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MWSF: More Mini iPod Confirmation and Detail?

Re: I JUST DON'T GET YOU PEOPLE

Originally posted by jiggie2g
Honestly how many of us really need a freakin 20-40GB iPod. I myself have owned the original 5GB iPod for nearly 2yrs and still don't listen to half the stuff on it and my Music Collection is 13GB on my iMac but i don't listen to more than maybe 30% of that on a regular basis and to be Honest of u have time to listen to 20GB of Music then maybe it's time for you 2 get a hobby. a Mini iPod would fit life my just perfectly as i was considering the purchase of a small flash based MP3 player for my trips 2 to the gym.
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I agreed with the first half of what you said - but didn't agree with this part at all. Why wouldn't you want to have your whole collection with you? It's not about listening to 20 gigs of music - it's about deciding which dozen songs out of that 20 gigs you want to listen to now. Or about not deciding - just put it on random play.
 
Why wouldn't Apple just continue calling it ipod unless they made some massive cosmetic changes? They kept the iMac name- completely different computer- same concept- and the original ipod (5 gig) is long gone... stil ipod. Also what would they be thinking with wild color schemes? would you really want an orange ipod? maybe black or grey or something- but hell- thay managed to make all those fruity ibooks look ok.


btw- Photorun- when did you get your ipod? I looked and didn't see any pods :mad: but I might get one at those prices
 
Originally posted by e2chris
Dude! Do you have internet access?
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Lol, couldnt have posted that otherwise, could I? :D Just not a macfanatic like most of you guys.
 
Re: Re: Re: volative memory???

Originally posted by dongmin
Whatever. The point is that with RAM, you risk losing all your data when the bloody thing does power off at some point. With solid state media and HDs, obviously, that's not an issue.

So tell me again how you're gonna secure data on RAM with a battery device?
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Flash memory is not volatile. Once it's written it stays written. Hard drives aren't volatile either. I'm not sure what you're worried about.
 
Re: Re: Re: volative memory???

Originally posted by greenstork
I'm sorry, my iPod has NEVER taken 2 minutes to boot up. From full power down, it takes 20-30 seconds at the most to boot up.
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I have a 3G iPod that is completely full (~27 GB). I haven't actually timed it, but it seemed like about 2 minutes last time I cold booted it.

Yours might be different, I'm just speaking from personal experience. It might take less time to boot if you have less media.
 
Re: Re: I JUST DON'T GET YOU PEOPLE

Originally posted by alandail
I agreed with the first half of what you said - but didn't agree with this part at all. Why wouldn't you want to have your whole collection with you? It's not about listening to 20 gigs of music - it's about deciding which dozen songs out of that 20 gigs you want to listen to now. Or about not deciding - just put it on random play.
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exactly

i have just over 1 gig of mp3's on my computer right now ... and i got a 20 gig iPod for Xmas ... i'm more then happy with having the iPod that big ... i think i'm going to take some time and rip all my CD's into Mp3's and store them onto my iPod ... heck it would probably leave room for more still .
 
Re: I JUST DON'T GET YOU PEOPLE

Originally posted by jiggie2g
Honestly how many of us really need a freakin 20-40GB iPod. I myself have owned the original 5GB iPod for nearly 2yrs and still don't listen to half the stuff on it and my Music Collection is 13GB on my iMac but i don't listen to more than maybe 30% of that on a regular basis and to be Honest of u have time to listen to 20GB of Music then maybe it's time for you 2 get a hobby.
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I guess I must be one of the exceptions then, but I assure you, I have a very active, hectic, diverse life! ;) Only the UK members might know what I'm talking about here, but I record and listen to the BBC Essential Mix every week - it's a 2-hour mix show, put on by the best DJs in the world. I turn each mix into a 170 MB MP3, and since I have all of them since 1993, with 52 shows a year, well, you can do the math! I have a ton of other music too, and with all my audio CDs, well, there will never be an iPod big enough to carry all my tunes around!

But my point is that although I have more music than I could possibly listen to on a regular basis in my lifetime, it's about choice. Sure, I don't have time to listen to 20 GB of music in one sitting, but I sometimes like to play a random mix, or just listen to parts of certain mixes, then move onto another one. I just like the idea of having a ton of music accessible to you, so you can listen to what you want, when you want it, or, thanks to random features, let the player decide for you!

