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Apple to Demote iPod Stock to Accessory Shelves In Retail Stores
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I used to use Pandora, then Spotify, then Beats, now Apple Music. I've enjoyed them all and each subsequent one more. I'm a huge music fan, but I do not see a lack of audio quality in streamed music. When on a plane, I will save playlists, usually comic albums for offline play and my phone still has plenty of battery.
To each their own and it's great we still have option. To alleviate the music mute when receiving a notification, just switch to vibrate.If the iPhone had the physical controls of the Nano (middle click button for play/pause/forward/rewind) and better battery life I'd agree.
There's no doubting that having everyone in one device is convenient, but there are several drawbacks to using your phone as your main media player.
- If your headphone's don't have controls, you have to get your phone out of your pocket and interact with the screen to adjust music playback.
- If you listen to hours of music, you'll run your phone's battery down fast. Years ago I had the dream of consolidating my iPod Touch and basic phone into an iPhone for videos, games, music, and internet. Boy I was wrong. You can kill the battery by the afternoon and I'm not always near power.
- There are places where I don't want to use an $800 phone: exercising, working in the yard, in bed when I'm trying to sleep (i might knock it off), etc.
- Also, my phone is always buzzing or beeping. I get 10+ emails a day and umpteen texts. Each time I get a notification it lowers the music playing in the background and can be disruptive, especially if trying to sleep. I don't want to use Do Not Disturb or Airplane mode because I can't risk missing a notification later.
- iOS is really poor lately. My background music will stutter when browsing the web or using apps on my iPad 3 or iPhone 6!
But that's more of a testament to Apple's crappy coding.
Seriously iPod lovers, we get it. You don't want it to go. The fact is, the majority of folks don't see the value in it and have responded accordingly with their wallets. Let it go.
Apple is a private company about making money. What reason would they have to 'search the music player market' if people aren't buying?
perhaps when iphone prices lower and are no longer part of contracts, etc. and when the watch is not dependent on the phone is when ipods will start to be phased out...but i can see atleast a small ipod still being relevant
Yes. makes sense.
Loosing products are put to the back in a clean shelf, to make way for the newer products that come up.... We want to impress the customer as they enter the store, and take attention away from the "once famous" tablets..
Nothing ever lasts this long anymore.....
Loosing products are put to the back in a clean shelf, to make way for the newer products that come up.... We want to impress the customer as they enter the store, and take attention away from the "once famous" tablets..
Nothing ever lasts this long anymore.....
This is a technology forum where interested users come to share thoughts and ideas. I was simply stating reasons why I think a dedicated music player still has value. That shouldn't anger or annoy you.
Apple will relocate iPod stock from the sales floor and back storage area to the accessory shelves and remove the iPad-based Smart Signs that sit next to many display devices starting on Wednesday, according to a new report from 9to5Mac. The changes are an effort by Apple to simplify the shopping experience in its retail stores.
Apple's signature products, the iPad, Mac, iPhone, iPod and Apple Watch, have typically been stored in the back storage area of an Apple Store. A customer would have to talk to an Apple Store employee and tell them which model they would like to purchase and wait as their product was retrieved from the back. Apple's non-signature products, like Apple TV and Time Capsule, are available on the accessory shelves and are easily accessible by customers without having to consult with a retail employee.
Now, customers will be able to simply walk up and pull their iPod of choice off of the store shelves. The demotion of the iPod from the main floor to the shelves is likely reflective of the iPod's decreased sales, as the device has become an increasingly minor business for Apple. The Cupertino company has also decreased the iPod's presence on its website, removing the iPod section from the website's top banner.
Additionally, Apple is removing the iPad 2-based Smart Signs intended to educate customers about Apple products. Sources tell 9to5Mac that some customers would get confused using the Smart Signs, expecting them to be fully usable iPad demo units rather than simple ways to learn about a product. Instead, Apple will begin loading product information directly on the iPads, iPhones and Macs starting next week. With less clutter on the product tables, Apple plans to install more devices for customers to test on the sales floor.
The changes to the retail stores follow Apple's move to merge its website and online store, also creating a more simplified shopping experience for customers.
Article Link: Apple to Demote iPod Stock to Accessory Shelves In Retail Stores
iPods should be demoted to being remotes for the new AppleTv
BINGO!
Perhaps killing off store traffic IS the plan. There does seem to be a push to do everything online - as with initial watch/macbook release. I was in an store a few days ago and noticed that there are fewer and fewer accessories available. The big crowds were at the Genius bar, so maybe the goal is to just turn them into service centers where you cant really buy anything. Setting up the machines to only use canned demos is a huge departure from the "Apple" of Steve Jobs.
And I see that as sad...
Where else can the guys from Big Bang Theory huddle around making fun of the people that bring their iDevices in with inane and, sometimes actually interesting issues...
And pushing, if that is true, the Apple Stores into being primarily just a Genius Bar would be fantastic, IF Apple owned a sizable part of the computer market, but they DON'T! Are they selling in over double digits over other vendors industry wide? I don't think so.
