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Flash-based iPod by Christmas?

I think that Apple could make a nice iPod that is flash based, but it would be the equal of the mini nowadays. So, you replace the current mini with something better and create a 3, maybe 4 gig iPod mini.

Maybe...

I'll still have my 5GB iPod, which I've dropped from waist heigh while playing and it survived...still has 8 hour charge...built like a tank. I like the new ones, but I dont have the $$$ for it. A lower end flash one would be nice, but I would need something bigger than 4GB.

The 15GB iPod suits my fancy, and I would love to get one...right size for me, and right price around now. If only I could find a few more pennies on the sidewalk.... :rolleyes:
 
if this is true that apple is making a new player, of which i have serious doubts, it would actually be a very good idea. especially if apple can create a lower priced player for the masses, say like in the $99 range. perhaps at a 1gig size, followed by mini, and then ipod for those that want to spend a lil more. even if the profit margins are low, apple has been so successful with ipod and itms, they are starting to think in volume. why not sell a cheaper player and make a lil less profit on it, but you get 10 times the customers, who will also be shopping at itms and probably buy other mac products as well.
 
ijimk said:
I think this should be called something different than ipod. they should keep hardrive based music players ipod and flash ones seperate. Call it iflash or icard something like that.
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and lose the brand equity that Apple has w/ the word "iPod"??!? no way. for such an odd product name (it's never been CLOSE to pod-shaped), that's one of the hottest names out there right now. if it's not an "iPod", it's just one of the many music players that falls into the "other" category.
 
Rantipole said:
Six page thread, even though it was determined on page 1 that the information was about Rio, not Apple. :rolleyes:
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Hardly. Unless you think SigmaTel can only have a contract with one company at a time. Rio's deal was announced - Apple won't comment until they release the product.
 
Apple already has the lead in the high-end and mid-range digital music player market. Why shouldn't they go after the low-end, under $200 music players? Apple will be forced into this low-end segment because, in a couple of years, digital music players will be commoditized. You can bet Microsoft is working towards this eventual goal, then the real money is in the Digital Rights' Management.
 
i didn't read the whole post.

at dealram.com 4gb microdrives are more expensive than 4gb compact flash. maybe apple would switch to the cf to save money. added bonuses would include being able to make the mini more mini and apple could easily upgrade the mini to an 8gb animal when the price of 8gb cf cards drop.
 
why i'd buy

I haven't bought an iPod because i want a solid state device for running. Apple's own people at macworld expo SF have acknowledged the current devices skip some when running, and if a vigorous bump when it's downloading add'l content from the h.d., could even damage the device. not likely, not always, but sometimes & could. Their words, not mine.

I don't need a thousand song-capacity. I need (want) to be able to download 90 minutes of music/audio book chapters/recorded talk radio for that day's run. That's all.

Now, if it had am/fm as well, it'd be a no-brainer.

terry
 
rtdunham said:
I haven't bought an iPod because i want a solid state device for running. Apple's own people at macworld expo SF have acknowledged the current devices skip some when running, and if a vigorous bump when it's downloading add'l content from the h.d., could even damage the device. not likely, not always, but sometimes & could. Their words, not mine.

terry
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I've run with my iPod mini and have had no problems with skip. I guess it depends what kind of a runner/jogger you are.

I've dropped my 2G 20GB iPod once onto hardfloor flooring, and ever since then, the HD makes a high-pitched squeal everytime the thing accesses the songs. It would be nice to have a flash-based iPod that doesn't skip or has mechanical moving parts.

iPod's strengths have always been with the navigation software, the click wheel, and the itunes integration. There's no reason for Apple not to release a sub $200 flash iPod other than they are scared it will cut into profits.
 
The reason there will be no cheap iPod...

Sorry guys, but a lot of the great iPod image is because of its exclusivity. Certain products have a higher price tag just to make sure not everyone and their grandmother can buy one. It maintains that status of being special, and not common. This is a huge part of the whole iPod mystique.

Imagine if Porsche put out a little $9000 compact 4-cylinder car. The entire brand would suffer because everyone could buy one and think they were cool. In the end, it would just hurt the entire brand image.

I'm all for Apple keeping the price of the iPod high. If people really want an iPod, they will save up and buy one. If not, they will buy a cheaper knock-off. It's that simple. Let's not kid ourselves into thinking Apple should be running a welfare program.
 
stealthboy said:
Sorry guys, but a lot of the great iPod image is because of its exclusivity. Certain products have a higher price tag just to make sure not everyone and their grandmother can buy one. It maintains that status of being special, and not common. This is a huge part of the whole iPod mystique.

Imagine if Porsche put out a little $9000 compact 4-cylinder car. The entire brand would suffer because everyone could buy one and think they were cool. In the end, it would just hurt the entire brand image.

