iPod Minis - Feb 20th

[andrewh]

Re: Re: iPod Minis - Feb 20th

Originally posted by gotohamish
It sucks to me that here is Apple releasing this new product - and I'm not the least bit excited.

We need cooler Macs. More options. More oomph. I've had an iPod since day 1 and I still LOVE it, but I don't feel I need to upgrade, and come the day when the battery is fried and it lives off the mains, so be it, it will still be cool.

I used want a new Powerbook G5, sorry for the rant.

Oh, okay -- We'll make sure Apple checks with you first to make sure they release a product that is exactly what YOU want.

 

[otter-boy]

Originally posted by jeffgarden
yeah they do lump ipod and ipod mini sales together, because if you notice, the regular iPod is nowhere on that list

Actually, they do not lump the ipod and the mini together. When they dropped the price on the 15gig for a few days a couple of weeks back, the mini was at #1 and the 15gig was around #2 or #3. The mini is just selling better than the regular pods.

 

[nagromme]

Is it not obvious that different people want different things?

Saying "capacity is the most important thing to everybody; size and price and simpler controls and color choice never matter to anyone" just sounds absurd.

If you didn't previously understand why Apple has more than one line of iPods, now you do Both lines are great, and are priced well (with slim margins on the mini) compared to their true competitors--but only one may be your personal choice.

It's OK if someone else has different priorities!

Myself, I'm in the middle: I like the white iPod's color... but I like the Aluminum's scratch-resistance. I like the mini's size and weight, and capacity is plenty... but more GB would be more future-proof. I like the bigger screen and lighted buttons... but I REALLY like the new mini click-wheel.

I think I better wait for a 4G full iPod to decide!

 

[snahabed]

I too am waiting to see what they do with a 4G iPod before I buy a new unit.

I have a 20GB... while I would love a 60GB unit, I am REALLY dissatisfied with the button placement on the 3G... I have played with it and it does not feel good in my hands. I much prefer the compass buttons.

Would be nice to see them incorporate the clickwheel into a bigger iPod.

 

[Messiatosh]

Here is my take...why I love the mini.

Forget for a minute, forget that the iPod exists. Pretend you were using the same portable music player you had (if you had one) 4 years ago. How did you have your music with you? How many CD's did you carry with you? How many did you want to be able to use?

Ahh, thank God for the iPod. But to me, it isnt the iPod's capacity that draws me to it anymore. I am beyond that, I have no desire or REAL need to have as many songs as 10,000 in my pocket. It costs a lot of money to do that, it also costs pocket space. While the iPod may be small in comparison to portable CD players or most other "comparable" MP3 players, it just isnt a mini.

The mini will be the best selling product in Apple's history, I have no doubts about it. I think the mini is being overlooked, simply because it gets compared in terms of storage capacity. Think about this for a second: it has as much internal storage as the original iMac did!

The mini is effectively going to be Apple's next iMac, this time in comparison to success, not storage capacity.

$249 is too much money to pay for what it is? Look at what it is NOT before you go all negative on me. It is NOT big, it is NOT expensive COMPARED to other iPod's, it is NOT heavy, it does NOT take up room, it is NOT just white, it does NOT have pitiful storage capacity.

This new iPod mini lacks so many things, that it is perfect. And before christmas, it is going to lose something else: $50 off its price tag. Of course, I didnt care about the price, because I paid for what it isnt, as much as I paid for what it is.

Never before have I been so amazed by a "mini" iteration of a product. This new iPod has everything that just about everyone needs. It is interesting to me that people talk up the idea of a low priced tower computer, this is the exact same thing as that except in digital music player form. It appeals to the masses who honestly, could care less about a 9,000 song difference. It is all about the $250 dollar difference, for $250 dollars less...look what you get...and also, look what you DONT get.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Originally posted by Jerry Spoon
I'm glad to hear from people who support the mini for their own reasons. Seems all I ever hear are people bashing it, mainly because of the price.

Never mind the mini bashers. The vast majority of them are high school and college kids with no business experience. Powerbooks cost more than similarly equipt Powermacs, spy camera with poor image quaility cost more than entry level SLRs, USB flash drives cost more per MB than sticks of RAM, etc, etc. Its just how the economics work out. Its just silly how the mini detractors insist Apple should sell it below cost.

The mini is a phenomenal product with a ready-to-go market niche. And those mini detractors who, if in Jobs position, would not have come out with the mini, or would have set a lower price point, would be hard pressed to explain to Apple's board how Apple lost this market due to flawed logic. All I can say is, I remember when Apple announced the original iPod at $399 for 5GB. Oh the howls that went up on this board by the same people who are now making fun of the mini. They look stupid now, but they march on with their illogical retorts anyway.

