MacRumors iPod Story Covered by Los Angeles Times

[Doctor Q]

Our news story made page 2 of today's Los Angeles Times Business section!

Los Angeles Times link (free registration required)

Web of Rumors Takes the Lid Off New iPods

Lower prices are among the details Apple watchers have gleaned ahead of today's unveiling.

By Terril Yue Jones, Times Staff Writer

Apple Computer Inc. is expected to unveil new versions of its hot-selling iPod digital music player today, though a weekend of leaks about the gadgets compromised the often-secretive company's desire to keep the lid on the news until the last minute.

The iPods will be cheaper than their forebear and their batteries will boast longer lives, according to Newsweek, which had been briefed on the new players by Chief Executive Steve Jobs and others at Apple for a cover story that was scheduled to be on newsstands today.

But by early Saturday, the website MacRumors.com had tracked down a photo of the Newsweek cover on a server for MSN.com — which has a news-sharing agreement with the magazine — and had posted a link to that and to the full text of the story.

On Saturday night, the story and a sidebar were posted at Newsweek.com.

By that point, details about the new iPods were ricocheting around Apple-watching websites including Slashdot.org, iPodlounge.com and MacObserver.com.

One site, ThinkSecret.com, had gotten an early bead on the rumors — the wrong ones — reporting Wednesday that new iPods would be revealed in August, have up to 60 gigabytes of memory, be priced similarly to current models and for the first time come in colors including orange and purple. The site corrected itself Saturday.

A MacRumors.com contributor wrote that it was noteworthy that MSN was the one to "ruin Apple's announcement." MSN is run by Microsoft Corp., which makes the competing — and dominant — personal computer operating system, Windows.

On Sunday morning, Newsweek's site was down; the site was back up Sunday afternoon, with an additional sidebar detailing all of the news about the new iPods.

...

Having the iPod beans spilled early probably didn't make people happy at Apple, which likes to hold its strategic cards close to its vest until a time and venue of its choosing.

Apple has a history of introducing products in magazines that agree to run cover stories in exchange for access to Jobs, Apple's press-averse founder. Time chronicled the development of Apple's white iMac PC in a cover story in 2002 and Fortune did the same last year for Apple's iTunes Music Store for legally downloading digital music.

 

[AmigoMac]

Great...

Now, they could continue the article:

"European users started the week visiting the iPod's website early before leaving home, just to be sure of any update coming during the day" "it was instant news before american people started the day... blablblabla ...

 

[belair]

it must be hard for apple

I mean that now, every magazine seems to want Steve Jobs on their cover.
I am sure he loves the attention but it must be really hard to keep things from leeking in such cases.

It must have been pretty easy to prevent leakage at times when no one cared about apple but now that they are THE trendsetters in the digital lifestyle, it's a different story. All the industry is watching them now, getting their copying machines ready to start working on some new projects

 

[Doctor Q]

My purpose in starting this thread wasn't to talk about iPods or Apple getting coverage in newspapers or magazines. It was to point out that the story included a mention of MacRumors.

I think it's nice that rumors site (one in particular ) and their surrounding buzz are part of the news. I'm more and more convinced that we have members here who work for news outlets and that we help them keep an eye (or two) on what's coming.

Here's another example: The first sentence of today's CNET story Apple iPod (20GB, fourth generation) mentions sites like this.

The fourth-generation Apple iPod was unveiled to the world on the cover of the July 26 edition of Newsweek magazine, confirming a growing chorus of whispers and rumors that had been percolating for weeks on various Apple enthusiast Web sites.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

It is nice that general sites like this one is getting press.

Wonder if there were any more members that usual because of the mention.

 

[seamuskrat]

Speaking of members

How many active members does the MacRumors community have?

I know many lurkers read the news and sometimes the forums. But there must be fairly significant traffic at this site.
Forgive me if I am missing this info in another location.

 

[Abstract]

Its weird, because not only does it seem that various mainstream media sources mentioned MacRumours, but they also quoted a MR member -- ie: they read what we type.

In essence, they're getting news, or just rumours, from us. Its like we're ahead of the news, which is quite cool (if you're a computer geek).

 

[FelixDerKater]

What is the deal with these news sites asking for a registration, be it free or not? I end up re-registering an infinite number of times because I always forget what the login/password was for them, using various computers throughout the day.

 

[Doctor Q]

What is the deal with these news sites asking for a registration, be it free or not? I end up re-registering an infinite number of times because I always forget what the login/password was for them, using various computers throughout the day.

They want to collect information about you, and encourage you to think you are a member of the site so you'll come back and buy subscriptions or other services from them. It makes good business sense, except when they overdo it and prevent you from wanting to stay at their site at all. I get frustrated too. I registered for the Los Angeles Times and New York Times; most others I live without.

If you forget your password but know your ID, you can always use the "I forgot my password" to have your password e-mailed to you, but if you forgot your ID, you have to register. Either way it takes extra time and some of us have more patience than others. You should let them know your opinion - every paper will have some form of feedback form. And if not, send a comment to webmaster@whatever.

 

[Doctor Q]

The L.A. Times article had a typo. It said 10GB where it meant 40GB.

As published:

The version with 20 gigabytes of memory will retail for $299, and the 10-gigabyte version, which holds about 10,000 songs, will sell for $399, Newsweek says. The batteries will last up to 12 hours, longer than the much-maligned batteries in the original.

Correction they have now issued:

FOR THE RECORD: Apple iPod —An article in Monday's Business section about new models of Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod digital music player incorrectly said the 10-gigabyte iPod would sell for $399. The iPod priced at $399 actually has a 40-gigabyte capacity.

 

[irmongoose]

FelixDerKater: Use BugMeNot.com.




irmongoose

 

[Fender2112]

Its weird, because not only does it seem that various mainstream media sources mentioned MacRumours, but they also quoted a MR member -- ie: they read what we type.

In essence, they're getting news, or just rumours, from us. Its like we're ahead of the news, which is quite cool (if you're a computer geek).

I quit subscribing to Mac magazines when I became a member here. A July issue comes out in June and contains information that is 3 to 4 months old. You won't read about the new iPod in MacWorld until the October issue which get released in September.

I forgot where I was going with that. But, needless to say, if you want to stay current, stay with MacRumors. And for you die hard PC users, try our sister site. www.pcrumors.com