[fhoubi]

The price is fair!

Try to find a 4GB (flash memory or) compactflash microdrive plus display & batteries & interfaces etc. for that price... get it?

It is smaller, lighter. Some people will like it for that.

[cube-dude]

Originally posted by powerbook867:
I'll spend the extra 50 and upgrade my 5 to a 15 gig...

I was in a similar holding pattern, with 973 songs on my original 5 GB iPod. Now I'll likely get the new 15 GB model, and at the education discount of $269. (The minis' ed price is $229, btw.)

[GORDYmac]

I hate to say what everyone else says, so, has anyone determined if FireWire Disk Mode will work with the iPod mini? The Apple site doesn't mention it. If not, then it makes the 15GB look much more attractive.

[cube-dude]

Originally posted by Tarabella:
When Steve announced the price he was greeted by complete silence. He couldn't have received a cooler reception if he announced that it was a Windows only product.

Actually the $99 charge for .mac reception was worse. I was in that audience. It was almost painful. Almost.

[shatten22]

These will definitely sell well. Will it eat into the market that Jobs hopes it will eat into? No. The iPod is a status symbol. It will sell to the people who already have iPods, but want the newest stuff. It will sell to rich teenagers who want to flaunt. It won't sell to those people who are currently buying cheap-ass, flash-based players.

$250 is way above an 'impulse' buy. And the reason why those flash-based mp3 players sell, is because they are impulse purchases. The kind of thing you pick up for $99 on the way to the register to stick in someone's stocking.

Personally, I don't think Apple wants to have that market. Apple users (now don't get mad) are elitest by nature. It's why so many people flaunt those tell-tale white earbuds in NYC, they are showing off. They pride themselves on having style AND substance in their technology. To know that everyone is walking around with an iPod would diminish being the owner of an iPod. If everyone had one, who would want it? I mean, does Coach make cases for any other mp3 player?

Apple has made it this far because they've embraced the anti-market. I think Jobs showing the '1984' commercial summed that up perfectly. If Apple wanted to, they could become the Burger King of the industry; they could make cheap technology and sell it in K-Mart. But then they would lose all the people that made them Apple. It's good business for them to make all of their products slightly out of reach.

That said, $200 is no small chunk of change, and I think they could have kept their chic factor and sold double what they are going to sell now at the $250 price point.

-g

[baglunch]

Just wait til you start seeing photo and tv ops of the minipod with (insert famous musician or celeb name here).

*vroom* start the hype machine..

If the minipod came with a loop, people'd be dangling it from their fake gold chains.

[Minty Fresh]

Okay...I was one of the first to complain of the price. BUT...add a dock, and you're still under the $300 dollar mark...add the remote (which I really wouldn't use) and you're still at $330 Sure you can get a 15GB nw for $300 (then another $40 for the dock, and another $40 for the remote...now it's $380), but I'm not really gonna be able to put 3-4k songs on it, let alone listen to all of them. So a 4GB, 1k songs version sounds a little more practical...and even with that, 1k songs is really a lot! (I'm not buying an iPod to store all my MP3's...just to listen to a few of them) That's around 75 hours of music! Plus you get the nice size, long battery life...and the brushed aluminum.

So...I definatley think $200 would be the right price for the new iPod mini...but $250, still isn't all that bad when you think about it.

[hudson1]

I think I get the point entirely and still think Apple is making a mistake. Jobs can cite past market share all he wants but the reality is that the iPod has been the only truly compelling product out there -- so far. Maybe the other question, to date unanswered, is why doesn't the iPod have an even bigger market share if the product is so clearly superior? I think the answer is that there's a substantial demand for a lower-priced product (significantly below $249) that is only now being addressed with compelling products. Therefore, that's the segment of the market that going to grow the most from here on out and Apple won't have anything to sell into that growth. Other manufacturers are going to continue to develop better offerings to meet the underlying demand.

When you're competing with Microsoft, you better lock up your market hard or risk being locked out. Apple's playing with fire by not securing a bigger cross-section of this market.

