Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I hope that HP is not allowed to make the HP ipod windows only. If it is 100% compatible with Macs then this will benefit Apple in a huge way. Eventually HP can sell HiPMacs or something, its all good.
 
Originally posted by ShadowHunter
Damnit, where's my investing money when I need it!! :D

I think I am high I am so excited with this news!

I bought some shares in the $16 range for my Roth IRA over a year and a half ago... makes me like Apple even more.
 
hp NEEDED this.. they have tiny profit margins on computers, and their profits are from printers and print accessories, which Dell just entered.
hmm.. apple and hp gang up on dell. sounds fun :)

i wonder what this means for the realnetworks' aac/helix?

i just realized: why hasnt ibm (apple buys millions of dollars worth of computer chips from them now) pledged to preload itunes+quicktime in its computers?

also, this hp move is a good way of getting other apple things into the market, like firewire 800 (do any PCs have this?) i say firewire because on all new the hp ads, they tout hp's utility as a multimedia hub.
 
That's the Point

I think the speculation about different or cheaper hPods are off base. It seems much more likely to me that Apple will allow HP to sell an iPod or mini iPod unmodified except for a logo change presumably. That means prices will NOT be lower.

Apple consistently overprices their products, hoping (sometimes correctly, sometimes not) that there is a consumer base willing to pay the price. Correct for the regular iPod, wrong for the cube. I'm afraid as time goes on the iPod and mini will look more and more expensive compared to the competition.

I think that is the point of the entire deal, man. HP will be the company that caters to the low-end player market so Apple can sit back and rake in the in the high-end margins.

Whatever the HP product is, it won't be an "iPod" exactly. It will be some cheapie player that is compatible with iTMS. Possibly with Apple design help.
 
Isn't this a little bit sad? People will buy this hPod, and they will think that HP made this great device... if there isn't Apple's logo in it, people don't know that the hPod is originally made by Apple. If there is HP's and Apple's logos side by side, then it's great. And how this will affect to iPod sales figures? Apple can't say that they have sold 4 million iPods, if part of them were HP-branded devices.

I think this would be even more great if hPods were different sizes than iPods... 512mb flash, 2gb hard drive & 10gb hard drive. You would have to buy the original iPod to get more storage and you couldn't compare the prices that easily.

Well, after all this is good news. Most of PC users have heard about Mac, but they don't have a clue about the Mac experience. My first experience with Apple was iPod 30gb. After that I became interested in Macs, and 6 months after buying iPod I bought my first Mac, iBook G4. Hopefully more people will get that kind of "wake-up calls"... using iTunes will give them some interest in Macs, maybe they go to the Apple's website to find out more... and maybe after that they are hooked and it's too late to turn back to PC world.
 
I had a thought:

With apple's iTunes and quicktime preinstalled on such a HUGE number of new PC's (i've owned an HP and a Compaq, with decent results over the years), this is a chance to expose them to their software. Then when it's time to get a new computer, a software mp3 player that they now and LOVE is going to be available on a mac.

I know you're all going "duh", but as a recent switcher I know how hard it is to feel like "this new platform is so solid and stylish, but all of my programs are pc-only". I wasn't a photoshop guy, I was a digital audio guy - thinking about all my wasted DirectX audio plugins. This gets one major commonality going to make a possible switcher feel safer.

I don't know any of you, but I'm a VERY long-term reader (years now, I think) and get the impression that a majority can't just wrap your heads around being intimidated by switching, but I teach music in a public school and 99% of my co-workers are computer illiterate folk who have been painstakingly taught how to do things ONE way. If more apple software would become mainstream (and iTunes is SUCH a great start), then at "switch-time" folks could think "this mac can use all of my programs i need but with added stability and style. Sold." So kudos to apple, and bring some more stuff over. This is war, after all, and lofty separatist ideals just won't win that dang market share. Moves like this will.

Love the site, arn.

-badhorsie777
 
Originally posted by ShadowHunter
You're not thinking ahead far enough.

Because when every other part of the PC falls short, and they hear from a cousin of a friend of a daughter etc etc that on the Apple it works better....their mind goes back to their hPod with an Apple logo on it and something clicks to maybe check out the Mac.

Or simply when it comes time to buy a new computer, they consider an Apple because they've been using an iTunes already and liked it, etc etc.

There's an infinite number of scenarios. Don't think in 3 month terms, think in 3 year terms.

Most people buy the cheapest PC they can and Apple is not in that space. Next, they will need to buy new apps and most importantly, most users are stupid and cannot adapt to change.
 
This is great news, the consensus among PC users (still) is that Apple is.... well you know.

Now with this news and iTunes preinstalled on all new HP computers, all those people are going to be visiting the Apple web site and support forums in droves.

So calling all those who are proficiant iTunes/iPod/Wintel users!
 
Schiller

Sorry if this has already been mentioned. But it will definitely not be some cheap knock-off by any stretch. This is from Phil Schiller courtesy of CNET.

Apple will manufacture the player, which will not have the iPod name, but will have the same design and features as Apple's third-generation iPod players, Phil Schiller, senior vice president at Apple, said in an interview. Also, the HP music player will come in "HP Blue," he said.

"The way we look at it, HP will be reselling an iPod device," said Schiller, who noted that the device will display the Apple logo at start-up and will work with all of the accessories made for the white-hued Apple varieties.
 
