Banners Up for Apple's Let's Rock Media Event on September 9th

[jackfrost123]

My thoughts as well !

My thoughts too. I think this has been a huge mistep for apple and as a fan of the co. I really hope it doesn't cost them dearly. But as I am sure they have people here reading opinions and gauging reactions I hope it's not too late for them. They have fallen way behing in their competitiveness of their strongest product so far, the notebooks, and no one gives a f. f. about the ipods anymore.ATTENTION. I am not saying people are not interested in buying, most people are and they are so as strong as ever, but ipods don't generate that extra attention anymore for big events such as this one.

So my reaction to as I see this clown on the green background with the ipod, is (first off it's downright ugly and uninspired something more akin to m$ than apple) so what? Where are the new f. macs? Is a sligtly larger ipod screen or memory anything to write home about in this day and age? Give us a break apple and get your ... moving for these new macs...

 

[Roy Hobbs]

would be awesome. but how about a more robust bluetooth ability as well, like the ability to update contacts without needing to plug it in, or the ability to use bluetooth in a bluethooth enabled car such as, oh, most new models that are coming out now to be able to play music and answer the phone without needing to touch the phone itself . . . you know, what bluetooth was invented for . . .

The iPhone does work with most bluetooth enabled cars

 

[mr.steevo]

Sigh. I wish my 3G iPod still worked. The touch buttons started malfunctioning after about 5 years of life.

That being said I had the HDD, case, and logic board from it that I really need to throw up on eBay sometime. Maybe someone will want a 1.5" 30GB HDD.

5 years? My 3G lasted 13 months after hardly using the thing. My thoughts were that iPods were disposable electronics designed to fail within 2 years.

s.

 

[anthonyjr]

There are also suggestions that Apple could introduce the 2.1 iPhone firmware with some previously unannounced features.

iDisk support for the iPhone! Do it!

 

[iParis]

Alot of people wishing for cameras in the touch.. I for one completely disagree with this and hope they keep cameras far away from the touch.. I can understand a camera in the iPhone since it is a phone and most people expect cameras in phones, but not in a PDA/Music Player. I already have a horrible low-res camera in my phone, why would I want 2?

I agree when you say that cameras on phone suck and that we wouldn't really need to crappy cameras, but the camera on the iPhone is amazing compared to most other camera phones.

I'm honestly hoping for more than just ipods updates, hopefully something new.

We will be checking in early into the event and will be doing livecast on it.

Tomorrow's keynote coverage http://live.slashgear.com/

No need to refresh, all ajax based.

Thanks for the link!

 

[bitWrangler]

The real big news

Alright, I shouldn't be saying this, but it's just way to cool to keep quiet. Plus it's only a few more hours before everyone finds out anyway, so here goes. I have a buddy who is in the legal dept of a major record label. One of the few folks outside of the bigwigs that gets to see the actual contracts that need to be signed before Apple can go forward with a lot of their iTunes/iPod releases. He was doing some last minute cramming of contracts this weekend and was so stoked (and wired @ 3am) that he actually called to drop the big bomb on me for what Apple has in store for today.

So it takes a couple of minutes just to get him wound down enough for me to understand him (and his phone dropped out once), but he finally managed to spit this out.

Turns out that the "big deal" is this pretty radical new feature that all new iPods (and from inference in the legal mumbo jumbo, but not explicitly called out in this particular set of contracts, the new MacBooks) will have (sorry owners of older iPods/iPhone, it requires hardware support). They've been so secretive that they aren't even going to file the patent until the announcement has already been made.

OK, so here it is. They are going to add a new, "More Cow Bell" wheel! That's right. It will automagically add a dozen different Cow Bell effects to anything, no, you heard right, anything, that you are currently listening to. This includes music and podcasts, and get this, on iPhones, to your actual phone calls! On iPhones and Touches, the settings icon for this feature will be a picture of Bruce Dickenson (yes, _the_ Bruce Dickenson) and he is expected to be on stage with Steve to show off this new feature. The musical act that will follow the announcement will be non other than BOC themselves and each new player will come with a free "Extended Cow Bell" remix of their hit "Don't Fear the Reaper".