[utkucan]

Originally posted by mamamia:
very interesting. could this be a direct attack on the untapped teenage female population? they won't be so concerned with the value of the gigabyte - the difference between 4 gigabytes and 40 gb probably means next to nothing to them. its the colors and size and cool "oooh, gotta have it!" factor. very very thought provoking.

and i love the way the commercials introduced the concept of color and ipods into the public concousness, thereby seeding the minds of future customers. now the promise implicit in those commercials is being delivered upon.

on second thought, i agree with you. maybe apple marketing and product development do know what they're doing.

you definitely see the point i was implying - they only have, what their 5 cds of the "luuurvely" justin and 20 cent and stuff

it's ALL about the "cool factor" - the size and the colours - oh sorry meant COLOUR - PINK

the commercials were indeed deeply effective making people assume that htye came in colours even though it was onl;y the background that was colour

now of course all of us here know iPods are (were ) white - it is this trendy teenage market that i'm referring to


apologies to teenagers for the stereotyping - i'm not referring to us cool ones

[billybob128]

it will sell with the wow factor and the ui its just simple and easier. macs were always seen as more expensive than other machiens, although they are more competitively priced now, and let me ask who here owns a mac?

[MusicalTone]

All you Americans should consider yourselves very lucky.

In Europe we have to pay 349 � for the 15 Gig when really if you look at the Dollar/Euro exchange rate we should only be paying 249 �.

What gives>?

[SimeyTheLimey]

I just saw the iPod mini. What a relief! I bought a 20GB pod for my partner for Christmas. The mini is nice, but not that nice. And not that cheap. For once I don't feel ripped off buying the old model.

Which isn't good for the mini.

[DaedalusDX]

Look... you people are blowing this completely out of proportion...

Yes, the Mini is less value than the big iPods... but if you are making comparisons, make comparisons with this...

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/st...2083798&EDATE=

Rio unveiled a 4 GB player with a price tag of $249 today.... no one is tearing that product apart like they are the iPod....

Rio has shown that there is a market here for the lower capacity, smaller formfactor players with the Nitrus. The iPod Mini is clearly superior...

Its not abysmal. It not the best value, but people will buy them over the Nitrus.

[Mike Pither]

MusicalTone, you are not comparing like with like as the �349 price that there is here in Italy for example includes IVA (VAT) at 20%. The less tax price is therefore �291 euro. Still more expensive, but then Apple prices are never directly linked to the exchange rate (when it goes up or down) other wise they would be going up and down everyday.

[Minty Fresh]

Originally posted by SimeyTheLimey:
I just saw the iPod mini. What a relief! I bought a 20GB pod for my partner for Christmas. The mini is nice, but not that nice. And not that cheap. For once I don't feel ripped off buying the old model.

Which isn't good for the mini.

Same here...I got my girlfriend a 20GB iPod for Christmas, and she and I are glad. I've been wanting to get an iPod for myslef...but decided to wait to see the mini's. But since they are $250...I'm kinda torn...don't know if I should go for it, or spring for the new 15GB...

[itai195]

Originally posted by hudson1:
When you're competing with Microsoft, you better lock up your market hard or risk being locked out. Apple's playing with fire by not securing a bigger cross-section of this market.

I'm not sure Apple's top prioirty is competition with Microsoft. I'm not sure Apple would oppose licensing WMA if, down the road, lack of WMA support is seriously hurting sales.

As for the mini-iPod, I don't think comparisons to the pricing debate regarding the original iPod are relevant... I disagreed with those who thought the original iPod was overpriced because they didn't understand the portable digital music market and what an excellent new product the iPod was. The $400 price was reasonable at the time, those who thought it wasn't really weren't familiar with the market.

OTOH, if Apple's goal is to go after the flash based player market (eg < $200) with the mini-iPod then it would make more sense if they hit the same price points. People have continued to buy flash based players despite the iPod's existense primarily because of price -- not size, looks, or capacity (obviously). That's not to say the mini-iPod won't sell, but I don't think it will capture the market they're going after, especialy considering that Dell sells their 15GB player for the same price. More likely, the mini-iPod will cannibalize sales from people who want a hard drive based player but either don't need 15GB or want something smaller and stylish.