 

[wdlove]

So it sounds like the iPod Mini is the reason for the "all hands on deck" for the 20th. Maybe we will still be surprised. Can say as I have any interest in the ipod Mini.

 

[neon]

in theory i love the mini

but maybe someone reading can give me some advice, opinions?

i dont own an ipod. i was planning to buy a 20GB one, sort of now-ish. for ALL my music, even the 40GB wouldnt suffice, 60 or 80 would be great... so why was i going for the 20 and not the 40? well, price - i am in the UK so we pay more anyway and as its not going to hold everything, i couldnt justify spending that extra £100...

so now i'm thinking, well, the 20 is not going to hold it all, so perhaps wait until the mini is released here, either way i'm going to be changing whats on it fairly often.. and if a 60 or an 80 is out within a year or so, perhaps i'll feel better about purchasing one then, if i am paying less now initially for the mini...

on the other hand - 4GB ok, well its great, but how much room will the OS take?
all my files are mp3's, no AAC's, and the majority are 192 or above, so it's more like 6MB per song as an average

currently i 'cope' with an mp3 cd player (i actually think i preferred my old tape walkman to this, at least it was smaller and tape meant i had to be less fussy) and i am sick of wanting to burn new compilation discs about twice a week at least, the entire burning process and cost of cd-r's (even though they're cheap) is starting to get on my nerves...

so basically, what would you do?

of course, the option of getting a mini assumes i can wait about 8 weeks before they're available here *crys*

 

[crouchingtiger]

yeah, as the owner of a 5GB and now a 20GB iPod (1st and 2nd generation respectively), I think I can comment on the two general types of iPod users:

1) The user who needs to have enormous storage capacity. This is often because they want to use the Firewire hard drive functionality, but many people want to have their entire music collection with them at all times as well. This is usually NOT because these people are going to be listening to music for 5-10 days straight! (as is so often ridiculed on this forum and others) Rather, many people, myself included, occasionally just REALLY REALLY want to hear a PARTICULAR song/symphony/album, whatever. It's not like we listen to this song all the time, we just see something that reminds us of it, or someone else mentions it, it doesn't matter. This was the only flaw with my 5GB iPod -- I was continually trying to manage these different playlists to squeeze stuff on it that I thought I might want to listen to in the future and quite frankly it was just a waste of time. Now, with the 20GB iPod, I can keep my entire library plus 3+ gigs of data backup and it's wonderful.

2) The owner who does NOT need enormous storage capacity. In this case, size/weight is the defining factor and the iPod mini is FANTASTIC in this regard (I saw them at Macworld Expo). Apple is going to sell a lot of these things. There are a ton of people who get 'hooked' on certain songs/albums but then get sick of them and move on to the next new thing (before returning to the 'old favorites' a few weeks/months/years later). iPod mini will appeal to these people, as well as those who just have small music collections.

Do we all wish that iPod mini as cheaper? Of course! But we all also wished the original iPod was cheaper as well (I did not purchase mine until it fell to $199 refurbished price) and it did just fine...

 

[bernardb]

iPoid Mini for ME!

I had never even considered getting any kind of portable music player at all....until NOW. I just LOVE the size of the mini (I constructed the mock-up PDF) and I love the case and the colors. I would get the blue one to match the LED in my mouse and the color of my eyes...

Also, even with all my LP's now converted over to digital music on my computer, AND even with the 200 or so songs I have purchased from ITMS, I STILL would never fill the mini and I certainly would have no reason to have to have my entire song collection in a single device....I just don't have a spare 22 hours a day to listen to every single song I have....unfortunately I have to WORK to buy all these goodies.

I will buy a mini as soon as it is readily available!

 

[pkradd]

Originally posted by Jeromino
Does holding these till Thursday open up the overflow of speculation that we might finally see a Tuesday release pertinent to the prosumers?

No. And February 20 is a Friday.

You know the argument about why buy a mini vs a standard iPod is silly. For example. Some people will purchase a $50,000 sports car with minimum room, poor mileage and high repair costs. Others will spend the same amount for a larger sedan, with more room, better mileage and lower repair costs. It depends on what one likes. If we all chose things in life because of just value, practibility or whatever, it would be a bore.

 

[zellin]

Originally posted by mpopkin
Maxtrax, you obviously do not remember the Powemac G4 when it was launched, it was announced in July of 1999 and scheduled to ship i august/september, but it never launched until January of the following year. Apple does not release products because it can, which is true, it does hold back products longer than pc manufacturers because it is greedy. Camera companies traditionally announce products in advance, but in the music industry apple is the lone dove, the one company that does announce early and hold until the opportune moment while announcing that they are available now in the US(when in fact they were not) now i dont have any problems waiting, but it is important for you to realize that Apple is false advertising and could be liable for it. If it was to say product was shipping Feb 20th and is available online preorder now then there would be no problem, but some one should sue apple for false advertising, just to stop this available now practice which is a bunch of b......t.