But that's just me, and I do admit I'm probably in the minority. :cool: I do think these mini-iPods, or whatever you want to refer to them as, are going to sell amazingly well, as there is a huge market for the lower-capacity (and resulting lower $$$) portable music players.

Bring it on Apple!
 
I didn't read the whole thread, but has anyone mentioned the patent that apple has on the fiber optic color changing thing? I remember everyone thought it was for the iMacs, but when the PowerBooks came out, with the backit keyboards, everyone said that they used it for the backlighting. Maybe that didn't go into the PowerBooks, but it will be used here, to change the case color.

e2chris-- remeber the pippin?

pippin1.jpg
 
Originally posted by funkywhat2
I didn't read the whole thread, but has anyone mentioned the patent that apple has on the fiber optic color changing thing? I remember everyone thought it was for the iMacs, but when the PowerBooks came out, with the backit keyboards, everyone said that they used it for the backlighting. Maybe that didn't go into the PowerBooks, but it will be used here, to change the case color.
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I have no idea what all this color changing fibre optics technology entails, but my initial guess is that this type of revolutionary technology is not cheap to implement, and we would probably see it in a more expensive product (at least the G5 iMac) before we see it in something like an iPod - I think the resulting costs to implement this technology would be cost-prohibitive. But I'm just guessing here, as I don't know any of the details regarding this color-changing technology.
 
Re: Re: I JUST DON'T GET YOU PEOPLE

Originally posted by ~Shard~
I guess I must be one of the exceptions then, but I assure you, I have a very active, hectic, diverse life! ;) Only the UK members might know what I'm talking about here, but I record and listen to the BBC Essential Mix every week - it's a 2-hour mix show, put on by the best DJs in the world. I turn each mix into a 170 MB MP3, and since I have all of them since 1993, with 52 shows a year, well, you can do the math! I have a ton of other music too, and with all my audio CDs, well, there will never be an iPod big enough to carry all my tunes around!

But my point is that although I have more music than I could possibly listen to on a regular basis in my lifetime, it's about choice. Sure, I don't have time to listen to 20 GB of music in one sitting, but I sometimes like to play a random mix, or just listen to parts of certain mixes, then move onto another one. I just like the idea of having a ton of music accessible to you, so you can listen to what you want, when you want it, or, thanks to random features, let the player decide for you!

But that's just me, and I do admit I'm probably in the minority. :cool: I do think these mini-iPods, or whatever you want to refer to them as, are going to sell amazingly well, as there is a huge market for the lower-capacity (and resulting lower $$$) portable music players.

Bring it on Apple!
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Ya ... go Essential Mix :)

people have different needs, and some want to make their own playlists and load them on in the morning, others don't ...

i've said it before ... apple is not making products with one person in mind, they know people are diverse ... so are the products

I could care less about an iMac, or eMac, or iBook since i use a Powermac, and plan on getting a Powerbook ... but that doesn't mean Apple should stop making the other products just cause I don't care to use them.
 
Re: Re: Re: I JUST DON'T GET YOU PEOPLE

Originally posted by revenuee
Ya ... go Essential Mix :)

people have different needs, and some want to make their own playlists and load them on in the morning, others don't ...

i've said it before ... apple is not making products with one person in mind, they know people are diverse ... so are the products

I could care less about an iMac, or eMac, or iBook since i use a Powermac, and plan on getting a Powerbook ... but that doesn't mean Apple should stop making the other products just cause I don't care to use them.
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Well put, those are my thoughts exactly. And that's why the mini-iPods will succeed - they will address yet another market segment that Apple can generate revenue from.

Oh, and it's nice to see a fellow Canadian into the Essential Mixes as well! If you're ever after any of them, just let me know and we can work something out, as I have pretty much all of them since 1993. ;) (Sorry, I know that's off topic...)
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: I JUST DON'T GET YOU PEOPLE

Originally posted by ~Shard~


Oh, and it's nice to see a fellow Canadian into the Essential Mixes as well! If you're ever after any of them, just let me know and we can work something out, as I have pretty much all of them since 1993. ;) (Sorry, I know that's off topic...)
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we don't wanna Flood the thread with off-topic conversation, so i PMed you
 
Drive

Well i think we can rest assured that a 1.5 gig ipod could be a possiblity with the low tags on some of those cornice drives. I don't like flash because there are too many kinds and its not simple enough for joe schmoe. Plus the flash memory would mess up the whole legality issue with people sharing songs via an easily swappable media.

