.
You do not get any of that with the 15GB iPod.
So it is not really a $50 difference.. it is more like $120 if you wanted the extras.
They really should have offered a 2GB for $200.. or $159 without the extras.
The mini comes with a Dock, Belt clip, and an armband..
with an estimated value of $70.
You do not get any of that with the 15GB iPod.
So it is not really a $50 difference.. it is more like $120 if you wanted the extras.
They really should have offered a 2GB for $200.. or $159 without the extras.
agentmouthwash
macrumors regular
Apple messed up.
Let's face it.
My Girlfriend is still going to buy the 15mb model, but my brother who waiteds for this event said no way.
Still too much money. He is buying a cheaper RIO.
Let's face it.
My Girlfriend is still going to buy the 15mb model, but my brother who waiteds for this event said no way.
Still too much money. He is buying a cheaper RIO.