[Peter]

Originally posted by zilmer:
It should have been:

- 2gigs
- Flash memory based
- even smaller
- for $150
- with Bluetooth headphones

Then it would have been an absolute hit... Right now I would definitely get the regular iPod for just a few extra bucks.

are you high?

[chrisutley]

Originally posted by arclight:
Great product, stupid price. In six months it will be $199 or hopefully $150. I was so pissed at the price I shut my mac off and went to lunch-

You blew it Steve, nice software updates though-

If you think they have $100 profit in the mini iPod you are nuts. They might get them down to $199 in a year, if the storage goes down in price naturally and in part due to volume.

[FTrain]

The more I think about it, the more intrigued I am by what they've done. Maybe it will fall on its face, but just maybe it will go crazy. Essentially they've traded capacity bang for the buck for style bang for the buck ($250 for the miniPod vs. paying the same for some ugly-ass Rio). It's tailored to teenagers who aren't old enough or musically sophisticated enough to have 4000 songs. These are kids who have already moved on from the songs they were listening to in November and by Valentine's won't remember or care about what they're listening to today. They're kids who probably thought the original iPod was great but they wouldn't pay $300 for one because "well, why would I need a player that holds 4000 songs"--it was a player for someone else. So it was too expensive not because of the price but because the user profile didn't fit them. Yet, they look at this mini and they see a player that's even smaller, sleeker, and cooler looking (if you're into pink, it's probably cool looking) than that "clunky" white one, and it seems tailored to their needs--i.e. WAY fewer songs, which is exactly how many they have to load onto it. They probably look at it and say, "I get a player that still does exactly what I want it to do, and I SAVE $50!" And they especially love it because it's the iPod for THEM--not the one Mom and Dad already bought for themselves.

This thing may ultimately prove to be a marketing coup.

[chrisutley]

Rio just released a very similar product at the same price point. That suggests there is a market to be tapped in this feature set / price range. So if you have the choice between some crap Rio or an Apple iPod, which one are people going to choose?

Originally posted by PookJP:
Then why bother making it at all? MiniPod is not going to sell well -- it can't, it doesn't make sense. So if the margin is so thin, any money made to recoup development and marketing will only come with tons of units sold. That won't happen, so why bother making it in the first place?

[Eug]

I think these things will sell like mad.

I also think that $199 is the magical price point, but I was predicting that for $199 Apple was going to sell a 2 GB MiniPod... errr... iPod mini. Thus in comparison, a 4 GB iPod mini seems like a reasonable deal, especially considering the fact it's HALF THE SIZE AND WEIGHT of the iPod.

I remember when the first iPod came out I thought "Hmmmm... It looks nice, but damn it's expensive. These things will capture maybe 10% of the market." Then I saw one in person and it was "Yowza!" that's totally awesome. I think the reaction to the iPod mini will be similar for a lot of people.

iPod mini: ehh

Are you Canadian?

[Wiskedjak]

$250 is a good price for the MiniPod. Unfortunately, I think it's competition (15GB iPod) is too competitively priced and will take away from MiniPod sales. Even if you HAVE the money, why would you choose the Mini over the 15GB?

[chrisutley]

Originally posted by Wiskedjak:
$250 is a good price for the MiniPod. Unfortunately, I think it's competition (15GB iPod) is too competitively priced and will take away from MiniPod sales. Even if you HAVE the money, why would you choose the Mini over the 15GB?

SIZE, SIZE, SIZE
STYLE, STYLE, STYLE

The size is freaking awesome. I'm seriously considering a mini in addition to my 15GB, expressly for workouts.

Just wait until you hold one in your hand. It will inspire plenty of lust.

[slider]

The mini is too close to the 15GB, I have started to think Apple knows exactily what their doing. One, if you're considering a flash based player you might jump up $50 for the mini, but then you might think, hey for another $50 you'll get over 3x the storage. I saw something on the news page about how a cheaper iPod might canabilize the iPod, but with this price range I think it might infact eat into the flash player market. They are capitizing on the newest and I bet we'll the price drop to $199 by the fall at the latest. Funny how Jobs mentioned bumping up the iPod to 15GB in almost the same breath that in introduced the mini too.