And can you show us where Apple is advertising the iPod mini as "available now"? Trust me, if Apple were advertising the minis like that, than it would be an issue brought up by more people than just you.

 

[gotohamish]

Re: Re: Re: iPod Minis - Feb 20th

Originally posted by andrewh
Oh, okay -- We'll make sure Apple checks with you first to make sure they release a product that is exactly what YOU want.

Oh your sarcasm is lost... that's not what I mean - I mean for the last 5 years, at least, everything apple's updated or released has been cool, exciting, or different to me, this just doesn't cut it for ME.

That's right, ME - I have no problem with the mini - i like it - it's just a smaller iPod. Bleh.

 

[eazyway]

So ?

Originally posted by macmax
i am really an Apple dude, but for that price u can get this

http://www.nomadworld.com/products/Jukebox_ZenXtra/

40 g and the same price.

As much as i love Apple i think i would buy me a G5 first, that seems to be a good value, but then again, i would buy the iPod for 50 dollars more.

If the mini was around 199, then i would consider it.

Right ? " am really an Apple dude." Well real Apple dudes would never post that link.

And so what , if size matters and the new wheel matters then so does the mini.

 

[veedubdrew]

iPod minis are at The Grove in Los Angeles. They're in the front window on lighted pegs in front of huge pictures of minis.

These things are TINY!!! They're so unbelievably small, I just kept staring at them. It's difficult to understand how they got anything inside of them. The mini about the size of a business card and it's very, very thin.

This thing is not appealing in relation to other iPods, it's appealing in its own right. I got to get a push on the click/scroll wheel (just before an Apple store guy flipped out) and it has nice tactile feedback. Much improved over the 3G iPod layout, IMO.

The colors look more rich and inviting in person than they do on the site and add a lot of personality to the device.

The mini makes my 10GB iPod feel like I'm carrying around my 12" PowerBook with me in comparison to the mini. I must have one.

-Drew

 

[Gravity]

When will I get mine???

My wife preordered one from CDW.com on January 17th. (Birthday present)

I've heard they'll ship on or before February 16th.

Does anybody have a chance of receiving their preordered iPod Minis before the stores are offering them??

Must I wait until Friday or later?

 

[dontmatter]

I didn't want to join into the fray of mini useless/wonder product because it's so incredibly unimportant, but....

To those debating the merits of size, if you actually need to carry however many thousands of songs/hundreds of hours with you, I would point out one think I've noticed when using my 10 GB ipod.

When I got it, I thought I'd never be able to fill it, and even if I owned 100 GB of music, what would be the point of having a month's worth of continuous music?

And oh, how opposite this is to my actual use. Because yes, as thousand songs is a lot, an inconcievable lot, but I don't listen by the song. I listen by the album/artist/genre. Today I'm in the mood for this sound, and I want to have 3 hours of it. Tomorrow, I will have no desire to listen to that. And, particularly for someone like me, who listens to everything from trip-hop to chamber music, 10 GB CAN be limiting, because d*****, I want to listen to Neutral Milk Hotel now, and I don't have it on here. or, I have a few songs, but I want a whole album's worth (although, OK, we'll have to switch to somebody else, b/c I can't really take more than 4-5 songs of that in a row).

Now, that is all just what I want. The really annoying thing is, when your library is bigger than your ipod, it's a pain in the ass that you not only have to decide what you are and aren't going to want to listen to, but then you have to move it. And with thousands of songs, it gets really annoying, especially because you have to go back and forth to see what's in the ipod and what's not, etc.

At the same time, different people do different things-one of my friends with the largest CD collection I've ever seen has a total of 6 GB on her 30 GB ipod. She just hasn't ripped all of her CD's, because she only listens to her favorite 10% of her music from her ipod, and listens to the rest only when she's in her room with all her CD's.

Which, actually brings me to something completely off topic. Does anyone know how I can have playlists on my ipod when I manually update it? I update it by putting songs in my ipod playlist, but I can't put playlists in it, at least so it shows it as a playlist in my ipod. I can't do a playlist inside a playlist. I could make the playlist from within the ipod, but that is way too hard.

 

[macmax]

Originally posted by arn
but NOT the same physical size.

by the same argument, why would you get a 17" PowerBook for $2999 when you can get a PowerMac G5 for the same price?

for that matter... why did anyone buy the original iPod when you could get the Archos player (bigger storage, bigger physically) for the same price?

arn

Arn< guess you got me there, i didn't know that it was that big, i thought it was the size of an iPod.

