[PixelPimpzNYC]

I posted this on the Mac OS X Talk list, but it's appropriate here too:

Price:

Are you all broke? Do any of you have decent paying jobs? $400 is not a lot of money. Maybe you should get a second job or improve your current skills so you too can easily afford such "luxuries" instead of wasting everyone's time bitching about it on this list. Get a f*cking paper route... or maybe go work at an Apple retail store on the weekends! Pathetic! Maybe Maserati should lower the price on their new Spyder by $70,000 so all you deadbeats can afford that too.

USB:

Is "old school" at this point and WAY too slow to keep synced on any sort of regular basis. Syncing Vindigo on my Palm V seems to take an eternity! Apple always pushes the envelope in this area. Remember when every retard freaked out when the iMac shipped without a floppy drive? Even then I couldn't remember the last time I even used a goddamn floppy! Anything that could fit on a floppy could be Stuffed and emailed at that point!

The TV Spot:

Did you complainers even watch the same damn spot that I saw? Okay we see Jeff Goldblum rocking out on his new iBook, the we see him using iTunes 2. He drags the Propellerheads song into his Favorites, we then see iTunes 2 sync with the iPod copying 1000 songs to it. Next there's a close up of the iPod with the Firewire symbol. Jeff proceeds to unplug it in an extreme close up clearly showing the Firewire jack. Now we cut to Jeff scrolling through the iPod interface to his Favorites and then to the Propellerheads song. He continues to rock out, dance (moonwalk) to the door where we see him drop it into a small pocket on the front of his jacket. The the voice over says "iPod, 1000 songs in your pocket".


Okay, what wasn't clear about this spot? It clearly shows some of it's strong features:

1) Easily syncs with iTunes 2 and your Firewire ready Mac

2) Can hold a lot of damn songs

3) Copies files quickly

4) Uses Firewire, is hot swappable

5) Has a simple, easy to use interface

6) Small enough to easily fit in your pocket

Many complaints are purely subjective:

1) I hate Jeff Golblum

2) I hate Propellerheads

3) I hate to see people having fun or acting silly

4) I hate being too broke to afford the latest goods from Apple

Well, those are my thoughts and observations. Goodnight!

Your Pal,

Brian


Another person posted this great follow up:

Apple has only one obligation: To create the most kick-ass products and sell them at the highest price the market will pay. You may not like to hear that, and you may not want to believe it, but that's the cold hard truth.

And the more power to a company that can consistently create kick-ass products and consistently charge a premium for them.

[Frumpy]

Excuse me, are you GOD speaking to me?!

Because you completely read my mind. More power to people that think like you and me. I couldn't have said this better myself. The cheap bastards of the 5% need to read this and think different. HELL YEAH!

[vvedge]

ummm... I dont think it was Jeff... this guy dances much better

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

Originally posted by PixelPimpzNYC:
[QB]I posted this on the Mac OS X Talk list, but it's appropriate here too:

Price:

Are you all broke? Do any of you have decent paying jobs? $400 is not a lot of money.... Get a f*cking paper route...

HAHAHAHAHA! RIght on!

Apple has only one obligation: To create the most kick-ass products and sell them at the highest price the market will pay. You may not like to hear that, and you may not want to believe it, but that's the cold hard truth.

And the more power to a company that can consistently create kick-ass products and consistently charge a premium for them.

Y'know what? The person that said this is abso-f***in'-lutely correct! Good post! No, I'm no 'whatever Apple does is always best' type (not by a long shot) but I do have to agree with the above. Hey..like it or lump it, Apple consitantly manages to stay in business, and by now I think they know their own market well enough to survive despite the naysayers. I get the feeling some people think because they worship the ground Apple walks on, that the company always OWES them something, and MUST make EXACTLY whatever dream product the worshipers had in mind, rather than whatever Apple itself thinks it can build and sell realistically. Guess not!

[OAW]

" Get a f*cking paper route..."

Oh I really like that one!

OAW

[Cooter]

Priceless.

[nana2]

Originally posted by PixelPimpzNYC:
<STRONG>
Apple has only one obligation: To create the most kick-ass products and sell them at the highest price the market will pay. You may not like to hear that, and you may not want to believe it, but that's the cold hard truth.
</STRONG>

Bit like the Cube then? Oh no, sorry they priced it too high, people were in shock when they first heard the price and it never recovered, even after price cuts later on. No wonder they didn't announce the iPod at a Mac conference, it would have been the same stunned mullet silence when Stevie announced the price.

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

yeah but he said "Apple has only one obligation..." not that it's guaranteed to WORK every single time.

I still can't fathom it.. Mac people.. complaining about the price of something!!?!

Seriously... $400 for a gizmo like this isn't squat. Anyone should figure out anyway, that this is the intro 'gotta have it' price, for those that MUST have the latest/greatest stuff the second it comes out.

And is it just me? What's with all the bitching over the timing of this? WHEN would have been a better time to release this? Maybe just AFTER Christmas?!? So is it a safe bet there won't be any of these under anyones trees come this December 25th?

Maybe Apple's on to something... people this year perhaps not as keen on trudging out to the local mall to Chistmas shop as they have been in past years (due to any fears, irrational or otherwise) therefore staying home, doing a little online ordering of the high-tech goodies..humm what's this? $400 digital music player for the spoiled brat whose got everything else under the sun? Done!