[itai195]

Originally posted by chrisutley:
SIZE, SIZE, SIZE
STYLE, STYLE, STYLE

The size is freaking awesome. I'm seriously considering a mini in addition to my 15GB, expressly for workouts.

Just wait until you hold one in your hand. It will inspire plenty of lust.

I don't know, the mini is nice and all but I just don't see it. I'm into getting small gadgets, but the iPod already crosses the small size threshold for me. Saving $50 may be a big deal for a teenager, but even a teenager can do the math on this one. Maybe I'm also missing what it is that makes the older iPods not stylish...

I don't think Rio releasing a similar product means there's a market -- they're basically just a copycat nowadays. They have a whole bunch of other products that also don't have a market.

That's not to say the mini-iPod won't sell, I mentioned above who I think it will sell to. But those are people who weren't really considering the flash player market to begin with.

[Minty Fresh]

Originally posted by chrisutley:
SIZE, SIZE, SIZE
STYLE, STYLE, STYLE

The size is freaking awesome. I'm seriously considering a mini in addition to my 15GB, expressly for workouts.

Just wait until you hold one in your hand. It will inspire plenty of lust.

EXACTLY!!! I was waiting for today to get an iPod. (Just bought my girlfeirnd a 20GB) I'm ready for one of my own. So now...I am actually leaning more towards the mini...because of the size, and style. The brushed aluminum is awesome! And seriously 1,000 songs is plenty...I mainly will listen to one songe a few times anyway...HAHA...so a library of 1,000 songs is plenty. Besides, as fast as you can transfer songs from iTunes...having my Hard Drive as a place to store my songs, and then a 1,000 song player...is just fine.

[hadocon]

Originally posted by zilmer:
It should have been:

- 2gigs
- Flash memory based
- even smaller
- for $150
- with Bluetooth headphones

Then it would have been an absolute hit... Right now I would definitely get the regular iPod for just a few extra bucks.

BT headphones don't work.

[dwood]

<rant>
to all of you who think this is overpriced, you're ill informed. Yes it's expensive, but honestly I'm surpised they are offering it that cheap, yes I said cheap!
Go online and find me the Hitachi Microdrive 4gb for cheaper then $400.
Will it sell? Yes, people like small gadgets, and yes if you want to spend the extra $50 for the larger capacity, and larger size ipod, have it at. But remember how overpriced everyone thought the original 5gb ipod was? Well that didn't do to bad now did it?

</rant>

[Eug]

Originally posted by dwood:
<rant>
to all of you who think this is overpriced, you're ill informed. Yes it's expensive, but honestly I'm surpised they are offering it that cheap, yes I said cheap!
Go online and find me the Hitachi Microdrive 4gb for cheaper then $400.
Will it sell? Yes, people like small gadgets, and yes if you want to spend the extra $50 for the larger capacity, and larger size ipod, have it at. But remember how overpriced everyone thought the original 5gb ipod was? Well that didn't do to bad now did it?

</rant>

I agree the iPod mini reasonably priced, but just FYI, Cornice sells 2 GB drives that size (presumably without the CF parts) for $70 a pop in quantities of 100000.

[Wiskedjak]

Originally posted by chrisutley:
SIZE, SIZE, SIZE
STYLE, STYLE, STYLE

It's not that much smaller or more stylish than the 15GB.

[powerbook867]

I've sat back and taken a second look at my post...these probably will sell with some success, but they are not going to dramatically impact the 31% that Jobs is trying to take over...as someone psted above, I think in 6 months they'll probably be going for 199. At that price they will do significantly better IMHO.

[itai195]

Originally posted by dwood:
<rant>
...
</rant>

Have you read and thought about any of the other posts in this thread?

I agree it will sell -- but it will sell to the same 30% of the market that iPods already sell to.

[serranot]

These things will sell great. I will buy two for my family. The size is great for workouts and the industrial design is unmatched. I have two Rio S30s right now, and for the money they are junk.

All of you complainers are unbelievable. Your statements have convinced me that Apple did the right thing. Go ahead and upgrade to the full size iPod. I bet Apple is hoping you will, because their margins are probably higher on those anyway. That's brilliant.