Hello Tim, it's ok if I call you Tim? If you make the products harder to get, and force people out to the Apple kiosks at affiliate stores, you are going to see Apple sales go down, and, like I said earlier, the cachet of the Apple Store will be lost.
I shouldn't have to tell you, Tim, that the Apple Stores have been the extreme oddball of the retail space. Other companies (Gateway for instance) have tried the 'Apple Store' idea, and have failed, while Apple Store sales are phenomenal. Through the roof! Apple Stores have been the thing that has started many mall owners to court the stores, and to raise rental rates too. In the cut throat business niche of retain 'stall space', Apple has been the fantastic exception to the trends that have slayed other companies, and not just tech companies. Many retailers are bleeding to death, almost literally, because of the trends in retail, and yet Apple is head and shoulders above the fray.
Don't take that for granted, and don't think that Apple is destined for greatness if you kill off the heart of the 'Apple Experience'. For then, you become just another Babbages, or Game Stop. Another has been in a world full of has beens...
I want to say the last time I went to the local store they had already done this. I'll be stopping at one probably tonight to see for sure.
Retail thieves start your engines...
Gonna see lots and lots of "new" ones on ebay...
Can you please give back my words?
Seriously though yes and yes. I first discovered this for myself when I picked up a Galaxy Note 2 and found it to be far more useful for my day to day than my full sized iPad 2. I could do just about everything i needed except access iWork.
iWork was eventually the only reason I picked up an iPhone 6+ but still, that device is with me more than anything else i own. I may take the iPad mini to run some tablet specific apps like Final Draft, but even they are getting with the iPhone 6+ is a better mini tablet game.
The iPod had a really good run, but everything but the iPod Touch really needs to be killed off.
Or better yet, keep the iPod touch and bring back the Classic with click wheel, flash storage, and beefier battery.
Actually, they were there since most of the beginning of the retail stores. at least when i was there from 2004-2011
Those best buy display apps are the reason I never buy computers from them.
I don't think Apple will be putting the adware on all machines like best buy does. The best buy adware is almost impossible to remove and I ended up having to do a clean install on a brand new machine I bought there. Never again.
haha well when you put it like that it does sound better.
Not the bit you quoted
Abyhoo... I love all these people claiming the iPod is dead, dying and so on and on... yeah never mind the FACT they just gave the iPod Touch better specs then the iPad Mini WiFi only model! Bar the screen size of course. I cannot wait for mine at Chrimbo time. Still waiting to see them in non Apple stores so I can check out the new colours. Not driving all the way to an Apple store.
Tim Cook has said multiple times in press conferences that Apple cares a lot about music. I believe that Steve did, and I'm sure Tim likes music too, but I see much less of a concentrated effort to make a great environment for music and artists now than in the iPod's heyday.
And yet they must make a few billion from music sales every year. And they have iTunes and iPod on the iPhone. So you would have thought they would make an effort, I don't know, seemed like Steve was pushing it to me, the others don't seem to have much taste for music?
Seeing this photo just reminds me again that I never quite understood what was the big fuss about Apple's store design. I think it has grown really old by now and isn't (and never has been) aesthetically pleasing to the eye. I thought well paid Misses Arendt might do something about it, but so far that doesn't seem to be a huge priority for Apple.
Perhaps Apple want people to be looking at the product rather than the technology used in the digital sign?
Also, Apple stores are in expensive areas, and retail floorspace costs by the square foot.
Doing high profile-product launches online is a good idea. Getting the right amount of stock into every single Apple Store and third-party retailer is a logistical nightmare - much better to keep all the stock together in a few regional distribution centres and not disperse it amongst hundreds of Apple stores and third-party retailers until the initial spike has passed and you know what relative demand is for various models. Plus, launch day queues were getting to be a bit of a liability (memories of the Black Friday Riots).
More a case of prioritising what high street stores are good for: punters can try and buy your high-value products and ask questions of (hopefully) expert staff. If you want a $30 iPhone case or a cable then you can pick one up online or at your nearest out-of-town hypermarket.
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It isn't rocket science to produce an interactive 'canned demo' app that you can quit or hide, but that re-starts & full-screens itself after 2 minutes of inactivity. Might be a bit ambitious for the techies at Walmart but maybe, just maybe, someone at Apple could figure it out.
Angela Ahrendts already said they're not doing online only for every new launch. My guess is they did it for the Watch because the product was severely supply constrained and they didn't have enough stock for the stores. Having people stand in line only to find out the product is unavailable is not a good customer experience. I have no doubt when the new iPhones come out everyone will get to camp out and stand in long lines with CNBC right there to capture it as usual.
This is exactly what it will be. They're not taking away people's ability to 'play' with the devices they're just freeing up space for more product on the floor. The stores haven't gotten any bigger yet Apple has added a larger iPhone, new Mac and the Watch to their product line. And all indications point to a larger iPad this fall. Since they can't make every store bigger this is how they're freeing up space.