 

[a17inchFuture]

I think ipods are pretty much the wave of the future, or at least mp3 players are, and apple's version is the ipod. Therefore, it makes sense that they would diversify their ipods. They make a slightly smaller, more hip version, the same way we get the smaller cell phone, or the one with more colors, simply because that is what is importnat to us.

If these continue to be popular, which the itunes music shop singifies, apple is doing a smart thing, by making their product more desirable by a slightly different market.

What we really need to be talking about is the apparent neglect by apple of it powerbooks. I am desperate for a g5 powerbook, and will even settle for higher speeds.

But, can't they work it out quickly enough, with the new IBM processor, to make some sort of announcement about g5's soon, as opposed to the summer or even fall? I mean, if ipods min's can be announced the first couple days of 2004 but not techinically be available until the end of february, can't we skip the minor speed bumps and get the g5 PB out there? Since these chips have such low power consumption, they shouldn't have as much difficulty putting them in PB's and dealing with the heat, right?

I keep having dreams about where and if they are gonna put the grid of holes on the new g5 books . . . .

 

[a17inchFuture]

Also, I thought i read somewhere that IBM gave apple test versions of these chips a while ago. So, Apple coudl have been designing a G5 book based on it all this time. And if that is the case, and if there can be such a disparity between announcements and the actual dates the products are available, couldn't we hope for something before fall?

 

[rdowns]

Originally posted by otter-boy
Actually, they do not lump the ipod and the mini together. When they dropped the price on the 15gig for a few days a couple of weeks back, the mini was at #1 and the 15gig was around #2 or #3. The mini is just selling better than the regular pods.

Let's not forget the iPod is available at many other sites and physical stores and often less expensive than Apple sells them for. It's not like the hottest gadget from December is suddenly collecting dust on shelves.

 

[rdowns]

Originally posted by veedubdrew
iPod minis are at The Grove in Los Angeles. They're in the front window on lighted pegs in front of huge pictures of minis.

These things are TINY!!! They're so unbelievably small, I just kept staring at them. It's difficult to understand how they got anything inside of them. The mini about the size of a business card and it's very, very thin.

This thing is not appealing in relation to other iPods, it's appealing in its own right. I got to get a push on the click/scroll wheel (just before an Apple store guy flipped out) and it has nice tactile feedback. Much improved over the 3G iPod layout, IMO.

The colors look more rich and inviting in person than they do on the site and add a lot of personality to the device.

The mini makes my 10GB iPod feel like I'm carrying around my 12" PowerBook with me in comparison to the mini. I must have one.

-Drew

IIRC, I read that the mini is the size of 18 business cards stacked.

 

[Messiatosh]

One of the great things about it is...

One of the great things about it is iTunes' ability to manage as many iPods as you want. A user can still have a huge 40 GB iPod and also a mini for working out with! (Which is why I bought one, Blue to be exact)

 

[MacWhispers]

FWIW... I saw the Mini at MWSF, immediately following the keynote. The moment the online store posted the product, I ordered a silver one. Didn't even blink. A week later, I got a nonfunctional Mini from Apple (for accessory development), showed it to my wife, and SHE hopped online and ordered one (a blue one).

Why?

Because neither of us ever has more than 300 to 500 songs on our full-sized iPods, and we're both enchanted by the Mini's mini size and weight. Also, we go to Best Buy and Circuit City pretty often, and we can both clearly see the ugly as hell flash memory based alternatives there, with only 512MB of memory, gawd-awful design, and $199 to $299 price tags.

Do you people knocking the value proposition of the iPod Mini even realize that there are many commercially successful 512MB flash based players selling quite nicely for $249 to $299???

Apple has hit a solid home run with the Mini.

<sigh>

 

[NusuniAdmin]

I take a marketing class....

At school in my marketing class my teacher lectured about opening up to markets, and get as many markets as possible. Well the regular ipod = market who WANTS a big gun mp3 player, mini ipod= people who WANT little compact and really portable mp3 player. They are all just wants, humans really only have like 5 basic needs, love, water, food, energy (besides water and food), and a stable enviroment. That is it. It is not about needing a small ipod or a really large ipod (by large i mean big hd). its all about wanting it, and because people want it you can open to many more people by making a new product. This strategy my teacher talked about is just what apple is doing, and by the way mini is #1 and has been for some time now, it seems like it is working pretty darn well for them. I cant believe people keep complaining about the price and crap and apple's buisness ethics when it comes to the mini, i think they are doing great, and many other buisness people errr capitalists would agree wit me.