And one more thing--Apple missed the boat on the name. I suggest a much better name--the "WeePod." WeePod goes better with iPod (iPod-WeePod), and it is suggestive of the diminutive size. How about it--how many votes for WeePod?

[scottiB]

Originally posted by Wiskedjak:
It's not that much smaller or more stylish than the 15GB.

It's 40% smaller in volume and 40% lighter than the 40GB iPod.

[chrisutley]

Originally posted by Wiskedjak:
It's not that much smaller or more stylish than the 15GB.

I just put a business card on top of my 15GB, and I strongly disagree. Of course I care about size more than most. I downgraded from a 20GB to a 15GB for the slightly smaller pod, so I consider the mini iPod considerably smaller than the 15GB.

[chrisutley]

Christ! It's tiny! I've had bigger chunks of corn in my crap! Wait a minute, it kinda looks like a baby pod. Come here! I'm gonna eat you! I'm bigger than you I'm higher in the food chain! Get in my belly! C'mon! *grunts* You're lucky wee iPod!"

[Eug]

Originally posted by chrisutley:
I just put a business card on top of my 15GB, and I strongly disagree. Of course I care about size more than most. I downgraded from a 20GB to a 15GB for the slightly smaller pod, so I consider the mini iPod considerably smaller than the 15GB.

I trust you mean the old 20 GB, since the current 20 GB and the 15 GB are the same size.

But size does matter, I agree. I wanted a 30 GB iPod when it came out, but went with the 15 because the 15 was so much smaller.

Had the iPod mini existed, I would have considered it.

[chrisutley]

Right. I went from the old 20GB to the slim and trim 15GB. I had no intention of doing this until I just happened to pick-up the 15GB in my local Apple Store. I was stoked by the smaller size, and the new features well ... that's all I needed to justify throwing more disposable income Apple's way.

Originally posted by Eug:
I trust you mean the old 20 GB, since the current 20 GB and the 15 GB are the same size.

But size does matter, I agree. I wanted a 30 GB iPod when it came out, but went with the 15 because the 15 was so much smaller.

Had the iPod mini existed, I would have considered it.

[Macpilot]

While my initial thought about the iPod mini was "it is too expensive for what you get", upon further review, I think it will be a hit.

For shits & giggles, some of you should go back and look at the initial reaction on these boards to the original iPod! Hilarious! A lot of folks thought it was "way too expensive" and would be a "flop". They said it was "useless" and a "piece of junk".

I questioned my own purchase of the original iPod until I actually realized how cool it was, and still is.

Look at where the success of the iPod has taken Apple today! Hardly a failure.

I think for someone who HAS NOT YET PURCHASED something in this price range, the new iPod mini is perfect. Women will love it! A choice of colors, super slim design, and plenty of storage for the AVERAGE person who is just realizing digital music anyway.

Think about it, how many people do you know that actually know what it is to "rip" or "import" or "encode" music to their hard drive means? A lot of people have still not even heard or seen an iPod! Pathetic as it may be, that is the reality. They think iTunes is a "website" and "Mac" is a company.

So if you are one of those people, and you DON'T NEED a 15 gig player, and you want the smaller size, then this is perfect. $50 is $50!

People who buy Blazers probably don't need Suburbans, or can't afford them!

Sure, we would ALL love this thing if it were $50 or $100 less, but then again, MANY of us already have one of these things, so it makes no sense. Apple is not marketing the iPod mini to us.

He is marketing it to the folks who think the iPod is too expensive. He is pushing it on the people who would not get an iPod because there are a lot of $200 alternatives to it. When they see what the mini will do for a little more, they will be impressed.

I am waiting for the "Has your iPod mini shipped" thread to appear.

When people put this thing in their hands, the will get out their cash and gladly pay for it.

How many failures has Apple had since SJ took the helm? Hmmm.....Not many. I can think of one being the Cube. And it is now a high-demand item on eBay now in retrospect. I don't think this will be one of those few failures.

