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yoyoman · Oct 16, 2004, 03:48 PM

http://news.com.com/Start-up+Archos+...ag=cnetfd.buzz

Parky · Oct 16, 2004, 05:01 PM

Well where to start...

It's not as attractive or stylish as the iPod mini or iPod
It is not as easy to use.
It has no 'I want one factor'

Simply better specs and lower prices are not going to make players like this become as popular as the iPod.

The iPod has reached 'icon' status and the rest are also rans, all competing against each other and not really making a dent in iPod sales.

People have heard that the iPod is the thing to own and regardless of what things other players might have, they want the iPod.

iPods are now on sale in the most unexpected stores in the UK, including Boots the Chemist! This is because these stores feel they have to sell them, they appear in TV ads for loads of things, including a mention in the latest BT Broadband advert.

Ian

hardcat1970 · Oct 16, 2004, 05:03 PM

no way, man.

if you have to buy something other than apple's ipod mini, try creative micro, at least it looks better and have same features as Archos.

typoon · Oct 16, 2004, 05:20 PM

Originally posted by Parky:
Well where to start...

It's not as attractive or stylish as the iPod mini or iPod
It is not as easy to use.
It has no 'I want one factor'

Simply better specs and lower prices are not going to make players like this become as popular as the iPod.

The iPod has reached 'icon' status and the rest are also rans, all competing against each other and not really making a dent in iPod sales.

People have heard that the iPod is the thing to own and regardless of what things other players might have, they want the iPod.

iPods are now on sale in the most unexpected stores in the UK, including Boots the Chemist! This is because these stores feel they have to sell them, they appear in TV ads for loads of things, including a mention in the latest BT Broadband advert.

Ian

Not only that, think of all the accessories you can get for the iPod these days. None of the other players have anything close to the accessories you can find for the iPod. People LOVE accessories.

Like you said it has also reached icon status, It's become like the Walkman of old. If you mention the iPod I'm sure just about everyone will know what you are talking about. If you mentioned any of the others they'd probably look at you funny.

I know what you mean about them being on sale in some of the oddest places. Here in the States you can now find HP-iPods in Costco. You can also find iPods in Bestbuy, and I believe Target locations as well. Costco is not a place you would be thinking to find iPods but it definitely will help the sale of them.

d.fine · Oct 16, 2004, 05:25 PM

That looks like cheap plastic crap, I'll take the mini anytime ....

Parky · Oct 16, 2004, 05:39 PM

There is one problem with the iPod and that is the fact that all music players seem to be getting the 'iPod' name by unfamiliar users.

I have been asked if iPod is a brand or if it is a gadget (i.e. not an MP3 player)
iPod is probably known more by non technical people than MP3 is.

It's like the term 'Hoover' in the UK this is used a meaning any type of vacuum cleaner, but it is really a brand name.

I think the iPod risks losing it's identity to any type of digital music player, people will say 'I have an iPod' when they mean they have an MP3 player of some sort.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Ian

typoon · Oct 16, 2004, 05:56 PM

Originally posted by Parky:
There is one problem with the iPod and that is the fact that all music players seem to be getting the 'iPod' name by unfamiliar users.

I have been asked if iPod is a brand or if it is a gadget (i.e. not an MP3 player)
iPod is probably known more by non technical people than MP3 is.

It's like the term 'Hoover' in the UK this is used a meaning any type of vacuum cleaner, but it is really a brand name.

I think the iPod risks losing it's identity to any type of digital music player, people will say 'I have an iPod' when they mean they have an MP3 player of some sort.

Has anyone else experienced this?

Ian

Nope haven't experienced it yet.

Spheric Harlot · Oct 16, 2004, 06:29 PM

Originally posted by yoyoman:
ipod mini found its match

That's funny; I keep reading that all the time.

You can always tell who's never actually held an iPod mini in their hands before.

yoyoman · Oct 16, 2004, 07:17 PM

I have and I have used it many many times. This thing is 20 gigs and its only slightly bigger. Who needs tones and tones of things for it. That is what Microsoft is there for. So you can pick and choose what you want. Keep it simple. Plus its about the music. Half the time its in my pocket any how. And for that price its not that bad at all. This means we know there can be a ipod mini with a 20 gig. Im wondering if it uses a 1.8 inch drive or a .8 inch drive. Look at how crappy ford is yet people still buy those brand of cars. Same thing.

Hydra · Oct 16, 2004, 07:35 PM

The iPod mini is more than the sum of it's spec sheet. If it wasn't who would buy one when a regular iPod is only a little more money and has far more storage. It's not like the regular iPods are huge either. People panned the mini when it came out with the logic that it was too close to the regular iPod in price but had much smaller storage. Apple can't seem to make enough mini's to keep up with demand so there must be more to it than the specs alone. It's about style, image and quality materials which a little sliver plasticy music player with a drab green colored screen is not gonna steal mind-share away from.

I bought an iPod mini competitor, the MuVO2, so I could rip the 4GB Hitachi drive out of it and use in my camera as it was cheaper to spend the $200 for the MuVO and dissect it than to buy a retail version of the drive by a wide margin. I figured I could throw a spare compact flash card into it and use it as a solid-state music player for a handful of songs. The problem was that it has such a miserable interface and feels so cheap I never even use it and gave it to my little brother to play with it. It originally came with enough storage to hold 1000 songs but I found it such a pain to use to play a few dozen that I wondered how anyone could enjoy using it.

