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4GB 'iPod Mini' and 15GB iPod

not exactly what i expected

i thought they'd keep the dock connector and earbud/remote. thats about the only thing i got completely right
i thought they would have just altered the existing dock to take both ipod/mpod. i thought that they would have offered a 2 gig version. it thought that it was going to start at $200.

at least the education pricing is only $229.

if apple keeps their same pattern, and if you can still find a 10 gig ipod, it should be clearance priced at $269. good luck.
 
Had they also offered a 2gig for $199 ($179 for students), that would have made a LOT more sense than just this one at $249.

While I understand that it costs more money to make the mini smaller than the regular iPod, a $50 difference between the mini at 4gig and the iPod 15gig won't make sense in the minds of many consumers, especially people would were already considering an iPod.

I think a lot of people will buy it though because of the colors, the size, and not realizing how much better the 15gig would be.

I also think Steve should NOT have done the iPod mini last. People were so excited about GarageBand and iLife '04, and then had their hopes up when he announced iPod. Certainly someone at Apple must have known that even if the general public will buy the iPod mini, that the Mac faithful would be disappointed.

Besides this a GREAT keynote with some great announcements. I'm just disappointed with iPod mini--my family was going to buy my sis a mini iPod if it was $100-$150 like the media had hinted at. I really don't know though at $249...
 
Originally posted by iJed
I actually had my credit card on front of me in order to buy the new small iPod model... But this thing is so stupidly priced and under-specced compared to the 15G that I simply have no intention of paying for it. I really do not see Apple gaining a great deal of market share with this. They would have just been better taking $50 off of the 10G model and selling that.
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WOW!!! It's like you are inside my mind. I was going to come here and post these identical commments.

Here are the reasons I see for this product and pricing - To not cut into the regular iPod sales, and the compete with the soon to be released 1/2/4 gig MP3 plays.

All $199 - 256 Meg MP3 players are going to lose ground to the higher capasity models to be released in the very near future.
 
Originally posted by snahabed
the Ipod is NOT a glorified walkman. Anyone who says that, again, is a delusional moron.
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Umm, they both play music, that's their purpose.

I don't think the price is that bad either though. Pick up a business card, and you'll see how small it is.

The iPod Mini has the great iPod UI and design, the Nitrus will be cheaper than MSRP. Neither will appeal to value-seekers, but that's okay too. I think these are great for exercise (I already have a Karma though, so don't need another player).
 
Yes they are very nice, yes they are smaller, yes they are "cool", yes they are a rip off!!!!! Please, anyone with half a brain will pay another $50 for 15GB.

...I don't get it...
 
Originally posted by awal
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.
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Exactly! my 'pod was a bit of a disaster running - besides pulling down my trackies it kept going belly up. To overcome the bum-exposure issue I put it in a backpack but that didnt cure the restart thing and it was back to the radio. I hope this one is different, but i can't see it being so (given these issues and the price, I reckon its a 128 meg flash player for me.)
 
Originally posted by Lancetx
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.
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Not play devil's advocate, but wasn't the Cube a dismal failure. (People who bought it loved, there just weren't enough people who did).
Apple does make mistakes.
Time will tell if this is one. Right now, count me as one of the people who think it is.
Of couse, I am probably just bitter because I still can't afford an iPod.
 
Originally posted by pkradd
The price is exactly the same as the Rio 4 GB player announced this morning. It is in line with the competition people. Moans and groans accompanied the intro of the first 5 GB iPod at $399. The smaller the device the more difficult it is to manufacture. The expectaion of a $99 HD based iPod was silly. The cost of these devices has to include not only the cost of the parts but the cost of manufacturing them as well as all other costs - advertising, distribution, packaging, licensing of software (Apple uses Portalplayer), etc.
Don't like it, don't buy it. You still have the regular iPods.

This will sell like crazy in Japan and Europe and to women and kids. It's a new "fashion statement".

P.S. The original iPod had the same reaction when Apple announced the price. It's such a dismal failure only selling 2 million. Oh well, back to the drawing boards. 🙂
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Amen. For you dullards comparing the mini to the regular iPod, do you compare BMW 3 and 5 series? The prices are close, and in fact actually overlap. Yet they obviously serve very different needs. That's why no one bitches at BMW when the M3 costs far more than an entry level 5. Come on guys, open your eyes.