Remember, if the iPod mini gets a would-be Apple customer/switcher in an Apple Store to see one of these things, it just might point that person to OTHER Apple products, and spend more cash!

[hagheid]

Just wondering how many folk can find more than 4GB of music that is worth listening to.
I've had the humble 5GB since it's launch & personally have NEVER needed more portable storage.
However, in my pants.... I need something approaching 500TB.(sic)
"Look, this tiny thing can service 4000 women, if I start tonight, I'll still be @ it in a months time" Impressed eh...
Just love reading all this spleen venting garbage about....spoilt girlies forcing doting fathers to buy ;nonsense!......Who writes/'thinks' this way?
Wake up; buying stuff is NOT sinful. Finding a 'bargain' not a moral obligation.
BTW What is WRONG with color? I always thought that Apple's biggest mistake was to pull the colors on their products, turning them into 80's loftliving plonkers ornament. The G5 really is the ascetic pits.
'Proper' iPods meanwhile get filthy, scratch badly & come with really crappy h/phones. It's merely a product not a religious amulet.

[scottiB]

Originally posted by hagheid:
It's merely a product not a religious amulet.

Heathen.

[wolfeye155]

If Apple is marketing towards "trendy teenagers" then the price is just fine. I have much more disposable income than my parents because I don't have to pay the bills. The money I get from my job goes towards whatever I want. In exchange, my parents have a good reason not to buy me expensive crap anymore. Girls AND guys have no probelm spending $50-$100 on a pair of blue jeans at Abercrombie & Fitch. They won't have a problem spending $250 on the lastest trendy electornic gear. I hope Apple continues with it's chic image and expensive pricing. If they start becoming an "econo" company who will fill their shoes? Without Apple, where would all the label whores go for their electronics?

[Mr. Bob]

Personally, I am with the pay $50 more, get a lot more crowd. Smallness is good, but bigness is also pretty tempting. Overall, I think the iPod mini is going to be for younger girl types who seem to put fashion over substance.

I understand the price, but don�t understand the comment made by Apple on their webpage "You can even clip the iPod mini to a lanyard for the ultimate fashion statement. We hear it�s big in Japan."

I live in Japan, inside of Tokyo, and I do not believe the iPod mini is even being sold in stores yet "I went to the Apple store in Tachikawa less then a week ago, and there were not any advertisements, "weird because Japan is much more emphatic with ads then the US, putting them out weeks before products ship�.

Anyway, I think it is a pretty foolhardy and false comment, probably to boost sales with those anime loving people in the States. Sad really.

Update:

A-Ha, after looking more into Apples website I found on the purchase page, " Available to order in the US now. Available worldwide in April."

Why Apple, WHY?!?

O well. I guess every company has to lie.

[i am yujin]

Originally posted by hagheid:
Just wondering how many folk can find more than 4GB of music that is worth listening to.
I've had the humble 5GB since it's launch & personally have NEVER needed more portable storage.

Yeah you are right. The average person will not spend all that 4 or 5 gb but the fact that you can pay just $50 more and get almost 4x the storage space is just plain

[SomeToast]

Originally posted by hagheid:
Just wondering how many folk can find more than 4GB of music that is worth listening to.
I've had the humble 5GB since it's launch & personally have NEVER needed more portable storage.
However, in my pants.... I need something approaching 500TB.(sic)

Hey, as Jobs was filling out the existing iPod grid during the keynote, I was chanting "80 gig iPod, 80 gig iPod..."

I'm hoping for at least a bump to 60 one day.

[Minty Fresh]

Well...HAHA...I just bought one

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=196021

[itai195]

Originally posted by Mr. Bob:
I understand the price, but don�t understand the comment made by Apple on their webpage "You can even clip the iPod mini to a lanyard for the ultimate fashion statement. We hear it�s big in Japan.

I live in Japan, inside of Tokyo, and I do not believe the iPod mini is even being sold in stores yet "I went to the Apple store in Tachikawa less then a week ago, and there were not any advertisements, "weird because Japan is much more emphatic with ads then the US, putting them out weeks before products ship�.
"

They're talking about people wearing gadgets that way in Japan in general, not specifically about the mini-iPod since it obviously just came out.