Colors

I find it hard to believe that Apple would have an agressive campaign with a focal point white iPod only to deviate. I do thing the dayglo colors would actually be kinda cool for a 100 iPod. Market those to young women! At least that scheme would be in keeping with the adverts. I think the faceplate idea is good because we all baby our iPod because of scratching. How much profit could apple make off selling multicolored face plates seperately. Mega markup! I just think it cheapens the device when smiley face or confederate flags start showing up on a music player. I could see a gold iPod for the 20th anniversary but i can't afford that! I think that color changing plastic idea is cool. Or possibly a clear pod with fiber optics so you can choose color led to light. People definately buy personal electronics alot of times for ridiculous stuff like this over practicallity. Remember last years blue glow cell phone craze.

Form Factor/Interface

I think Apple would do best to keep the ipod the same size at least so it can fit in the current dock and work with current devices. I hate how companies release lines of products that each have a specific set of peripherals. Who wants to stand there trying to figure out if the case will work or not (case fits duncan series JXp47/58s only etc). Its irritating enough with the 1G cases 3G cases. Also eventually all the portable music players will have the same technology inside as far as harddrives. But Apple owns them with the gui scroll wheel and interface. Why would they do away with that? The "analog" injection into a digital device is so intuitive and the look of an iPod is what people associate with. I agree that the pepsi purchase of pod casings isn't something you would do if the pod were changing looks.

Battery

I could see the iPod shipping with some sort of removable recharegable batteries that would use the current iPod dock to charge. But i think people have become so accustomed to rechargeble items like cell phones that they don't mind an iPod that they can't swap batteries on provided the battery life is decent.

iTunes

One thing i looked at recently were the smart playlists allowing the user to create a playlist based on megabytes, gigs, minutes, seconds etc. I just hope the process is automated for the novice user with a 1.5 gig.

Edit: ooo lets bank on the rest of the world getting iTunes on the 6th too!

Conclusion

I think it is game over if Apple releases this baby player. Someone made a great point regarding stores only carrying certain lines. I was at compusa last week and saw a display with 20 different types of mp3 players. All boring black or silver with crappy screens and flash media or a few creative rio overpriced units. The display model of the 20gig had long been sold out and rest assured when it comes time to reorder and rethink the display only about 1/2 the players will be there. I don't expect to see iPods at walmart but surely at target which is a little more upscale. If apple can release a player that has the gui of the current iPod but is a little more rugged with faceplates and perhaps changable batteries they will truly have the next walkman in numbers. Lets just hope they get the word out with the superbowl media blitz!


vote howard
 
Originally posted by arn
yep, I believe this rumor (cheaper, mini ipods) , so I guess we have to assume Apple somehow got pricing down.

arn
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This kinda makes sense, unless its a loss leader making the entire music store a big useless cash cow driving the company into the ground. Free software, no profit hardware, no profit content. If any company is this stupid, they desire what they get :)
 
Originally posted by Photorun
Wow, you sound oddly bitter.

Anyways, I got my $169 10 GB iPod from the Apple Store, go there and click on the red tag marked "Deals," they sell 10 GBs there (last gen) for that much and 20 GB for as low as $239 I've seen. Anyhoo, I'm assuming they're making a little profit on these so the previous poster who's you're sniping here was 100% correct and I agree, don't see why they couldn't do a 2 GB iPod for as low a price point.
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Apple often sells out-dated merchandise at below cost just to get "something" for the inventory.

This is quite common in retail. Even though those 10GB iPods cost Apple far more than $169 to make, they're not going to be able to sell them at cost now, so they want to sell them for whatever price they believe the market will bear.

It's not like Apple is still producing previous-generation iPods and selling them at these fire-sale prices!
 