I don't know about you guys, but I'm logging on to my brokerage acct to load up on Apple stock now before the news gets out.

 

[Shagrat]

kcor s'tel

:d

 

[iParis]

I happen to be over from England in San Francisco for the next 3 days and was just wondering if there is any point in me heading down to the Yerba Buena Center.

I realise this is a press event so I won't be able to gain access to the keynote but will there be anything to see outside? Anyone else gathering to watch the live text feeds etc?

Would seem a bit odd to sit in my hotel room on my laptop seeing what happens when the event is happening down the road.

Wow, that would suck if you weren't at least by the building.
I say you should...... just go down to the even and have you computer on live feed (depends on weather or not they have wifi), and join in with the rest of the group chilling out in front waiting for announcements via text or live feed.

 

[IrishMac]

Probably a long shot by I'm hoping for an iPhone Nano as I find the current one too pricey, along with the contract (here in the UK).

On the notebook side they do need to drop prices. But they have kind of already alluded to this during the last financial conference call, stating that product transition would hit margins. They finally might decide to drop prices to grow market share. Worst case scenario they have an $18b cushion in the bank.

 

[sharkinfested]

iPods are nice; I already own 3 . . . . but what Apple REALLY needs to do is introduce a new line of COMPETITIVE notebooks.

A stroll through Best Buy shows that several high-quality manufacturers (Sony, HP, Toshiba, etc.) are now selling excellent notebook computers for significantly less than $1,000. Apple is dropping far behind in the cost-value notebook market.

I own two Macintosh computers, but I also own a $600 HP notebook that is a really excellent product. Business people (and most students) have to make functionality-versus-cost choices and cutesy things like thin aluminum shells just don't compete.

I love Apple products . . . . . but I believe that Apple is in serious danger of losing out in the huge notebook market unless strong action is taken soon.

Correct me if I’m wrong here, but I don’t think Apple has EVER competed in the budget entry-level (sub-$1000) laptop market. My point is, they aren’t in danger of losing out on this market because they’ve never even tried to compete in it.

While I agree with you all – I would LOVE to see a $600 Mac notebook - I can see why Apple steers clear. A cheap Mac notebook would seriously cut into the sales of their MacBook line and even though they would probably sell more of them the profit margin would be much smaller. It would also change the perception of the brand. Right now people accept that Macs are more expensive – a cheap notebook would change that perception.
The mini was a risky move for them because of that very reason, but with a desktop you can leave out the screen, keyboard, and mouse and make nothing like their other desktops – which of course is exactly what they did. You can do it with a notebook too, but you end up with a tablet and that fundamentally changes the product. So I think if we ever see an entry-level price point from them it will be in the form of such a device – which is cool with me because I want one.
JMHO

 

[Scarpad]

No Doubt Itunes needs a revamping/Facelift. The basic look of the thing has'nt changed much even with Coverflow and other additions. I'd like to see the ability of Itunes to act as a media server, sending both music and video over to your Phone or Touch, over both a wireless network and the Internet.

In addition it needs better handling of Videos both TV and Movies. It needs it's own independent tagging built from the ground up and not just extensions of the music database.

 

[iParis]

Alright, I shouldn't be saying this, but it's just way to cool to keep quiet. Plus it's only a few more hours before everyone finds out anyway, so here goes. I have a buddy who is in the legal dept of a major record label. One of the few folks outside of the bigwigs that gets to see the actual contracts that need to be signed before Apple can go forward with a lot of their iTunes/iPod releases. He was doing some last minute cramming of contracts this weekend and was so stoked (and wired @ 3am) that he actually called to drop the big bomb on me for what Apple has in store for today.

So it takes a couple of minutes just to get him wound down enough for me to understand him (and his phone dropped out once), but he finally managed to spit this out.