I've tried using an iPod for running and at the gym. No thanks, as great as they are, for these purposes they are too bulky and too heavy. The mini is 36% lighter than the iPod, and physically smaller in every dimension. I don't need to carry around 10000 songs. 1000 is MORE than enough to get me through many miles and many sets.

I ordered one and predict the mini will double Apple's unit share inside of 12 months (read Xmas '04).

TM
 
Originally posted by engelb15
Totally agree with the people who think they missed the mark.

I would have purchased one today for my wife if they were $199.

If they had a 2gb model for say $159 I would have purchased one of those too for my son.

Oh well, looks like Apple actually saved me some money today.......
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And it will be $199 before long. Apple hit the sweet spot with this price. Close enough to the 15 gig iPod not to cannibalize it. There are plenty enough "low hanging fruit" as Steve would say to keep these things flying off the shelve at $249. When demand slows a bit, they'll lower its price to better compete with Rio and others.
 
Originally posted by merge
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.
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I didn't watch the keynote, but according to the apple store all you get is the belt clip. The dock and armband are extra accessories.
 
market strategy

Originally posted by GregUofMN
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.
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Yeah, the longer I think about it, I 'm convinced this is the real strategy of real businessmen.

It's classic too: if you have good products, create lesser products to force humanity into a fake competition, AKA concurrence.
 
Re: not exactly what i expected

Originally posted by jasonbw
i thought they'd keep the dock connector and earbud/remote. thats about the only thing i got completely right
i thought they would have just altered the existing dock to take both ipod/mpod.
Click to expand...

I must have misunderstood during the keynote, because I had thought Steve said it was the same dock for the iPod mini, but one of the first things I noticed on the Apple Store when it was up again was that there are now two different docks, one for mini, one for iPod. Well at $249 for the mini I doubt many people will have both the mini and the iPod anyway!

I also don't like the fact that the old iPod now apparently will be called old or regular, unless someone else can think of a way to distinguish between the two more easily--classic?! 🙂. It's not the original iPod because that would be the first gen iPod in my opinion.
 
I'm going to get a flash mp3 player. Hmmm... but for just a $100 more i can go from 128MB to 4GB, and for just another $50 I can get a 15 gig iPod.... Hold on, I want a dock and remote. But if I have to buy that I might as well buy the 20 gig iPod and get those plus 5 extra gigs.

Apple is really stupid if they think I will spend $249 on a lower end, lower margin iPod when I can spend $399 and get 4x the storage on the higher end, higher margin iPod. What kind of business sense is that. I'm selling my stock. Geeze, doesn't apple know how to cannibalize sales on their hottest selling product since the original iMac. sarcasm
 
bad look mini ipods

I really dont see apple design on this devices, I hate those colors and design maybe is just the images on the web site but dont like it.
And the price is of course to high, but cheaper than the original ipod.
but dont like the new buttons, and colors the only gook thing is the aluminium enclosure.
 
Re: Re: Stop complaining

Originally posted by jxyama
...

many of us are saying that the minipods are expensive in relative to the lowest ipod. i feel that at this price, minipod will not attract much of new customers - instead, some of the customers eyeing the lowest ipod will change their mind for the portability/color factor and buy the minipod. that will not make apple more money. it's just cannibalizing.
...
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This is the EXACT opposite logic that I think MOST people will use. For only $50 more I can get almost 4 times the storage. The ONLY people who would buy this over the 15 Gig iPod are either brain dead, or looking for a small size for working out.
 
Genius Marketing

The price point for the Mini is perfect. Apple does not intend to sell a product for less than its competition, ever. The best you can hope for is dead even, which the Mini is compared to the 4GB Rio.

Like it or not, Apple is a BRAND and you are paying for the name and all it stands for. What is the technical difference between Coke and your grociery store's proprietary equivalent? Both are fizzy sugar water in an aluminum casing, but most will pay 2-3x more for a brand they trust.

The price difference between the Mini and the 15GB iPod only really matters to Mac people (4% of the computing world, remember). This product was designed to target a specific market at a specific price point. In a Best Buy the Mini might be near the Rio, begging the comparison betweent the two. The interface and wealth of other features should win the day for Apple in such a face-off.