Re: Toshiba, Hitachi and Cornice are not the only HD makers

Originally posted by hokka
GS Magicstor Inc. (based in China) currently produce two versions: 2.2/2.4GB & a 4.4/4.8GB 1" Microdrive ( http://www.gs-magicstor.com/english/products-E/index.htm )

Since it's produced in China, the price would be very competitive I would imagine... then there's also MarQlin Corp. based in San Jose ( http://www.marqlin.com/ )

Don't just look at Cornice just because it "promises" to get the price down to $50 a pop and all the media jumped on it... look deeper guys
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The advantage of Cornice is that they've tremendously simplified the miniature HD mechanisms (three screws instead of 12 or something like that ...) This simplicity pays off in lower production costs and better reliability (less to break), which in turn lowers manufacturing costs because they don't have to eat warrantee replacements ...

Simply being based in China is no guarantee of competitive pricing, nor really even an indicator of such.
 
Re: Re: Re: Re: volative memory???

Originally posted by illumin8
Flash memory is not volatile. Once it's written it stays written. Hard drives aren't volatile either. I'm not sure what you're worried about.
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Follow the thread back. He was replying to a guy who suggested that Apple should use DRAM instead of Flash to lower costs.

This is, for fairly obvious reasons I would think, not a really viable idea.

FYI, flash memory (and HDD, for that matter) is volatile; the half-life is just measured in dozens of years instead of microseconds as with DRAM :)
 
Colors to follow Ads?

Do you think the colors will match the five colors currently making the rounds in the ipod print and web marketing campaigns?
 
my 10 cents.....

Apple will unveil something less than 1 gig, probably 500 mb for about $129.

The 1 gig , if it appears, will go for $169.

2 gig? Why bother? Just get a 10 Gig and be happy.

Its not the size of the drive that really affects the price, its all the other stuff.
For Apple, buying a 10 gig isnt much different from a 30 gig.

Look for reduced capability, no remote, possibly running on AA batteries or re-chargeables.

In fact, definitely AA's!

No CD, software on board, simple packaging, 2-line screen.

500mb gives about 175 - 200 songs, plenty for most people, and they can change them every day.

Look for changes to iTunes to accomodate some kind of daily 'change your tunes' deal.

Random playlist function - 175 new songs every day, etc.
 
Originally posted by ethernet76

Gates is also a crook. Why does an Office upgrade cost 500 dollars when all they did was make the paper clip more annoying? You can't tell me that office is more expensive to upgrade than it is to launch a new video game. Word should be 50 dollars, not 500. People are too stupid to realize that there are other things out there other than word that work just as well if not better.
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Slightly off topic, this bit, but I LOVE IT!

YES! Gates is a crook! Thankyou ethernet for saying this.
 
Re: Re: Toshiba, Hitachi and Cornice are not the only HD makers

Originally posted by jettredmont
The advantage of Cornice is that they've tremendously simplified the miniature HD mechanisms (three screws instead of 12 or something like that ...) This simplicity pays off in lower production costs and better reliability (less to break), which in turn lowers manufacturing costs because they don't have to eat warrantee replacements ...

Simply being based in China is no guarantee of competitive pricing, nor really even an indicator of such.
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I believe the Cornice SE HD was intended for embedded use only, thus, less parts compares to Microdrives - BUT, I'm sure if Apple do use Microdrive it would have less parts too as it will not be a removable media format, and it would not require on-board drivers and protactive casing - thus reduce the cost.

Cornice's products may be used in a few well known brands, BUT I doubt they can PRODUCE the quantity Apple would require for the extreme popular iPod Brand... why? because the product is relatively new and to pump up production would require large orders and with out Apple, they wouldn't do it just to try lure Apple when Apple already has a good relationship with Toshiba and Hitachi - whom are their compatitors and are only expressed their intention to revamp production of the 1.8" - BECAUSE of the iPod (and the spawned competitors like Dell).

Nonetheless, we can't be too logical or rumors would be no fun right? We'll know in a week or so... hope someone's right ;)
 
About colored iPods:

A company called ColorWare will paint iPods for about $50. You can send your existing one for $50 or you can buy a new one that is painted for the cost of the iPod plus $65. They also have PowerBook and iBook painting for $399.

http://www.colorwarepc.com/
 
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