I'm all for Apple keeping the price of the iPod high. If people really want an iPod, they will save up and buy one. If not, they will buy a cheaper knock-off. It's that simple. Let's not kid ourselves into thinking Apple should be running a welfare program.
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gee, somebody tell apple to cancel the eMac. and maybe those iMacs, too. what's with those express base stations for hgalf the price of... oh, and what about....

most of this post is just misguided nonsense. Sure, image/branding can support higher prices. But there's more to it than that. That branding isn't established out of thin air--quality, design, features all go into the mix. You've also used a lot of hyperbole: No, Porsche doesn't have a $9k car, but it does have a $43k Boxster, quite a stretch from its over-$100k cars. Mercedes has stretched the range of models and prices much further, with true econo boxes in europe.
Apple computers do seem to cost more, but a lot of general 'puter industry publications do comparisons and conclude they cost about the same when feature sets are matched. See also Walt Mossberg's annual home computer-buying feature just last week in teh Wall Street Journal, same conclusion. Apple's prices are "earned" by design, features, etc., and the same is true for its audio products.
Unless you think the iPod is priced the way it is NOT because it was the easiest to use, most full featured, highest-capacity device on the market when it was introduced, but simply because it was Apple?
There's plenty of room for less expensive--even INexpensive--apple pods, if the features warrant it. You might be threatened that your iPod won't be as impressive to others if there are cheaper models too, but i think apple buyers generally are into the specs of a product, and ease of use, and apple could very successfully market a flash product at a low price point without jeopardizing the public's appreciation for the more costly--and better--pods.
imho.
td
 
stealthboy said:
Imagine if Porsche put out a little $9000 compact 4-cylinder car. The entire brand would suffer because everyone could buy one and think they were cool. In the end, it would just hurt the entire brand image.
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You mean like the 914? ;) I think these were around $7k when they were new...
 
stealthboy said:
I'm all for Apple keeping the price of the iPod high. If people really want an iPod, they will save up and buy one. If not, they will buy a cheaper knock-off. It's that simple. Let's not kid ourselves into thinking Apple should be running a welfare program.
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This gets my vote for the most elitist post of the week. Attitudes such as this give Mac users a bad rep.

I agree with what rtdunham and withnail said. stealthboy, it's not just that Apple products cost a bit more; it's that Apple products are still a good value for the money. I'm an Apple user because it's cost-effective for me.

stealthboy's last sentence is completely wrong-headed. It's arrogant, condescending and rude as well. While stealthboy may have meant, "Hey guys let's remember Apple is in the business of making money, not losing it," he expressed that thought in a bad manner.

The counter to that argument has already been posted in this thread multiple times, but just to clarify it for stealthboy: Expanding market share increases iTunes exposure and therefore Apple's profits. A lower capacity iPod serves as either a "just-right" solution OR a "gateway" device, depending on the customer. Either way, the "just right" people AND the "gateway" people wouldn't have otherwise bought an iPod or gotten hooked on iPods enough to move up to the higher capacity/ higher priced iPods. let alone have the iTunes Music Store become so useful to them.
 
Times may be a-changing

A year or two ago Apple flash players were dismissed out of hand because of the idea that sufficient people specifically wanted to pay a premium price for multiple thousand song mp3 players, something which Apple does better than anyone, in the public's perception. Also subscription service was dismissed out of hand. But times are a-changing, mass storage is down to 4GB, as well as up, and really, now, Apple have built such a mass cult following they can dare dream of dare I say, more mass working class angles (which as a part time tefl teacher I would subscribe to, by the way) for marketing their music product ideas.

Moving product for profit is precisely what the iPod and iTunes music is all about, not part of some noble Apple dream to make the world exclusively a better high class place for a few financially well off aficionadoes with Powermac g5s. Bring on flash for $99, Id buy a couple, whereas I wouldnt buy one iPod at $200.
 
stealthboy said:
Imagine if Porsche put out a little $9000 compact 4-cylinder car. The entire brand would suffer because everyone could buy one and think they were cool. In the end, it would just hurt the entire brand image.
Click to expand...
I know this has been refuted already...

Many people say that Apple is the <pick expensive car> (eg porsche) of computers. AND, if Porsche is happy with 2% of the car market, Apple can be happy with 2% of the computer market. (I'm making up the percentages here).

That's there argument, and I'd like to relate that to what you said. If Apple wants a premium product, stick with the high end, very appealing product. And expect a smaller market share. If Apple wants to maintain or increase their marketshare with the iPod, then they'll have to address the high end AND the low end of the market at some stage
 
SEE TOLD U SO....

Kids Kids Kids Kids

iPod dominates teenage mindshare, market share
October 6 - 13:16 EDT** by Larry Angell - Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said today that based on a survey of 600 teenagers, Apple's iPod is dominating "mindshare and market share." Munster said in a research note that of all the high school students surveyed, 16 percent currently own an iPod and 24 percent plan to buy an iPod within the next year. Munster also noted that the iPod ranked fourth on the teens' holiday wish list--behind clothes, money, and a car--even though the iPod was not an answer option and had to be written in as a response.*Continued... *[ Email this story ]
 
DrGruv1 said:
Kids Kids Kids Kids

iPod dominates teenage mindshare, market share
October 6 - 13:16 EDT** by Larry Angell - Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said today that based on a survey of 600 teenagers, Apple's iPod is dominating "mindshare and market share." Munster said in a research note that of all the high school students surveyed, 16 percent currently own an iPod and 24 percent plan to buy an iPod within the next year. Munster also noted that the iPod ranked fourth on the teens' holiday wish list--behind clothes, money, and a car--even though the iPod was not an answer option and had to be written in as a response.*Continued... *[ Email this story ]
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Interesting, what's the source of this article?
 
I like the idea

I like the idea if they can keep the price down. The unskipability is a huge upside, and they'd sell like hotcakes I'm sure in the $100-$200 range. Would not be surprised at all if they threw 2GB of flash memory into each one. That's the way to make a flash-based player worthy of the iPod name, worth Apple's time to produce, and worth the consumers' hard earned dollars. I hope it happens, it will be a sure success.

-Joe
 
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