[GORDYmac]

Let's apply some market analysis here (since that's my job):

The economy is busting in the lower marketing segments (lower class to mid-middle class consumers & their children), so why would Apple market to segments that ARE NOT BUYING ANYTHING!?!?!?

This device is targeted at a key market segment (upper-middle class consumers and students), and priced appropriately. This segment typically is slower to buy (so Apple announced it waaay before Xmas), and look for performance, style, and quality. It will do well, and price isn't really an issue.

This whole 'Macintosh' thing was never about price...never. Value, yes, but price...never.

I'm not sure how or if I fit that demographic, but I'm buying one. I guess my niche is that I'm an avid Mac user with some disposable discretionary income. I'd consider buying anything they slapped a damn logo on, if I could legitimize the purchase. Trust me, Apple knows about us too.

[dopeavy]

My thoughts:

Yesterday, I placed my order for an iPod. For several months I have looked at getting an MP3 player. I looked long and hard at Creative Labs nomad 6GB and 20GB. The closest comparison is the 6GB and it costs $250. So, let's compare.

Like most people, I don't rush out and buy every new gadget as soon as it is released. In fact, as you can tell form the age of my Powerbook, I am confortably behind the curve for reasons of costs as well as technology. And this has implications across my lifestyle. For instance, I do not have a CD burner, my 1997 Mustang does not have a built in CD player and my 200W per channel 1985 era Pioneer stereo is starting to wear out (go figure). And what is so great about a CD burner? All you end up with is hundreds more CD's which you have to label and organize and store and hope the media doesn't go bad.

So, I have a couple hundred music CD's sitting in a rack under my window. When I get in the car, I want to play them, but I also want the choice of playing any of them not just one or ten. And I have several software CD's that I need as back up. And when I go hand gliding or hiking, I want to carry along music, not CD's.

So here is why the iPod makes so much sense, and why it is better than the Nomad or any other player I have seen.

First, transfer time between the Nomad and iPod doesn't even compare. The iPod is a clear winner. Who wants to take an hour to move their recent music from the computra to the player?

Second, the ability to turn CD music into MP3 files quickly and reliably and seamlessly via iTunes cannot be matched by Nomad. And the level of integration is increadible with the iPod. As for music quality - most people including myself cannot tell a difference between a 128 or 160kb MP3 and a CD file. Most meaning 99%.

Third, size weight and packaging are all advantages of the iPod. I can slip it in my pocket for gliding or hiking and slip it into the dash for use in the car. And since so much of the music world is in flux, I don't invest money in an outdated CD player for the car or memory stick from sony or whatever. What better way to weather a transition than with a good old fashiond 5GB hard drive the size of a deck of cards with fast transfer?

Fourth, from what I have seen of the two products, useability of the iPod is unmatched by the Nomad. I don't want to fumble for the controls at 4,000 feet in the air or going 80 MPH in the car. iPod is easy to use.

Fifth, I can now remove the stack of CD's under the window and safely place them in the closet. I can now take my entire CD collection with me in the car, on the trail, in the air, to a friends house and even from one room to another via a tiny, 5 oz. device. The Nomad can store the music, but it comes up short otherwise. Hey, how many people have a full spectrum home system with speakers in every room? Not many. But now I can move the music from the bedroom system to the den with a tiny device.

Sixth, charge time, battery life, and single cable connectivity are clear winners for the iPod.

Seventh, the ability to back up critical data on my iPod. Last May, I watched a friends house burn and several PC's inside as well. Backing up critical data to a 5 oz. device that can be carried with me is akin to backing up data at Fort Knox. It can't be beat. And, when time comes to upgrade to a Ti Powerbook, all I have to do is hook up iPod and move the data off the old one, sell it, wait on the new Ti and move the data over.

As for price, sure it's $150 more. But when I buy an electronic device, I buy one that is good for several years. And this one will be. The Nomad? Forget it. It's last years toy.

[macupdate]

$400 is a lot of money. I've been living outside of the States, and I'm surprising myself to look back and see how I used to view money and buying consumer "toys." Man, $400 here in South Africa could bring smiles to a LOT of very loving people here in Cape Town. When I return to the States this December, things are going to be different. I'm not sure if I'm going to like the "buy me, buy me" attititude that's everywhere.

I guess if you're going to buy one, measure what's most important to you. Is buying another toy most important? What else can $400 do for you or the people around you?

well... $400 could earn me 1.5% in the bank... or buy me half of a low end iMac... or buy me a new engine for my Nissan...

Yes - I am buying myself an iPod and I am not going to make myself feel bad because I have a good job and I love Apple products.

wolfeman

[nana2]

Originally posted by &lt;wolfeman&gt;:
<STRONG>well... $400 could earn me 1.5% in the bank... or buy me half of a low end iMac... or buy me a new engine for my Nissan...
wolfeman</STRONG>

If you live in NY or Washington a low end iMac will cost you $499!

[CRASH HARDDRIVE]

Originally posted by macupdate:
[QB]$400 is a lot of money. I've been living outside of the States, and I'm surprising myself to look back and see how I used to view money and buying consumer "toys." Man, $400 here in South Africa could bring smiles to a LOT of very loving people here in Cape Town. When I return to the States this December, things are going to be different. I'm not sure if I'm going to like the "buy me, buy me" attititude that's everywhere.

I wish there was a "buy me, buy me" attitude that's actually working for anyone. So far, people are saying "no thanks, no thanks" and you may find yourself back here in the middle of a serious economic recession as a result.