Turns out that the "big deal" is this pretty radical new feature that all new iPods (and from inference in the legal mumbo jumbo, but not explicitly called out in this particular set of contracts, the new MacBooks) will have (sorry owners of older iPods/iPhone, it requires hardware support). They've been so secretive that they aren't even going to file the patent until the announcement has already been made.

OK, so here it is. They are going to add a new, "More Cow Bell" wheel! That's right. It will automagically add a dozen different Cow Bell effects to anything, no, you heard right, anything, that you are currently listening to. This includes music and podcasts, and get this, on iPhones, to your actual phone calls! On iPhones and Touches, the settings icon for this feature will be a picture of Bruce Dickenson (yes, _the_ Bruce Dickenson) and he is expected to be on stage with Steve to show off this new feature. The musical act that will follow the announcement will be non other than BOC themselves and each new player will come with a free "Extended Cow Bell" remix of their hit "Don't Fear the Reaper".

I don't know about you guys, but I'm logging on to my brokerage acct to load up on Apple stock now before the news gets out.

Are you sure about the cow bell thing?
Sound fake and like you're being sarcastic.

As for the whole iPod line getting a huge software/hardware update... BRING IT ON (as everybody else has been saying).
I already know what's going to happen with the Touch and Nano
What I'm really excited for is to see what happens with the Classic as to design, UI, capacity, and price; especially since there haven't really been rumors about it.

 

[Yixian]

Can someone tell me why Apple are releasing iPods in the back to school season and notebooks at christmas?

Who gets an iPod for their studies?

Who can afford a two thousand dollar laptop as an xmas gift?

What the hell this is COMPLETELY STUPID.

 

[iParis]

Can someone tell me why Apple are releasing iPods in the back to school season and notebooks at christmas?

Who gets an iPod for their studies?

Who can afford a two thousand dollar laptop as an xmas gift?

What the hell this is COMPLETELY STUPID.

You shouldn't start bashing Apple's sales strategies.
I'm petty sure there's a reason behind everything they do.
Maybe it's also because the new Macbooks (Pro) won't be finished being made or the mass production won't be enough until October/November.

 

[Erwin-Br]

Can someone tell me why Apple are releasing iPods in the back to school season and notebooks at christmas?

Who gets an iPod for their studies?

Who can afford a two thousand dollar laptop as an xmas gift?

What the hell this is COMPLETELY STUPID.

LOL! That post made my day. You're quite right, too!

 

[DaBrain]

Alright, I shouldn't be saying this, but it's just way to cool to keep quiet. Plus it's only a few more hours before everyone finds out anyway, so here goes. I have a buddy who is in the legal dept of a major record label. One of the few folks outside of the bigwigs that gets to see the actual contracts that need to be signed before Apple can go forward with a lot of their iTunes/iPod releases. He was doing some last minute cramming of contracts this weekend and was so stoked (and wired @ 3am) that he actually called to drop the big bomb on me for what Apple has in store for today.

So it takes a couple of minutes just to get him wound down enough for me to understand him (and his phone dropped out once), but he finally managed to spit this out.

Turns out that the "big deal" is this pretty radical new feature that all new iPods (and from inference in the legal mumbo jumbo, but not explicitly called out in this particular set of contracts, the new MacBooks) will have (sorry owners of older iPods/iPhone, it requires hardware support). They've been so secretive that they aren't even going to file the patent until the announcement has already been made.

OK, so here it is. They are going to add a new, "More Cow Bell" wheel! That's right. It will automagically add a dozen different Cow Bell effects to anything, no, you heard right, anything, that you are currently listening to. This includes music and podcasts, and get this, on iPhones, to your actual phone calls! On iPhones and Touches, the settings icon for this feature will be a picture of Bruce Dickenson (yes, _the_ Bruce Dickenson) and he is expected to be on stage with Steve to show off this new feature. The musical act that will follow the announcement will be non other than BOC themselves and each new player will come with a free "Extended Cow Bell" remix of their hit "Don't Fear the Reaper".

I don't know about you guys, but I'm logging on to my brokerage acct to load up on Apple stock now before the news gets out.

