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iPod Flash Early 2005?

jgp said:
A flash iPod makes sense. But the rest of the original blurb seems off. First, I would hope that Apple would sell it very cheap without a flash card (less than $75). Second, by time it is introduced a 4Gb micro drive may be feasible at less than $175. If the total is less than $200 and the whole thing is smaller than an iPod mini, it should be a good seller.
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I'm pretty sure they will not sell it without a flash card installed. and I would bet the farm on the fact that the flash card they do use will not be accessible. It will be encased just like the HD iPods. No switching out for bigger cards. Whey you buy is what you get.
 
Veldek said:
I still can't believe it. At the introduction of the iPod Photo, Steve Jobs said that the huge market share of the iPod includes "all those flash players that people received as presents and never use".
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Sweet Milking Marmosets! Yes, except this will be a flash player that people WILL receive as presents and WILL use. I'm sure he'll use that in his keynote somewhere. How this flash player is so much better than the others and people will use it.
 
Prices?

I hope these flash players don't cost a lot. I mean I don't think anyone would pay $200 for a flash based player; depending on the size of GB of course. If they 512MB to 1GB in size I say no more than $150 for the 1GB, but even thats a bit high, IMO.
 
Okay, for all out there desiring a flash-based iPod, what is the most important attribute:

1) Capacity?
2) Price?
3) Product size?
4) Removable flash-media?
5) Something else?

Please only pick one, cuz I bet dollars to donuts, Apple will not give you all of them.
 
Remember what Steve said at MacWorld SF 2004:

iPod has 31% Market Share
"High-end" flash players have 31%
"Low-end" flash players have 31%
Other 7% other hard disk players iPod in process of eliminating.

iPod mini designed to go after the "High-end" flash market.

Fast forward, iPod (both models) have 65% market share. iPod Micro?!? designed to go after that last "low-end" flash player market.
 
I think it will sell. I know a preteen girl who has an iPod Mini because it is small and cute and it's an iPod. I checked out her music collection and she only had about 20 songs on it. I have a friend who thinks the iPods are too heavy and big to run with. He just needs enough music to last him through his hour jog and have it be lightweight and skip free. I know a lot of people who would like to have an iPod but don't have enough music that they want to have with them at all times to fill more than 1 GB or so and can't justify the multihundred dollar cost. I love my 20 GB but only spent $70 on it - my predetermined rule was when I can get one for under $100 I'll get it. My brother is exactly the same way. So anyway in short I think there is a bit market for a much CHEAPER iPod. I don't think it will canabalize other iPod sales either simply because of the small storage space.
 
What is goin' on here?

What happened to Mac Rumors over the last few months? Infrequent 'update,' which are really recycled rumors from Think' and Applein'. :confused:
 
My opinion on this is that the flash player market is one that Apple will ingore at its peril. It shouldnt abandon such a sizeable segment of the market to its competitors - regardless of the benefits of flash over HD, etc. Apple needs to be competing in the low end of the market as well as the high and middle. Many thought the iPod mini was going to deal with this sector, but it was priced too high. An iPod Flash would be a logical evolution of the line....
 
iPod needs to be a luxury item. No budget things please. I hope this is just a stupid rumor. If everybody has an ipod, will it be still cool? I don't think so...
 
While it'd be a great move on Apple's part, and would be a huge success, I really don't want there to be a flash iPod. The iPod brand is expensive and luxorious, not cheap. That'd be like Abercrombie and Fitch making cheap clothes to go for the lower market. However, I think that an iPod Flash would tie up the market, and bring iPod marketshare to a good 80-85%.
-Chase
 
jwhitnah said:
What happened to Mac Rumors over the last few months? Infrequent 'update,' which are really recycled rumors from Think' and Applein'. :confused:
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Kay then, you go out, get credible secret info and run the site. I'm sure Arn would love to hear from you. :rolleyes:
 
Just imagine all those parents, who's kids have been begging for an iPod. But those parents that don't want to spend $250 or more. A flash iPod will just fit the bill. Parents happy, kids happy.
 
Just like to throw down a point.

If these things are cheap and people buy them thats good.

If these people then buy music from the itunes music store then that is good also.