[PixelPete17]

Yeah, I watched the broadcast as well here and there....never realized what a fluff and puff nerd-mercial those things are..heh

Anyway...I saw the same reaction you did...complete silence...COMPLETE.

I've said it a million times and as it's true every time...Steve Jobs is simply a greedo-maniac that tries to mask his money-gluttony behind the facade of cool techno-gadgets. He'll charge whatever he thinks he can get away with..and does NOT try to price his products at fair market value relative to his competition. He made a big point of iLife costing only $49 to to mac owners, whereas Win people would have to shell out about $300 for like-category products, but what does it take to own a fast mac?...about $2500 to $3000 dollars. And that $3000 runs on an OS that IS still in transition (in the keynote he claims transition is over simply because Apple is "approaching" 40% of installed base using OS X)...being out of transition has NOTHING to do with installed user base...it has to do with the completion of the workload required to make the product functional, reliable, and affordable. When THAT happens...people will move to the OS X platform because it is a good product..they won't come over just because less than 40% of other apple users have already fallen for Apple's marketing mumbo-jumbo. Since many are still having problems (the firewire ext HD bug is still prevalent among more than some), and the Finder has more than a few quirks according to most forums, it seems this whole keynote was nothing more than a 2hour auto-biographical commercial on the manipulative thinking of Steve Jobs trying to exert the "Apple Effect" on what was once a loyal audience. Many are so disgusted with Apple for so many reasons...and this price point of the new mini-ipod is just another symptom of the same ever-living sickness of his greed trying to reach into the installed Apple user base.

The guy above that posted his suggestion about 2 Gig Flash memory mini-ipod for $149 is right on the money IMHO. Too bad some of these other companies can't design classier gear, as I'd love to give SOMEONE my money for a product that is priced fairly. Those kind of products apparently still don't come from Apple.

[mcsharick]

I'm afraid Steve's become a little spoiled with the unexpected success of the first 3 generations of iPods and their higher margins. Because now its altered his perception of business realities. Let's say that there was actually 2 iPod-minis to choose from; a 2GB and 4GB for $150 and $250 respectively. The mere fact that the 2GB exists, this would have improved the 4GB sales alone. Why, because there would have been a sweet spot acheived and a real comparison in choice. Now the next closest comparison to the 4GB is the 15GB? And only a $50 difference, not $100. This time Steve has blown it. I streamed his keynote, and GarageBand was building to a climax, and then the price point hit with the iPod-mini and you could've heard a pin drop in the Moscone (and that's not a good thing)! I expect there to actually be a 2GB later this year, and for the 4GB to drop at least $50 in price. But the opportune time to strike was now and this time Steve simply 'failed'.

[SpeedRacer]

Sorry, but you cannot justify dropping 3/4 of your product's storage capacity for $50 and 1/2 inch.

I can only imagine that @ $250 this is supposed to compete against Dell's similarly priced jukebox. But Shmell's Jukebox (like the $299 iPod) is, again, 15GB.

And that "it's for the kids" argument is BS... in fact wasn't that the same argument made for Blue Dalmation iMacs?

"Don't worry, the Japanese teenage girls will LOOOOVE em!"

The reality is that there's plenty of teen and college-aged students out there just dying to get a hold of nice MP3 player to listen to their massive MP3 collections, store their class schedules, keep a record of all their friends' addresses, and just play a few cheasy games while waiting for the next bus, class, or friend to arrive.

But it's inevitably sticker shock that is keeping this population (and surely many others) squarely on the fence.

Just look at the price-adoption cycles of other new CE devices and it's quite clear: $199 is the magic number.

Let's recap: what does $250 buy you?

• 75% less storage.
• No voice recording.
• No Digital Pic Reader/Storage.
• Less capacity than the iPod that existed a full 2 years ago!

Defend it all you like, all that this product does is demonstrate to all the Apple naysayers that the company is not capable of going mono-y-mono with Shdell on specs and price.

Apple's got a great product line in the existing iPods... the only thing missing up to now has been a lower price for (if necessary) a relative drop in capacity and features.

iPod Mini ain't that product folks.

Speed