A comedian thou will never be!

 

[Fidgetyrat]

Well, there's surely no disadvantage to having two cameras. How would having a camera on the iPod touch actually be bad for you? You may not use it, but I doubt it would negatively impact your iPod experience. Thus, I don't see how you can be against having a camera on the iPod touch.

Well one major disadvantage is increased cost for a piece most people likely won't use. The second and less important is the space taken additional components, weight, lens, etc. Silly but when most iPod touch users already have a phone on them 24/7 with a camera, adding the camera is pretty pointless at least in my opinion. Use the space taken by the CCD, lens, etc to add a GPS receiver or something useful.

 

[Wondercow]

That makes flash's capacity decrease over time. It's durable enough that it isn't a problem on portable media players, where each sector may be written to a couple of thousand times per year, but not nearly good enough for desktops, where caching and paging mean the disc can undergo some very heavy use.

Which is exactly why we don't see flash being used as mass storage in any computer systems. Oh, wait....

As you increase HD capacity, the price tends to be less than linear - that is, you can buy a 120GB HDD for £90, and a 200GB HDD for £120. With flash, increasing the capacity increases the price much faster.

Only to a point, and only because flash is still new. This used to be true of hard drives as well (and RAM). Once flash production hits its stride the price—as with all other products and especially in electronics—will come crashing down.

 

[swarmster]

Correct me if I’m wrong here, but I don’t think Apple has EVER competed in the budget entry-level (sub-$1000) laptop market. My point is, they aren’t in danger of losing out on this market because they’ve never even tried to compete in it.

It's not that they're risking losing out on the cheap laptop market. It's that the entire laptop market is becoming a sub-$1000 market.

Apple's one of the only ones still selling laptops for over $1000, let alone $2000. You can get a Sony with a Blu-Ray + DVD burner drive and the specs of a MacBook Pro for the price of the low-end combo-drive Macbook (or less on sale).

I love the OS as much as anyone, but the whole situation is becoming laughable.

 

[twoodcc]

alright, can't wait to find out what's a 'big deal' tomorrow!

 

[Nicolecat]

Anticipation has always killed me...
it's like wanting to unwrap a Christmas present before Christmas...when no one's looking.

Only, they hid the present...d@mn.
(Looking in the cabinet above the dryer won't work for this one)

 

[Wondercow]

It gets annoying having to remember I left off at 45:32 the last time I listened to something (that and fast fowarding to that point every time).

This might come too late but you do know that you don't need to fast-forward, right? If you hit the centre button once it'll change to a "positional display" (for lack of the proper term). If you turn the wheel you'll jump very quickly in the direction you're turning.

 

[megfilmworks]

5 years? My 3G lasted 13 months after hardly using the thing. My thoughts were that iPods were disposable electronics designed to fail within 2 years.

s.

I have a 2G iPod that has been beaten, scratched, dropped and been used for the last two years as a glove compartment media server in my car. Still works flawlessly. Incredible life from this unit!

 

[supmango]

You know, if you throw out iPhone news from the mix (as DaringFireball suggests that it will come at the end of the event and not the event itself--if I'm reading that correctly), it's just another blow to "size" of this event. Hmmm...this is by far one of the oddest rumor seasons leading up to an event in a while. (or at least since June! )

I have been wondering about an Apple TV refresh. I haven't seen any rumors about it, but it is a product with so much potential that it seems logical.

 

[citi]

It's not that they're risking losing out on the cheap laptop market. It's that the entire laptop market is becoming a sub-$1000 market.

Apple's one of the only ones still selling laptops for over $1000, let alone $2000. You can get a Sony with a Blu-Ray + DVD burner drive and the specs of a MacBook Pro for the price of the low-end combo-drive Macbook (or less on sale).

I love the OS as much as anyone, but the whole situation is becoming laughable.

Not the flagship Sony notebooks, and that's what I compare Apple to on the Windows side. They are still going to cost 2-3k. Plus I can guarantee, just like the PS3s, they are adding Blu-Ray in at a loss for market penetration.