How will it differ?

It will come in "HP Blue", but the startup screen will still have the Apple logo.

It will be compatible with all iPod accessories.

"competitively priced to other digital music players currently available. "

All this from CNet
 
It's all about QuickTime baby!

Wkaemena:
And finally every HP and Compac computer will come with Quicktime installed..... ( via itunes for WIN)

Yeah I'm surprised more people aren't excited over the implications of having QuickTime preinstalled on a Windows system.

Windows Media What? :)
 
Originally posted by Lanbrown
Most people buy the cheapest PC they can and Apple is not in that space. Next, they will need to buy new apps and most importantly, most users are stupid and cannot adapt to change.

I don't know who you talk to, but almost everybody that asks me about a new PC, they ask what they should get for X budget (which is usually over $1000), not, "whats the cheapest POS I can get?"
 
NOTE TO HP


Do not listen to the deranged people on this forum, in no way is Apple trying to take away your costumers by getting them to switch. They are all fools, and will be punished accordingly.


HP reps you may stop reading now.


To the rest of the Forum:
SHHHHH!!! BE QUIET!!! ;)
 
Originally posted by x86isslow
i just realized: why hasnt ibm (apple buys millions of dollars worth of computer chips from them now) pledged to preload itunes+quicktime in its computers?

IBM concentrates more on the business sector then the consumer. The other companies can seriously undercut them on the low end and IBM knows this and conceded a longtime ago. The margins on the business sector are quite good compared to the consumer.
 
ibox Redux

There may be more to this than meets the eye. HP also announced that they will be putting out a new Entertainment Hub that will play videos, mp3's , PVR functionality.


HP entertainment hub

Starting this fall, HP will introduce an entertainment hub designed to put consumers in control of all of their entertainment content. The entertainment hub will serve as the single, central storage repository, distribution and access point for all music, photo, video and movie collections in the home.

Additionally, consumers will be able to watch and pause live TV and record their favorite TV shows from any source, including cable, satellite or HDTV. The new device will be sleek and stylish and work great with existing devices in the home, but will offer an even better experience in combination with the other components of the HP Digital Entertainment System.



Remember the rumor of the ibox? Could this be the same animal? Maybe a reciprocation from HP to Apple?

Time will tell.
 
IPod will be Blue and not called the IPOD



From ZDNET.COM

Apple will manufacture the player, which will not have the iPod name, but will have the same design and features as Apple's third-generation iPod players, Phil Schiller, senior vice president at Apple, said in an interview. Also, the HP music player will come in "HP Blue," he said.

"The way we look at it, HP will be reselling an iPod device," said Schiller, who noted that the device will display the Apple logo at start-up and will work with all of the accessories made for the white-hued Apple varieties.

In addition, HP will start pre-installing Apple's iTunes on its consumer PCs and desktops. HP previously had said it planned to enter the digital music player and music store business, though sources familiar with the company's plans said partners would likely be involved.

The deal comes amid a broader announcement from HP of a number of consumer electronics products.

Schiller said HP brings a large sales and marketing effort centered around digital entertainment and has a large customer base. "HP has a lot of customers, and they are a great company, a big company," he said. "They'll promote this iPod-based device and the iTunes music store."

The deal with HP involves only the traditional iPod design and not the new mini models, Schiller said, though he added, that's "obviously something we can look at in the future."

Schiller would not say whether Apple may look to craft similar deals with other computer or electronics makers. While that part of the deal is not exclusive, Schiller said HP's promotion of the iTunes Music Store through its PCs is a "multiyear, exclusive" deal.

HP CEO Carly Fiorina said the company considered a number of alternatives before partnering with Apple. "We explored a range of alternatives to deliver a great digital music experience and concluded Apple's iPod music player and iTunes music service were the best by far," Fiorina said in a statement. "By partnering with Apple, we have the opportunity to add value by integrating the world's best digital music offering into HP's larger digital entertainment system strategy."

Apple CEO Steve Jobs said the move will ensure more consumers use iPods.

"Apple's goal is to get iPods and iTunes into the hands of every music lover around the world, and partnering with HP, an innovative consumer company, is going to help us do just that," Jobs said in a statement. "As the industry balkanizes by offering digital music wrapped in a multitude of incompatible proprietary technologies, consumers will be reassured in getting the same unparalleled digital music solutions from both HP and Apple, two leaders in the digital music era."

On its own, Apple has sold more than 2 million iPods, including 730,000 last quarter. The company also announced this week plans for the iPod Mini, a smaller player that will cost $249 and uses a 1-inch hard drive with 4GB of storage.

HP and Apple did not say how much the HP-branded iPod will cost or how it will differ from the Apple-branded models, but the companies said it will be "competitively priced to other digital music players currently available. "
 
Originally posted by Plissken
This is huge! HP/Compaq is the largest computer corpoation in the country and they just turned to Apple for some product outsourcing. Talk about recognizing a popular market dominating product! this will be a very good entrenchment tool for the future of Apple and the iTMS/iPod product line.

There is (thankgod) more than 1 country on this globe....
But other than that its good.
 
Im spechless... This is as others have said awsome news. The little iTunes icon on the desktop will do so much for Apple! Im anxious to see how this partnership will grow! Great move for Apple!
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.