This product is intended to take money out of competitor's pockets, not out of Apple's own in the form of those who were already considering the entry-level iPod. In fact, by upping the drive space and holding the price, Apple has specifically prevented the lower model cannibalization a $199 Mini would have caused. The fact that so many here are whining about the price and can't possibly imagine buying one over the 15GB iPod proves that they were right on with their pricing.

All those who think the Mini will die are probably the same people who thought the $499 price point for the high end iPod an outrageous price for an MP3 player. Yeah, right. Three of the top five models in mp3player sales in 2003 were iPods, including the 40GB. Sure glad Apple didn't whore those out--the R&D budget can stay flush and innovation can continue.

People wanting Apple to play the razor-thin margin commodity computer market don't understand that Apple's way of sidetracking that cutthroat market ensures quality, innovation, and longevity. We will always pay as much or slightly more for an Apple product--because as a group we understand that user-friendliness, stability, build quality, and aesthetic beauty are all nice things to have in a computer. If we didn't feel this way we'd all be cobbling X86 motherboards into hotrodded yet wildly unstable, high maintenance systems for less money. Count me out on that. My time in this life is worth something, and I don't want to waste a single minute trying to hack through some config conflict with my buggy OS.
 
I'm not going to read the first 100 posts. So if I repeat something, so be it.

1. I like the form factor. Nice and compact. 4 GB is the right size for me.

2. I was really hoping for a $199 price tag. $249 makes me think twice about the new 15 GB iPod.

3. If the retailers have to take shippments of all five colors like they did with fruit colored iMacs, I have a feeling there will be a lot of left over pink minies
 
Originally posted by uv23
Nice but still too expensive. For the $50 differential, there's no reason for me to buy this over the 15gb iPod.
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I agree, this is a waste of money on apple's end. It also a waste of money for the ppl that buy them.
 
I read the first 5 posts and skipped to the end because they were all the same. I like most people state that $249 is way too much! Buy the 15 GB! I know old news already but the more people who complain, the more Apple might realize their blunder and drop prices.
 
Re: market strategy

Originally posted by GregUofMN
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.
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I actually highly doubt it. It costs a lot of money to develop a new product, if you're developing and pricing it solely to make another product look better.

If that was their goal, they could've saved all the money and cut the 10Gig iPod to $249 and sold more of those.

It's simply a different product, with different pricing structure. At least they don't overlap! 😉
 
Over the next six months, I think the miniPod will will get bigger while price continually goes down. Let's remember the size of the first iPod, 5 gb. Everyone dug that. I bet we will see this thing get up 5, 7, and 10gb, and price will hover around 249 for a while, but eventually go down to 199, that's as low as I think they will take it. I also don't think they will offer the mini in more than one size at a time. If they do, it becomes overkill. One size mini, plus 3 iPod sizes is enough already.
 
Originally posted by humangod
i don't understand this. steve said the mini ipod is supposed to go after that low-end cheap-o mp3 player market.
one. but i can't get one.
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Noooo.
Steve stated that the iPod mini was going to compete for the high end flash market.
Steve specifically stated that the low-end flash market is not a place to play. Their research shows that people toss $50 players in the drawer and never use them because they hold so few songs.

From personal experience I know this to be the case. I was given a Rio 64MB player and only used it a few times, it was pointless to only carry 12 songs on it. I use my 5GB iPod most every day.
 
And it will be $199 before long. Apple hit the sweet spot with this price. Close enough to the 15 gig iPod not to cannibalize it. There are plenty enough "low hanging fruit" as Steve would say to keep these things flying off the shelve at $249. When demand slows a bit, they'll lower its price to better compete with Rio and others.

Apple could harvest a tidy little crop of customers who leap on the $249 mini, but it seems clear that without a quick followup with a sub-200 model (I mean that new 2GB drive is only $70...surely they could make a 2GB player sub-$200), they are going to be missing a big opportunity. Granted, the window for mp3 players is not about to close, but still, every day that passes without a cheaper Apple model will make their entry in that market a little bit harder.

Also, I would definitely have purchased two minis if they were under 200, even at 2GB, for a pair of friends going overseas who can't afford an ipod. But while I could have spent $400 total (wimpering as my wallet shrunk) I just can't hit $500 and pay the rent. Course, not everyone is on a college students budget...but college students are, and they buy a lot of mp3 players.
 
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