-Jerry C.

icruise · Oct 16, 2004, 07:51 PM

Does anyone know what kind of drive this uses? I didn't think they had 20GB drives small enough to fit a mini-sized device.

Oh, and yes the iPod mini is much nicer. But it would be nice if it had more storage.

ratlater · Oct 16, 2004, 11:12 PM

Don't forget the iPod's secret weapon, iTunes...and I don't mean the music store. iTunes is flat out the best music software around. I have 22 gigs of music and without smart playlists I'd be screwed.

-matt

Komisar · Oct 16, 2004, 11:34 PM

Archos is itunes compatible... i have used there gmini 400 model and i was not impressed choppy controls very confusing lay out this has no match!

Lancer409 · Oct 17, 2004, 02:19 AM

Originally posted by Parky:
Well where to start...

It's not as attractive or stylish as the iPod mini or iPod
It is not as easy to use.
It has no 'I want one factor'

Ian

... Gee ... for once .. it doesnt look like it has a better graphics card either

(sorta inside joke i guess) ...

that is one hideous screen ....

MilkmanDan · Oct 17, 2004, 12:40 PM

Dull, and dumb. No way to catch the already dominate mp3 player that way. I imagine that at this point, even if a better one did come along, it wouldn't stand up against apple's marketing.

yoyoman · Oct 17, 2004, 05:06 PM

apple at one point had a 30% market share with computers and they are back down to 2%. The ipod will be the same. Hit than go down again and be a nitch.
as for the link its not that bad. Once its in your pocket its just comes down to the music.

storer · Oct 17, 2004, 05:07 PM

Urrrggglllyyyy.....
That is the ugliest iPod Killarrrrr I have seen yet.

Parky · Oct 17, 2004, 05:51 PM

Originally posted by yoyoman:
apple at one point had a 30% market share with computers and they are back down to 2%. The ipod will be the same. Hit than go down again and be a nitch.
as for the link its not that bad. Once its in your pocket its just comes down to the music.

Well it all depends on what it's 2% of.

If they are still selling 2 Million in a quarter and that is 2% I don't think they will be to bothered.

It's not about market share, it's about if you make money from the % you have.

Apple make pots of money from their 2% of the market, who want's 50% when you lose money?

Ian

Graymalkin · Oct 17, 2004, 09:28 PM

Originally posted by yoyoman:
apple at one point had a 30% market share with computers and they are back down to 2%. The ipod will be the same. Hit than go down again and be a nitch.
as for the link its not that bad. Once its in your pocket its just comes down to the music.

Throwing out percentages without context is not a great idea in this case. Back in the 80s Apple had a large percentage of a much smaller PC market (~30 million PCs). That was Apple's entire catalogue included in that number so you're talking Apple IIs and Macs. Now Macs have about a 5% share of a far larger market (500+ million PCs). There's more Macs in use now than ever before but as a percentage of all PC vendors Apple only has about a 5% share of the market. That however puts them in the top 10 PC vendors in the US and IIRC the rest of the world also.

yoyoman · Oct 18, 2004, 01:35 AM

try 3% http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/01/23/mac.birthday/

Mr Heliums · Oct 18, 2004, 01:51 PM

You're quibbling about whether Apple's market share is 3 per cent or five per cent, but nobody is challenging the person who claimed that Apple once let a 30 per cent market share drift to 2 per cent. The Mac certainly never had anywhere NEAR that marketshare. I'd like to see the source of that claim

yoyoman · Oct 18, 2004, 09:24 PM

id have to look it up but I believe it was when the quadra came out? I could be wrong but I read a article several times that said 30%. I know apple could pull it off if they choose 2.

aaanorton · Oct 18, 2004, 09:49 PM

Originally posted by yoyoman:
id have to look it up but I believe it was when the quadra came out? I could be wrong but I read a article several times that said 30%. I know apple could pull it off if they choose 2.

yoyoman,
Why is it that despite having clearly no idea of what you are talking about, you consistently insist on blathering on?
And for what it's worth, the iPod mini was not lonely. It did not post a personal add on Match.com to find a special-someone. What you probably meant to say was "iPod mini [i]met]/i] its match". Which, while gramatically correct, only serves to illustrate my 1st point: you have no idea what you are talking about. None. But thanks as usual for the entertainment

wulf · Oct 18, 2004, 11:11 PM

Chicks will not dig it. 'Nuff said.

moonmonkey · Oct 19, 2004, 10:44 PM

Originally posted by wulf:
Chicks will not dig it. 'Nuff said.

Yeh, imagine getting that for your birthday, taking it to school and everyone laughing at you.

Same thing happened to me with a pair of running shoes, I never really recovered.

ApeInTheShell · Oct 19, 2004, 11:58 PM

Remember Darkcloud being heralded as the Zelda killer for the PS2? Well it was not even close.

I think people are looking for an iPod killer because Apple is not going out of business as they predicted.

Mr Heliums · Oct 21, 2004, 05:12 AM

Originally posted by yoyoman:
id have to look it up but I believe it was when the quadra came out? I could be wrong but I read a article several times that said 30%. I know apple could pull it off if they choose 2.

Like I said, the Mac has never had anywhere near that marketshare. At its peak, the Mac was at low double figures - around 11 or 12 per cent.

Valarauko · Oct 21, 2004, 07:18 PM

There are many the so called "potential iPod killer"

Couple examples:
Here
and
here

The sleekest of all will be the Olympus MR-100.