If these people then run out of room on these dinky things then they will have to buy a new mp3 player or manage their mood music more effectively.

Anyway since they have bought songs off iTunes, what other player can they get besides a bigger ipod that can play AAC files?
These people end up buying more ipods...

Need I say more?
 
This rumor has TheWama stamp of approval.

Consider this:
1. High-Efficiency Advanced Audio Codec (HE-AAC) was recently acknowledged as a tech with Apple's support.
2. HE-ACC can suposedly encode "consumer quality stereo" at 48kbps.
3. The only market the iPod isn't dominating is the flash market.
4. The flash market is growing significantly faster than the HD market, 21% vs. 12%. This despite the iPod mini.
5. The big problem with the small devices is the number of songs they can hold. So Steve says "they end up in a drawer somewhere".

I think HE-AAC's lower bitrate puts a flash player at a reasonable number of songs, when compared to intial offering of iPod devices, like the first iPod and the first iPod mini:

Minimum iPod Capacity offered by Apple
iPod Capacity Bit-Rate.. Songs
.1G. ..5GB.. ..128kbps.. ~1000
mini ..4GB.. ..128kbps.. ~1000
flash .1GB.. ...48kbps.. ~650

So as I said, it all makes sense.
Curious to see what they come up with for the UI...
 
I think this is great news. There is definitely a market segment which would go for these flash-based iPods, and with the overall popularity of the iPod right now, Jobs might as well milk it for all it's worth! Address pretty much all the market segments, rake in some dough - it's all good for Apple!

Yet another reason to tune into MWSF... :cool:
 
Maybe They've Learned A Lesson...

oingoboingo said:
Interesting that Steve Jobs has publically derided small capacity flash-RAM MP3 players on a number of occasions, and now is planning to offer one of his own. The Jobs quote that keeps coming to mind is "the flash player that someone gave you as a gift that is now sitting in a drawer somewhere unused". A 1GB flash player might be useful, but I can't see how a 256MB flash player, with a capacity of only a handful of albums, is going to be anything groundbreaking.

Oh well...I suppose we all should know better by now. There were plenty of people who believed the original iPod was a stupid idea, and of course the amount of negative feedback that the iPod mini generated upon its launch looks ridiculous in hindsight, given the success of the product. Maybe we should just shut up and wait and see what happens with the iPod Flash :)
Click to expand...

Apple is very, very close to dominating the digital music arena for years to come. The *only* thing that could now ruin it for them is a flood of digital players cheap enough that folks will buy them even if they are crappier than an iPod. Hey, its the same thing that happened with the PC market, right?

So hopefully Apple has learned a lesson and understand that they have to deliver a product in the sub 200 price range even if it isn't a particularly groundbreaking product. Folks who only want to spend 100-200 bucks on their music player aren't looking for anything groundbreaking...just cheap and functional. If Apple offers that, they will be able to wrap up the entire digital music enchilada and then "Plays For Sure" will have to be changed to "No One Cares".
 
coldspot said:
I hope they fail.
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Thanks for the constructive, insightful argument explaining and reinforcing your position, it really contributes to the thread. Do you always like contradicting your sig? :cool:
 
mccoma said:
wish they had made Christmas.

oh, well I guess they will have to catch all the "I got money" for Christmas crowd
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Christmas would have been nice, but with the new iPods, iPod photos, new iBooks, new iMacs, etc. etc. I think they are generally well-positioned for the Christmas season. iPod sales in general, whether it be iPod, iPod mini or iPod photo, are going to be through the roof I'm sure, so missing out on yet another model probably isn't the end of the world. And this way, as you say, Apple can offer something to all of those people who received some cash from Santa. :cool:
 
Not Sure

oingoboingo said:
For a flash-RAM only player, somethign the size of the iPod mini would be way too big. Flash-based MP3 players are tiny these days...not much bigger than inline remotes on headphone cords, or the form-factor of USB memory keys. An iPod mini-sized flash player would look like a dinosaur.
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Well, yeah, it would be big but that might be a good thing.

If it were very thin and slightly shorter than a mini... I think that would be a small price to pay to have a click wheel and a decent display. I think people would go for it big time.
 
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